The Red Sox are out to deal the Tigers a second defeat Tuesday night as they try yet again to break into winning territory.
Unfortunately, for that to happen tonight, they'll need to get to Justin Verlander, which is just about the hardest thing to do as a lineup in the major leagues these days.
We'll keep you up to date with all the action as it goes down in Fenway Park.
Red Sox 6, Tigers 3, Final -- The Red Sox are finally a winning ball club...
Red Sox 6, Tigers 3, End 8th -- Brayan Villarreal ends up striking out the side in order around a rain delay.
We're headed to the ninth now, with Alfredo Aceves looking for the save after two bad outings in a row.
Red Sox 6, Tigers 3, Bot 8th -- And here comes the rain. With one out in the bottom-half of the eighth, the tarp is on the field.
Red Sox 6, Tigers 3, Mid 8th -- Alex Avila dents the wall and gives the Sox a heart attack as the umpires review a double that just missed being a home run. Vicente Padilla gets the rest of the batters he faces in the inning out, however, and the Sox maintain their 3-run lead.
Red Sox 6, Tigers 3, End 7th -- David Ortiz goes long into the Monster seats to lead off the seventh, giving the Sox their run back.
Red Sox 5, Tigers 3, Mid 7th -- The Tigers inch closer, as they manage to take a run off Andrew Miller, who has been very solid this year. Vicente Padilla comes in to clean up the last out, continuing his streak of stranded baserunners.
Still, as much as it feels like scoring five off Verlander is worth thirty, this is a very close game all-of-a-sudden.
Red Sox 5, Tigers 2, End 6th -- The bottom of the order gives the Sox two on and one out, but Daniel Nava and Ryan Sweeney both go down on strikes to end the inning.
Red Sox 5, Tigers 2, Mid 6th -- Daniel Bard is given the chance to get back on the horse in the sixth, but immediately surrenders a very loud homer to Prince Fielder. Though he records a strikeout of Delmon Young, the Sox go to Rich Hill for out number two, and Scott Atchison for number three.
Red Sox 5, Tigers 1, End 5th -- The Red Sox aren't letting Justin Verlander rest, giving him his first start of five earned runs on the year as Gonzalez almost decapitates him with a line drive single before David Ortiz slaps a double into the gap in left field. Ortiz is thrown out trying to pick up his annual triple when it really wasn't there, but Gonzalez made it home safely, and the Sox get their run right back.
Red Sox 4, Tigers 1, Mid 5th -- Daniel Bard gives up a home run into the bullpens to Jhonny Peralta, but manages to dodge the larger bullet as he puts two men on with a single and a walk and then runs the count full against Miguel Cabrera. Luckily, Cabrera goes chasing after a low slider, and strikes out to end the threat.
Red Sox 4, Tigers 0, End 4th -- A big inning gives the Red Sox a very surprising four-run lead over Justin Verlander. Kevin Youkilis led off the frame with a single off a hanging curveball, and then moved to second when Mike Aviles managed to bloop one over the head of Jhonny Peralta at short. The Sox would load the bases with one out when Scott Podsednik managed to shoot a soft liner over Peralta's double play partner in Ramon Santiago.
Nick Punto was unable to surprise, getting ahead 2-0 and then inexplicably swinging at a pitch around the corner of the strike zone, popping it up weakly for an easy out, but Daniel Nava came through with one of the biggest hits of his career. Working the count full, Nava managed to smack a 100 MPH fastball over the middle of the plate down the left field line for a bases-clearing double.
Red Sox 1, Tigers 0, Mid 4th -- Bard has hardly been untouchable, but he's surviving right now. A wall ball single that would have likely been gone in most parks does nothing for the Tigers, as Bard quickly turns around and induces a double play from Brennan Boesch to end the threat.
Red Sox 1, Tigers 0, End 3rd -- Justin Verlander starts the frame by walking Daniel Nava, but retires Sweeney, Gonzalez, and Ortiz with ease to end the inning in short order.
Red Sox 1, Tigers 0, Mid 3rd -- The Tigers threaten a very wild Bard, who gives up a four-pitch walk with one out and then hits the next batter on the foot with a slider. He even threatens to walk the next batter, falling behind 2-0 before the count runs full, but a ground ball gets him the second out, bringing Miguel Cabrera to the plate. The dangerous hitter almost makes good on the situation, but ends up flying out to deep right field, with Ryan Sweeney making the running grab to end the frame.
Red Sox 1, Tigers 0, End 2nd -- Somehow the Red Sox have a run--and the lead--against Justin Verlander! David Ortiz gets most of the credit for this one, giving an 0-1 changeup a long ride for a wall ball double to start the inning. Kevin Youkilis could not move him along, striking out on a typical Verlander curveball, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia managed to get him to third with one out by singling through the left side of the infield. Mike Aviles' ensuing ground ball threatened a double play, but the shortstop just barely managed to beat the throw, allowing David Ortiz to come in the back door for the run.
Red Sox 0, Tigers 0, Mid 2nd -- Daniel Bard gets some help from his defense, as Ryan Sweeney makes a tremendous sliding catch in right field, picking a blooper off the dirt before Scott Podsednik runs a ball down in front of the wall to record the third out. Not a bad start to the game for Bard on the whole, either.
Red Sox 0, Tigers 0, End 1st -- Not only do the Red Sox not get a baserunner, but they don't even make Verlander work particularly hard. Nothing even leaves the infield as the Sox go down in order on all of 10 pitches. Not a particularly good showing.
Red Sox 0, Tigers 0, Mid 1st -- Daniel Bard strikes out the first batter he faces to get himself off to an unusually good start. A soft fliner drops in front of Scott Podsednik for the first hit of the night, but Bard gets a couple of weak ground balls to end the inning without any damage.