| 02 September 2009
The pitching match-up favored the Red Sox last night with Jon Lester sharing the mound with the Ray's Andy Sonnanstine. But the Sox earned last night's 8-4 victory thanks to a complete team effort.
They got another solid start from Lester, who fanned nine through six innings while holdin the Rays to two runs.
They got stellar defense from The Amazing Ellsbury, who made two insane catches in centrerfield, the second coming in the with the bases loaded and the lead slipping away from the Red Sox.
And they got eight more runs from the offense, thanks to three ding dongs from Youkilis, Bay and Drew and some awful defense from the Rays. Jay Bay hit his 30th homer of the season and his 10th in the last 23 games... Drew put the Sox ahead in the 4th with a 2-run shot and is hitting .324 since August 1st... And Youk added a dinger in the 8th and had 2 RBI on the night.
But it wasn't all about the long ball. Ellsbury added an RBI triple in the 9th, further showcasing his speed and Lowel and Martinez each had two hits on the night with Varitek on the bench.
Okajima almost blew it in the 8th, but Tito called on Papelbon to get the Sox out of the jam. Paps hasn't been the untouchable closer we've seen in the past, but he got three HUGE outs in the 8th and looked even better in the 9th fanning Longoria and Pena to end the game.
Bottom Line: Joe Maddon says his team isn't frustrated, but three errors, a wasted comeback in the 8th and a loss in the first game of this key series has to hurt...
Now they'll have to try and even the score tonight against an hornry Josh Beckett.
Good luck.
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