SB Nation Boston - Red Sox At Tigers: Justin Verlander Dominant As Sox Can't Close Out Sweephttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48863/boston-fave.png2011-05-29T23:17:55-04:00http://boston.sbnation.com/rss/stream/19553712011-05-29T23:17:55-04:002011-05-29T23:17:55-04:00Red Sox 0, Tigers 3: Red Sox Can't Touch Justin Verlander, Have Winning Streak Snapped At Five
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<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.overthemonster.com/">Red Sox</a> split their double-header with Detroit, falling 3-0 to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.blessyouboys.com/">Tigers</a> in the second contest.</p>
<p>While billed as a battle of the aces—a rematch, in fact, of their contest earlier in the month—only one of <span>Josh Beckett</span> and <span>Justin Verlander</span> was really <em>on</em> Sunday, and that was Justin Verlander. Beckett put the Sox in a hole early, allowing two runs on a walk and three straight one-out hits in the first.</p>
<p>Somehow, though, despite having little control over any of his pitches for the rest of the game, Beckett would escape further harm. He would allow five walks, see his pitch count get quite high, and find himself in danger often enough. But at the end of six, there he was, with two earned runs.</p>
<p>Against most other pitchers, that would have been plenty good enough. But against Justin Verlander, it wasn’t even close. Facing none of the problems Beckett had, Verlander just didn’t let people reach base, inducing weak out after weak out. Only some tenacious at bats by the Red Sox kept him from collecting a complete game shutout, as they forced him from the game with two outs in the eighth.</p>
<p>Unlike the day game, however, the Tigers bullpen proved up to the task this time. With two men on base (one of the few times the Red Sox actually threatened all game), <span>Joaquin Benoit</span> came in after having already pitched in inning in the first game and got <span>Dustin Pedroia</span> to fly out to end the inning. Up next was <span>Jose Valverde</span>, making his second appearance of the day as well, and up against the middle of the order, no less.</p>
<p>Somehow, though, Valverde did a 180-degree turn from his last outing, getting two quick outs on <span>Adrian Gonzalez</span> and <span>Kevin Youkilis</span> before getting some modicum of revenge on <span>David Ortiz</span> for his homer earlier in the game, ending the Red Sox’ hopes of a sweep once and for all.</p>
https://boston.sbnation.com/boston-red-sox/2011/5/29/2196863/red-sox-score-game-tigersBenjamin Buchanan2011-05-29T18:36:36-04:002011-05-29T18:36:36-04:00VIDEO: David Ortiz Hits Ninth-Inning Go-Ahead Pinch-Hit Homer
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<p>So very many hyphens...</p>↵<p>Perhaps no man has come through more routinely in the clutch for the <a href="https://www.overthemonster.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Boston Red Sox</a> than <span>David Ortiz</span>. The author of numerous walk-off hits for the Red Sox in his nine years with the team, Ortiz would not have that opportunity Sunday, since the Sox were on the road. Called on to pinch-hit in the ninth inning of a 3-3 game, however, he would have a shot at the next best thing.</p>↵<p>If the go-ahead home run that followed (video of which can be viewed <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_05_29_bosmlb_detmlb_1&mode=box">here, </a>on MLB.com) seemed somehow familiar, that's because David Ortiz has only one other at bat against <span>Jose Valverde</span> in his career. That one, back on July 30, 2010 resulted in a grand slam that almost brought the Sox back from a 6-1 deficit. The Sox would eventually lose that game, but they would not lose Sunday's.</p>↵<p>David Ortiz is now hitting .306/.378/.559 on the season with 11 homers, putting him on pace for 34 on the season. No, don't look at the calendar, I can assure you that, as much as it may feel like 2007, this is very much 2011.</p>
https://boston.sbnation.com/boston-red-sox/2011/5/29/2196534/david-ortiz-home-run-video-pinch-hit-may-29Benjamin Buchanan2011-05-29T17:14:50-04:002011-05-29T17:14:50-04:00Second Half Of Red Sox Doubleheader Will Be Broadcast On NESN
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<p>In case you missed it, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nesn.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fgame-2-of-red-sox-tigers-doubleheader-to-air-on-nesn-at-7-pm.html&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fboston.sbnation.com%2Fboston-red-sox%2F2011%2F5%2F29%2F2196457%2Fred-sox-game-nesn-espn-tv-schedule-may-29" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">NESN has announced</a> that the second half of the <a href="https://www.overthemonster.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Red Sox</a> and <a href="https://www.blessyouboys.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Tigers</a>' doubleheader will be televised Sunday night.</p>↵<p>While initial indications were that ESPN's exclusivity agreement (they had been scheduled to air the game Saturday before it was rained out) would keep the game off the air, the networks were apparently able to work out some sort of agreement.</p>↵<p>This seems like a good deal all-around. ESPN can't be losing that many viewers to competition--it's hard to see, after all, how either fan base would be willing to tune in to watch the game and network that had kept them off the air. Now ESPN gets to be the good guys and NESN gets to put on a game featuring <span>Josh Beckett</span> and <span>Justin Verlander</span>. </p>↵<p>Weather permitting, the game will have a typical 7:05 p.m. start time. With the Sox having taken the first half of the doubleheader 4-3, Boston will be going for the sweep.</p>
https://boston.sbnation.com/boston-red-sox/2011/5/29/2196457/red-sox-game-nesn-espn-tv-schedule-may-29Benjamin Buchanan2011-05-29T16:56:59-04:002011-05-29T16:56:59-04:00Red Sox 4, Tigers 3: Boston Wins Fifth Straight On David Ortiz' Clutch Homer
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<p>The Red Sox won their fifth straight game and clinched the series win against Detroit Sunday, downing the Tigers 4-3.</p>
<p>While the second half of the day's double header will feature a battle of the aces between Josh Beckett and Justin Verlander, the first half featured a pitching matchup that seemed entirely lopsided. Clay Buchholz entered the game on riding a five-game hot streak that had seen him allow six runs in 33 innings in May, dropping his ERA by two whole points. Andrew Oliver, the Tigers' starter, was making the first start of his season after a dismal MLB debut in 2010.</p>
<p>And, for at least the first five innings, the game went largely according to script. The Red Sox put three men on base and scored in the first, then found homers from Mike Cameron and Dustin Pedroia in the second and third innings. Clay Buchholz, meanwhile, faced just one man over the minimum and seemed ready to cruise through the game. Even entering the sixth, a solo shot from Andy Dirks was the only blemish against him.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for the Sox, Buchholz went off script in the sixth inning. While the solo shot allowed to Brennan Boesch wasn't enough to take away his win, the hard-hit double past a diving Drew Sutton combined with a two-out line drive off the bat off Jhonny Peralta was. Buchholz finally picked got Don Kelly to fly out to end both the inning and his night as he returned to the dugout, flinging his glove violently against the wall.</p>
<p>With a second game just hours away, the Red Sox had to conserve their bullpen as best as possible, and so they went looking for two innings from Matt Albers. While Sox fans might still remember his allowing five earned runs against the Cubs all too well, Albers earned some amount of redemption by holding the tie until the ninth, retiring the heart of the Detroit order with surprising ease.</p>
<p>The Red Sox entered the top of the ninth facing the unfortunate reality of having the bottom two men in their order up to start the inning--a worse situation than usual with the lineup having been cobbled together to face a lefty. So it was that Terry Francona turned to the bench against Jose Valverde. First up was J.D. Drew, who worked a decent plate appearance but had his bat break on what seemed like a strong swing, resulting in a relatively lazy fly ball out. </p>
<p>Up next was David Ortiz, who entered the game with a perfect career line off of Valverde: 1-for-1 with a home run. Seemingly cognizant of this, Valverde worked around Ortiz for the first six pitches of the at bat, but with the count finally running full, he decided to challenge the slugger. Big mistake. With the pitch in his wheelhouse, Ortiz swung hard, and sent the ball just over the top of the wall in right to give the Sox the 4-3 lead. With Jonathan Papelbon looking entirely dominant in the ninth, the Sox returned to the locker room to prepare for the second game of the double-header with a five-game winning streak at their backs.</p>
https://boston.sbnation.com/boston-red-sox/2011/5/29/2196409/red-sox-score-game-tigers-david-ortiz-home-runBenjamin Buchanan2011-05-28T21:02:07-04:002011-05-28T21:02:07-04:00Red Sox Vs. Tigers: Saturday's Game Postponed, Moved To Sunday
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<p>The third game of a four-game weekend set between the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.overthemonster.com/">Boston Red Sox</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.blessyouboys.com/">Detroit Tigers</a> on Saturday night at Comerica Park has been postponed due to rain.</p>
<p>Saturday night's game underwent an hour and 25 minute rain delay after it started raining just after the scheduled start time, and it never let up.</p>
<p>As a result, Boston and Detroit will now play a day-night doubleheader on Sunday, with the first game beginning at 1:05 p.m EDT and the second game taking place on Sunday night at 7:05 p.m.</p>
<p>For more Boston Red Sox coverage, visit out Red Sox blog, <a href="http://www.overthemonster.com" target="_blank">Over the Monster</a>.</p>
https://boston.sbnation.com/boston-red-sox/2011/5/28/2195498/red-sox-vs-tigers-doubleheader-sunday-mlb-scores-newsGethin Coolbaugh2011-05-27T22:18:12-04:002011-05-27T22:18:12-04:00Red Sox 6, Tigers 3: Boston Rides Another Big Inning To Fourth Straight Win
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<p>The <a href="https://www.overthemonster.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Boston Red Sox</a> cruised to their fourth straight victory Friday utilizing another big early inning to down the <a href="https://www.blessyouboys.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Detroit Tigers</a> 6-3.</p>
<p>While this game did not feature the same consistent scoring attack of their last two, it certainly started off similarly enough. After putting up a seven-run first inning on Wednesday and a five-run second, the Sox waited until the third to do the majority of their damage Thursday.</p>
<p>Trailing 2-1 after Wakefield allowed a pair of ground ball singles in the first and a very loud solo shot to <span>Jhonny Peralta</span> in the second, <span>Jacoby Ellsbury</span> immediately erased the Red Sox’ deficit, getting ahead of Detroit starter <span>Rick Porcello</span> 3-1 and pulling the ensuing fastball into the stands in right for his sixth home run of the season.</p>
<p>It would take Porcello three more batters and another two runs to get his first out of the inning, with <span>Dustin Pedroia</span> walking, <span>Adrian Gonzalez</span> singling, and <span>Kevin Youkilis</span> doubling deep to right to bring them both in before <span>David Ortiz</span> hit a lazy fly ball to <span>Austin Jackson</span>.</p>
<p>If that was supposed to be Porcello getting his second wind, however, it didn’t last long. <span>Carl Crawford</span> worked an eight-pitch at bat against him, ending with an inside fastball which Crawford put an Ortiz-like swing on to clear out for his third home run in five games. When all was said-and-done in the third, Porcello had 75 pitches on his arm and was done for the night. That’s three straight starters the Sox have chased before the fourth inning.</p>
<p>If there was a saving grace for Detroit in this game, it was <span>Charlie Furbush</span> saving the pen with a shutdown five-inning effort in relief of Porcello. As tends to be the case against rookie lefties, the Sox had serious trouble seeing Furbush, leading to just four baserunners.</p>
<p>The good news was that they didn’t need the help. After his early troubles, <span>Tim Wakefield</span> found his knuckleball again, and started mowing down opposing batters. While the Tigers would threaten a few more times thanks to a number of leadoff baserunners, Wakefield shut them down each time, finishing the seventh without allowing another run. <span>Daniel Bard</span> finished the seventh with just six pitvhes, and while <span>Jonathan Papelbon</span> did run into some trouble in a non-save ninth, a couple of strikeouts and an impressive grab on a sinking liner from Carl Crawford closed out the game before things got too hairy.</p>
https://boston.sbnation.com/boston-red-sox/2011/5/27/2194265/red-sox-score-tigers-gameBenjamin Buchanan2011-05-27T16:03:33-04:002011-05-27T16:03:33-04:00Red Sox Vs. Tigers Lineups: Josh Reddick Continues To Fill In For J.D. Drew
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<p>The Red Sox have been without their full lineup for the last couple of days, but it hasn't stopped them from putting up fourteen runs in each of their last two games. While the group that manager Terry Francona will send out Friday still isn't entirely complete with J.D. Drew still resting his hamstring, it's the closest the team has been since May 23. </p>
<blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">
<p><span style="line-height: 15px;">1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 15px;">2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 15px;">3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 15px;">4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 15px;">5. David Ortiz, DH</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 15px;">6. Carl Crawford, LF</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 15px;">7. Jed Lowrie, SS</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 15px;">8. Josh Reddick, RF</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 15px;">9. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C</span></p>
<p>--Tim Wakefield, SP</p>
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<p>After a second straight 4-hit game, Carl Crawford will continue to bat sixth. If he can keep up a reasonable pace, it's hard to see anything dislodging him from that spot.</p>
<p>The Tigers will be relying on a rather different lineup than the one which was shut down by Alfredo Aceves on Thursday.</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">
<p>1. Austin Jackson, CF</p>
<p>2. Ramon Santiago, 2B</p>
<p>3. Ryan Raburn, LF</p>
<p>4. Miguel Cabera, DH</p>
<p>5. Victor Martinez, 1B</p>
<p>6. Jhonny Peralta, SS</p>
<p>7. Alex Avila, C</p>
<p>8. Casper Wells, RF</p>
<p>9. Brandon Inge, 3B</p>
<p>--Rick Porcello, SP</p>
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https://boston.sbnation.com/boston-red-sox/2011/5/27/2193765/red-sox-game-tigers-lineupBenjamin Buchanan2011-05-26T17:48:52-04:002011-05-26T17:48:52-04:00Red Sox 14, Tigers 1: Red Sox Offense Keeps Rolling Against Tigers, Crawford Collects Four Hits In Win
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<p>The Red Sox put on an offensive show against Max Scherzer and the Tigers, scoring fourteen runs for the second straight game to down Detroit 14-1 in a game cut an inning short by rain.</p>
<p>It took Boston a few more outs to effectively put the game away Thursday than it did against the Indians, but once again the Sox took a large early lead and did not let go.</p>
<p>Max Scherzer took the mound for the Tigers beginning the day with a 2.98 ERA. After a leadoff walk to Jacoby Ellsbury, Scherzer seemed to settle down, escapign the first inning unharmed. Then the wheels fell off. A reasonably lucky hit from David Ortiz started a string of four hits off the Tigers' starter that gave the Sox a 2-0 lead.</p>
<p>It may have seemed as though Scherzer was gaining traction after he struck out Jason Varitek, but any notions of improvement were dispelled when Jacoby Ellsbury turned on a 2-2 pitch and sent it into the stands in right field to give the Sox their third, fourth, and fifth runs of the game.</p>
<p>While the Red Sox wouldn't score seven runs in the inning like they did against Cleveland, they may as well have. After allowing a single and a walk to start off the inning, Scherzer found himself chased from the game after Carl Crawford tripled before an out was recorded in the third. Crawford would finish with four hits in five at bats, including two triples. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Alfredo Aceves was once again carrying more than his fair share of the load on the mound, allowing a lone run in six innings of work. While he once again showed a tendency to lose control for short periods of time, he also brought strikeouts to the table this time around, gathering six of them along the way. </p>
<p>Adam Wilk would stabilize things for the Tigers until the eighth, with the Sox scoring only two more runs, but that final half inning proved exceptionally difficult for Detroit. The Red Sox once again unloaded for five runs in an inning, sending nine men to the plate to match their total against Cleveland with 14 runs. With the tarp being rolled out on the field before the bottom of the frame could start, the game ended as another big win for a Sox team on a roll.</p>
https://boston.sbnation.com/boston-red-sox/2011/5/26/2192175/red-sox-14-tigers-1-red-sox-offense-keeps-rolling-against-tigersBenjamin Buchanan