The Red Sox have managed to fight their way back into this all-important game against the Yankees thanks to a revived effort from John Lackey.
While it was entirely possible that the Sox’ starter would crash and burn after his terrible first inning, Lackey has actually come through with five scoreless innings since, allowing only a couple baserunners along the way.
Meanwhile, though the Sox haven’t exactly taken full advantage of their opportunities, they’ve done enough to pull within one. Jed Lowrie provided the big hit in the fifth, just barely missing a homer on a drive to right field, pulling into third with a triple and scoring as J.D. Drew picked up his first hit in months for the RBI.
The second run would be rather less impressive. After leadoff singles from Carl Crawford and Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz avoided a double play only thanks to Cano’s fumbling of the ground ball, and Adrian Gonzalez brought Crawford home with a ground out of his own. The Sox almost tied it then and there, with Nova throwing a pitch to the backstop, but the bounce carried it right back to Romine, who made the tag on a leaping Pedroia to record the out.