Photo Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio
The Red Sox took the field on Friday night tied for first in the AL East and hoped that behind Tim Wakefield they would keep their winning ways going. Would the knuckleball be knucklin’ or would be in store for a long night? Well…long story short, that knuckleball was workin’ it. Tim pitched 7 IP, only allowed 5 hits and 2 runs. The only damage against Wake was a bloop hit run and a solo HR to Peralta. He was cruising through the innings and quite possibly reminding the Sox that even with Dice-K and Lackey on the DL, they have another well established starter just hanging around. He looked great.
The offense continues to click on all cylinders as well. Porcello entered the game as one of Detroit’s best pitchers and so they hoped to get something going against him. And that is just what they did. Ellsbury scored on a wild pitch in the first inning to tie the game at the time. It was a great example of why Ellsbury is the perfect leadoff guy. He singled, stole 2nd base, advanced to 3rd on a groundout and then stole home on a wild pitch. That’s what we hoped to see with Ellsbury at leadoff. Ells also made an amazing diving catch in the game as well. Basically, he was the awesome!
The offense kept it up in the 3rd inning. Jacoby started it off with another HR. That’s two HRs in two days for him. That was followed by Pedey walking, Gonzo singling and then Youk hit a double to bring them home. That was followed by a HR by Crawford. The Sox scored 5 runs in that inning and left it leading 6-2.
Wake held the lead and pitched into the 7th, he gave way to Bard in the 8th. Bard came out and pitched a 6 pitch 1-2-3 inning. It was nice to see. Pap came out in the 9th and gave up a single to our old friend Victor Martinez. VMart would end up scoring on a Peralta double, but that’s all the Tigers could get against Papelbon. He shut the door and the Sox won their 4th straight game.
Also, the Yankees fell to the Mariners last night…so the Red Sox are officially alone atop the AL East.
Red Sox 6 Tigers 3 BOXSCORE
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