Jon Lester has had a tough time keeping leads for the Red Sox tonight, but Dustin Pedroia and Will Middlebrooks backed him up after his most recent stumble to give the Red Sox a 4-3 lead through six innings.
With the Sox having just gone up 3-1 in the bottom of the third, Jon Lester immediately surrendered the lead in the top of the fourth. A walk from Adam Jones to lead off the inning was followed by a perfectly placed flair to right field that hit the chalk for Matt Wieters. The ball bounced up past Cody Ross, allowing Wieters to reach third and Jones to score before the right fielder could get it back in. Wieters would score on a Wilson Betemit single to tie it up at 3-3.
The Sox would go quietly in the bottom half of the fourth, but then got back on top in the fifth. Will Middlebrooks would lead off the inning with his third major league hit, doubling off the Monster. Adrian Gonzalez seemed to have a chance to bring him in when he hit a long fly ball to left, but Betemit ran the ball down leaving the job to Dustin Pedroia. The former MVP did not disappoint, quickly singling up the middle to plate Middlebrooks and give the Sox the 4-3 lead.