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Lowell, Lowrie And Doubront Lead Boston To Win, Just How They Drew It Up In March
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- almost 3 years ago
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Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 5: Boston Scores Two Late, Bullpen Comes Up Big In Series Opener
Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Mike Lowell hit the go-ahead home run and Jed Lowrie added an insurance RBI double in the eighth inning, as Boston clipped Toronto, 7-5, in the opener of a three-game set at Rogers Centre.
Lowrie and Lowell both drove in two runs, while David Ortiz doubled twice and J.D. Drew homered for the Red Sox, who were coming off a four-game split with the Yankees in the Bronx.
Felix Doubront (1-1) coughed up the lead in the sixth but was credited with the win. Jonathan Papelbon turned in a scoreless ninth for his 29th save. Starter Daisuke Matsuzaka worked 5 2/3 frames, allowing six hits and four runs with seven strikeouts.
"Tonight was just a microcosm of our season," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "We kept on playing and we ended up doing a lot of good things. We just found ways to come back and win."
Travis Snider doubled and hit a three-run shot while Jose Bautista and Adam Lind hit solo homers for the Blue Jays, who had won five of six coming in.
Shawn Camp (3-2) took the loss after allowing three hits and two runs while recording two outs in the eighth. Ricky Romero got the start and was battered for eight hits and five runs in six innings.
"I let up too many opportunities early in the game," Romero admitted. "I let them come back every time I made a mistake. When I kept the ball down I did pretty good, but they hit every pitch I didn't get."
Lowell's two-out solo shot in the eighth once again put Boston in the lead by a 6-5 count, then Ryan Kalish followed with a single and Lowrie drove him in with a double off the top of the wall in center.
That was enough for Manny Delcarmen, who retired Toronto in order in the home half. In the ninth, Papelbon allowed a one-out double to Snider but retired Bautista on a grounder and Aaron Hill on a flyout to clinch the win.
The Sox scored three times in the second on Adrian Beltre's RBI double, Lowrie's ground-rule double and a Jacoby Ellsbury single. Lind hit a one-out solo shot in the home half.
Lowell's sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the fourth gave the Sox a three-run edge but Snider's monster three-run blast in Toronto's turn tied the game, 4-4.
Drew launched a solo homer into the second deck of right field in the fifth to put the Sox back on top, then the Jays came up empty in the home half despite chasing Matsuzaka -- leaving the bases loaded.
No worries for the Jays, though, as Bautista slugged his 35th homer of the season to left for a 5-5 deadlock in the seventh.
Boston has won eight of 10 over Toronto this season, including six of seven at Rogers Centre...Drew's homer was his first since July 22 at Seattle...It was Lowell's first road home run of the season, with the last occurring on September 6, 2009 at Chicago...Bautista has four longballs in eight August games...Toronto upped its major-league best home run total to 178, 29 more than the Red Sox...Jays centerfielder Vernon Wells sat again with a dislocated big right toe on Sunday.
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Red Sox Head North Of The Border For Three-Game Series With Blue Jays
(Sports Network) - The Boston Red Sox hope to make up even more ground in the American League East this evening when they open a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
The Red Sox may very well miss out on the postseason this year. If they do happen to reach the playoffs, though, they very well may point to the seventh inning of Monday's 2-1 win over the New York Yankees as the turning point in their season.
Leading by two in the seventh, Jon Lester loaded the bases, but got Curtis Granderson swinging, then Daniel Bard came on and struck out both Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher to end the threat. After Mark Teixeira homered to cut the deficit to one in the eighth, the Yanks put two more runners on in the frame, only to see Johnathan Papelbon retire Austin Kearns to end that chance.
Papelbon put the tying run on base in the ninth, but ended up recording his 28th save of the season.
Jacoby Ellsbury tied a franchise-record with four stolen bases, while Lester (12-7) went 6 1/3 innings and limited New York to four hits and three walks and finished with six strikeouts in the win. The Red Sox split the four-game set and have won three of their last five to pull within six games of the top spot in the American League East.
"It's huge. Any win this time of the year is big for us," Lester said. "Obviously being here is a little more special, keep chipping away."
Getting the call for the Red Sox this evening will be Japanese righty Daisuke Matsuzaka, who has won his last three decisions. Matsuzaka beat the Cleveland Indians on Thursday, as he allowed a run and five hits in eight innings to run his record to 8-3, while lowering his earned run average to 3.96.
Matsuzaka has dominated the Blue Jays of late, winning his last six decisions against them and pitching to a 2.08 ERA in his last eight starts in this series.
Toronto, meanwhile, will counter with lefty Ricky Romero, who is 9-7 with a 3.37 ERA. Romero won for the third time in his last four starts with a brilliant complete-game effort last Tuesday against the Yankees that saw him surrender just two runs and two hits.
"Definitely feels good to be able to do this against this team and that lineup here at Yankee Stadium," Romero said after his gem. "It's definitely special."
The 25-year-old hurler lost to the Sox the last time he faced them and is 1-4 lifetime against Boston with an 8.76 ERA in six starts.
Romero, though, will have his work cut out for him if he intends on following up Brandon Morrow's masterpiece from Sunday. The hard-throwing righty came one out away from a no-hitter as he helped the Blue Jays take a 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays to complete a three-game sweep.
With two outs and a man on first in the ninth, Evan Longoria hit a sharp grounder that went off the glove of a diving Aaron Hill in the hole between first and second base to spoil the no-hit bid. It left men at the corners, but Morrow struck out Dan Johnson with a high fastball to end the game.
Morrow (9-6) struck out a career-high 17 batters, which is the most by a pitcher this season, and also walked two while throwing 137 pitches, 97 for strikes.
"It's my first complete game and my first shutout," said Morrow. "Those things combined are more than enough to overcome the feelings of the missed no- hitter."
Vernon Wells drove in the lone run for the Blue Jays, who have won five of their last six. Wells, though, left after the sixth inning with a dislocated toe on his right foot that he suffered while making a leaping catch at the wall on a Ben Zobrist fly ball.
"If any pitcher ever deserved a no-hitter it was him," said Longoria. "He was making his pitches all day and we never had a chance. Every time we would get into a hitters count he would come back and make the perfect pitch."
Toronto has dropped seven of their nine games with the Red Sox this season.
