Boston’s surprising start against Colby Lewis keeps on going, as the Sox scored two more runs off the righty starter in the second.
There was more leadoff trouble for Lewis, albeit this time of a rather bizarre variety, as Jed Lowrie hit a dribbler down the first base line. Lowrie, the ball, and Texas first baseman Mitch Moreland all converged a few feet in front of first, with Lowrie running past the ball and around Moreland’s last-second tag attempt for the infield hit. The second base knock, off the bat of Carl Crawford, was rather more substantial, and set up runners at first and second with nobody out.
Ryan Lavarnway would strike out—not terribly surprising, as Colby Lewis flashed the sort of slider that it’s unlikely Lavarnway has seen much of in the minors—but Jarrod Saltalamacchia got hold of a good pitch and doubled off the wall in right to bring a run in to score. One Marco Scutaro sacrifice fly later, and the score was 4-0, Sox.
With a big lead behind him, Lackey continued his effective pitching. Though he walked Mike Napoli after a long battle, Lackey struck out Michael Young and induced a ground ball from Nelson Cruz for two outs. Mitch Moreland’s ground ball was a little less routine, with Adrian Gonzalez’ dive inadvertently knocking the ball away from Dustin Pedroia. But, being the top defensive pair they are, Pedroia quickly changed direction, scooped up the ball, and tossed it to a recovering Adrian Gonzalez for the third out.