The Red Sox were sporting a 4 game winning streak and taking on old friend Justin Masterson last night. Masterson was sporting a 0.41 ERA prior to the start, so many of us were bucking in for a low scoring game. Alfredo Aceves was making his second spot start in place of John Lackey in the rotation.
Before Aceves could even step on the mound, the Sox bats got all over Justin Masterson. The Sox loaded the bases to start the game with no outs. Mike Napoli hit an RBI single to score Ellsbury and Victorino. Nava then hit an RBI single to score Pedroia. Sox 3-0. The Sox would load the bases two more times against Masterson, but he was able to wiggle out of those jams without anymore damage. In the 5th inning, the Sox added on another run with a Carp RBI triple to score Drew. Carp had himself 2 doubles and a triple on the night. I guess his timing at the plate was messed up by riding the bench most of the season. The Sox added on one last run in the 8th when Victorino hit a bunt that scored Ellsbury on a throwing error from the Indians.
Alfredo Aceves continued to be the guy who just does what the Sox need from him on the mound, no matter his eccentricities off the mound. Aceves pitched himself 5 scoreless innings and seemed to be gassed at that point. Aceves seemed relieved when Victorino made a great catch in the outfield to get him out of the inning unscathed. However, Farrell made the decision to have Aceves start the 6th inning and didn't have anyone up and warming in the pen. This was playing with fire and the Sox got burned by it. Aceves wasn't able to record an out in the 6th and allowed 3 runs to score before he left. Aceves issued a walk and then a 2 run HR to Swisher. Sox 5-2. Aceves then gave up another HR to Giambi to bring the Indians within 2 runs. Aceves then gave up a double to Reynolds and Farrell finally went out to get him. Aceves said after the game that he was definitely gassed and felt that way after the 5th inning. Sheesh. Aceves' pitching line for the night was 106 pitches, 5 IP, 3 R, 3 BB and 2 Ks. The fact that Farrell allowed a relief pitching in a spot start role to throw 106 pitches verges on reckless in my opinion. Still, Aceves once again took the ball when needed and did what the team needed to have a chance to win.
Tazawa took the mound with a guy on 2nd and no outs. He got the 3 outs and got out of the inning. Tazawa also pitched a scoreless 7th inning before handing the ball over to Koji Uehara. Uehara pitched his usual 1-2-3 inning and had his high five fest in the dugout when he was done. The energy that Uehara brings to this team is amazing. Bailey took the mound in hopes of notching his first save of the season. There would be no blown save tonight as Bailey had himself a nice 1-2-3 inning.
Dirty Water once again! This is 5 wins in a row and the Sox are 10-4 on the season.
Red Sox 6 Indians 3 BOXSCORE
WP: Aceves (1-0) LP: Masterson (3-1) SV: Bailey (1)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
