The Red Sox are out for their third straight win Tuesday night as they send Jon Lester to the mound against Philip Humber and the White Sox.
We'll keep you up-to-date on all the action as it goes down in Fenway Park.
White Sox 7, Red Sox 5, Mid 9th -- Making his first appearance out of the bullpen in a while, Franklin Morales picks up a shutdown ninth, giving the Sox a chance in the bottom half.
White Sox 7, Red Sox 5, End 8th -- Finally, in the eighth, the Red Sox have some life. Carl Crawford gets things started with his third hit of the night, again coming in the infield, then moves to second on a ground ball out and steals third to make it so that Will Middlebrooks just needs a properly placed ball to get him in. Instead, Middlebrooks finally gets a pitch that, while still out (the new place to exploit his inexperience these days) is also up, and shoots it into left field for an RBI single.
The big hit, however, comes from Kelly Shoppach, who is getting harder to keep out of the lineup as he continues to produce and Saltalamacchia continues to slump. Receiving a 2-1 pitch over the middle of the plate, cutting towards him, Shoppach takes a big hack and connects, sending a two-run shot out into the second row of Monster seats for a two-run jack that has the Sox within two.
White Sox 7, Red Sox 2, Mid 8th -- Tazawa picks up another scoreless inning, striking out Gordon Beckham in the process. His ERA now sits at 0.84 in his short time with the major league team this season.
White Sox 7, Red Sox 2, End 7th -- Brian Omogrosso is first out of the pen for Chicago, and while he lets up some decent contact after a Mike Aviles strikeout, the Sox don't so much as pick up a baserunner. Two innings and five runs is an incredibly tall order.
White Sox 7, Red Sox 2, Mid 7th -- Junichi Tazawa has provided the Sox with some solid innings, striking out both Adam Dunn and A.J. Pierzynski around a single from Paul Konerko. Unfortunately, with no offense forthcoming, the Sox aren't taking any kind of advantage of it.
White Sox 7, Red Sox 2, End 6th -- Adrian Gonzalez picks up the ringing leadoff single this time, but consecutive groundouts from 5-6-7 leaves the Sox still in a deep hole.
White Sox 7, Red Sox 2, Mid 6th -- A leadoff double from Alexei Ramirez again costs the Red Sox, as Alejandro De Aza dropped a single into right with one out to drive in the run before being caught stealing to help the Sox avoid further damage.
White Sox 6, Red Sox 2, End 5th -- An infield single is all the Sox pick up in the fifth. It's a night very similar to Monday, with a struggling pitcher managing to overcome early difficulties to dominate a team they really should not.
White Sox 6, Red Sox 2, Mid 5th -- Junichi Tazawa gives up a one-out single in relief of the awful Jon Lester, but manages to do what the first lefty could not, getting weak ground balls from A.J. Pierzynski and Dayan Viciedo to end the inning.
White Sox 6, Red Sox 2, End 4th -- Two long fly ball outs are cold consolation for a scoreless fourth inning down four.
White Sox 6, Red Sox 2, Mid 4th -- Jon Lester's frustrating lost season takes an continues to head in the wrong direction. A deep fly ball to center puts Dayan Viciedo on second with a ground-rule double, and a walk to Gordon Beckham makes it two on with one out. A ground ball from Alejandro De Aza gets Lester one out away from a scoreless fourth, but after falling behind 3-0 to Kevin Youkilis, he tries to battle his way back. Lester does manage to work the count full, but then leaves one hanging, and Youkilis takes full advantage, sending a ball high, far, and gone into the Monster seats, making it 6-2 in the blink of an eye.
White Sox 3, Red Sox 2, End 3rd -- A leadoff hit by Jacoby Ellsbury is not enough to spark the Red Sox this time. While Crawford manages to make good contact behind him, his fly ball doesn't have quite enough behind it to catch wall in center field. Ellsubry does manage to make a positive out of it by tagging up an moving to second, and Daniel Nava gets hit by a pitch behind him, but Adrian Gonzalez flies out to left and Will Middlebrooks is called out looking at strike three to end the inning.
White Sox 3, Red Sox 2, Mid 3rd -- Jon Lester is out of the third without another run on the board, but it's thanks to Mike Aviles, not his pitching. A leadoff walk to Adam Dunn followed by--believe it or not--a stolen base set the table for the ChiSox. Unfortunately for them, however, Paul Konerko's line drive went straight to Adrian Gonzalez at first, Alex Rios could only ground out, and when A.J. Pierzynski hit a sharp ground ball up the middle that seemed destined for the outfield, Aviles was there, showing incredible range to just get within range, diving to make the grab, and then popping to his feet and firing to first to catch the catcher by a step, ending the inning and saving a run.
White Sox 3, Red Sox 2, End 2nd -- The bottom of the lineup shows no real fight, going 1-2-3 in the bottom of the second. If there's a positive, it's a decently sharp fly ball off the bat of Pedro Ciriaco that is none-the-less run down by Alex Rios to end the frame.
White Sox 3, Red Sox 2, Mid 2nd -- A scoreless inning is too much to ask from Lester, who nearly gets taken out of the park by Alexei Ramirez on an 0-2 pitch fouled to left and then promptly serves up a similar pitch that gets taken off the wall for a single thanks to Carl Crawford's surprisingly strong throw. Unfortunately, a stolen base undoes the good of that defensive play, and Alejandro De Aza manages to double down the left field line with two outs and a full count to once again put the White Sox on top.
Red Sox 2, White Sox 2, End 1st -- Just as quickly, the Red Sox respond, and do so in a very encouraging manner. Jacoby Ellsbury provided the first spark, singling back up the middle and stealing second on the second pitch to Carl Crawford. After getting ahead 3-1, Crawford brought Ellsbury home with a line drive into right field, and then matched him by stealing second himself. While Daniel Nava was only capable of moving the left fielder to third with a ground ball to the right side, Adrian Gonzalez just missed a home run to right field before sending Philip Humber ducking for cover with a line drive up the middle that tied the game.
White Sox 2, Red Sox 0, Mid 1st -- Jon Lester just cannot handle first innings.
Having surrendered at least one run in the first inning of each of his last three games, Lester is once again tagged in the opening frame, this time by the White Sox. The damage began after a leadoff strikeout from Alejandro De Aza as Lester reversed course and offered up a five-pitch walk to Kevin Youkilis. A ground ball to right brought Youkilis into scoring position, and while Lester would get ahead of Paul Konerko 0-2, the first baseman managed to fight off an outside pitch and push it just past the bag at first, scoring a run. A soft line drive from Alex Rios would quickly make it 0-2 before a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out of A.J. Pierzynski and Rios respectively ended the inning.