The Sox will take an 11-4 lead into the seventh after a five-run fourth inning powered by David Ortiz’ grand slam.
The fourth-inning fun got started with a ground ball double to left and then an RBI-single from Yamaico Navarro that made it a 6-3 Sox lead. Dustin Pedroia singled after Jacoby Ellsbury reached on a fielder’s choice, but some baserunning mishaps led to Dustin Pedroia falling down between first-and-second, and then ultimately Jacoby Ellsbury getting out at third as Pedroia retreated to first.
The lost baserunner wouldn’t prove to be much of an issue, however. Singles from Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis brought David Ortiz to the plate with the bases loaded. It had been nineteen long days since Papi last went long, but Bruce Chen proved just the remedy. With a 3-1 count, Chen went for a slider away, but David Ortiz reached out and managed to hook it, and hook hard. The ball sailed out to right, past even the bullpens. Not only did the Sox have a 10-4 leas, but Ortiz had collected his 1,000th RBI as a Red Sox.
The Sox added another run on Adrian Gonzalez’ single in the sixth, with Kevin Youkilis’ sharp liner that ended up as a double play being the only reason the inning did not result in quite a bit more. Billy Butler’s solo shot off John Lackey and some two-out trouble in the sixth forced him from the game without a quality start, but as of now Lackey seems to be on his way to his fourth straight victory.