The Red Sox went out to an early lead last night, but were unable to capitalize on a great opportunity and fell to the Twins in extra inning. This series should have been a great opportunity for the Sox to make a move in the wild card race, however now they would be lucky to split the series.
Felix Doubront took the mound for the Sox and didn’t have his best outing. Doubront gave up a single run in the bottom of the second inning. Dubi gave up an RBI single to Mastroianni to give the Twins a quick 1-0 lead. The Sox bats gave Doubront what seemed like a nice lead, however he got himself in a boatload of trouble in the 5th. With the bases loaded and one out, Doubront was seemingly being squeezed by the home plate ump and walked in a run. Doubront then gave up a 2 run RBI single to Morneau and then a sac fly to tie the game 5-5. Doubront got the final out to get out of the inning and that would be it for him for the night. Doubront’s pitching line was 97 pitches, 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 BB and 2 Ks.
The Sox bats got on the scoreboard early when they tied the game in bottom of the 2nd with an RBI single from Shoppach to score Crawford. In the 3rd, the Sox jumped ahead to a 5-1 lead. Gonzo hit an RBI single to score Pedey. Carl Crawford then hit a 3 run HR to right field. Crawford has been looking pretty good at the plate lately and that is just what the Sox needed to see. The Sox looked like they were cruising along, however once the Twins tied the game the Sox were unable to crack the scoreboard again. In the 5th, the Sox had two men up due to Twins throwing error, however they were unable to bring them home. In the 8th, the Sox had the bases loaded with one out and it looked like they were on the verge of taking the lead. However, Ellsbury ended up striking out and then Pedey flied out to end the inning.
The Sox bullpen was out in the game from the 6th inning on. Bobby Valentine used about everyone he had available. Tazawa, Breslow, Melancon and Miller were all used to pitch scoreless innings until the 9th. Padilla came out and finished off the 9th inning and we were heading off to extras. Padilla headed to the mound in the 10th and that is when the luck of the bullpen ended. Padilla gave up a leadoff double to Mastroianni and then allowed the go ahead run to score with a single to Carroll.
The Sox are once again under 500 ball. I don’t like this under 500 business.
Red Sox 5 Twins 6 BOXSCORE
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