Recap: Boston vs. Chicago WSox
Sports Network | August 30, 2008
Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Mark Kotsay finished 3-for-5 and drove in three runs as Boston topped Chicago, 8-2, in the second test of a three-game set from Fenway Park. Jason Bay and Jed Lowrie each knocked in two for the Red Sox, who have won the first two games of the series and five of six overall. Dustin Pedroia went 4-for-4 and scored twice. In addition, Boston remained 4 1/2 games behind Tampa in the AL East. The Rays topped Baltimore earlier Saturday. Michael Bowden (1-0) won his major-league debut, going five innings and allowing two runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk. A.J. Pierzynski and Alexei Ramirez each had an RBI for the White Sox, who have lost three in a row and dropped into a tie atop the AL Central with Minnesota. The Twins-Athletics game will be decided later Saturday. Mark Buehrle (11-11) took the loss after yielding 11 hits and seven runs over 4 2/3 innings. Boston put up three runs in the first on an RBI ground-rule double by Kotsay and a two-run ground-rule double from Bay. Chicago picked up a run in the second as Jermaine Dye led off with a double and scored two batters later on a Ramirez double. The Red Sox boosted their lead to 5-1 in the home half when Jeff Bailey led off with his first home run of the season, and Lowrie's sacrifice fly plated Jacoby Ellsbury, who tripled in the previous at-bat. Joe Crede's triple to start the third turned into Chicago's second run when Pierzynski grounded out, but Kotsay's two-run double in the fifth boosted the home team's lead to 7-2 and chased Buehrle from the contest. In the eighth, Ellsbury singled and Lowrie knocked him in with a double to center. After Bowden exited the game, Javier Lopez, Manny Delcarmen, Justin Masterson and Hideki Okajima combined to allow just two hits in four scoreless frames. Game Notes Boston has won four of the six meetings...The Red Sox purchased Bowden's contract from Pawtucket prior to the game, and sent infielder Joe Thurston outright to Pawtucket...Pedroia became the first Red Sox player to record back-to-back four-hit games since Wade Boggs on June 8 and 10, 1989...It was Crede's first triple since 2003...Bailey's second-inning home run was just his second career homer. Game Notes Boston has won four of the six meetings...The Red Sox purchased Bowden's contract from Pawtucket prior to the game, and sent infielder Joe Thurston outright to Pawtucket...Pedroia became the first Red Sox player to record back-to-back four-hit games since Wade Boggs on June 8 and 10, 1989...It was Crede's first triple since 2003...Bailey's second-inning home run was just his second career homer.
