Recap: Boston vs. Baltimore
Sports Network | September 02, 2008
Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Dustin Pedroia homered and drove in five runs while David Ortiz finished 3-for-3 and drove in four more as Boston routed Baltimore, 14-2, in the middle test of a three-game set at Fenway Park. Jon Lester (13-5) allowed just one run on six hits in five innings to pick up the win for the Red Sox, who pounded out 20 hits in the game and have won four of their last five contests. Lester is now a perfect 6-0 in eight career starts versus Baltimore. With the win Boston closed to within four games of first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East and now leads the AL wild card race by four games over Minnesota and Chicago. Kevin Millar and Alex Cintron each had an RBI for the Orioles, who have dropped five in a row and 10 of 11. Ramon Hernandez finished 2-for-4 in the loss. Radhames Liz (5-4) was touched for nine runs on nine hits in just 3 1/3 innings en route to the loss. The Red Sox took control of the contest with a four-run third inning. Coco Crisp started things with a one-out bunt single and quickly swiped second. Liz then issued consecutive walks to Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie that loaded the bases. Ortiz followed with a two-run double and Pedroia lofted a sacrifice fly to left before Mark Kotsay finally capped the frame with an RBI double to right. Baltimore got on the scoreboard with a run in the fourth. Aubrey Huff led off with an infield single, advanced to third on a Hernandez ground-rule double and scored on Millar's sac fly to left. Boston quickly answered and put things out of reach with a six-spot in the fourth. Jeff Bailey led off with a single and advanced 90-feet on Crisp's one- out base hit before Ellsbury chased him home with a single up the middle. After Ellsbury stole second and Lowrie walked, Ortiz slapped another ground- rule double to right to make it a 7-1 game. The O's had seen enough of Liz at that point and went to Fernando Cabrera but Pedroia greeted the reliever by blasting his 16th homer of the year over the wall in left. The Red Sox tacked on another run in the fifth when Lowrie laced a two-out run-scoring, ground-rule double to right. Pedroia's RBI double and a Jonathan Van Every run-scoring single in the seventh extended the lead to 13-1, while a Lowrie sacrifice fly in the eighth accounted for Boston's final run. Cintron knocked in Lou Montanez with a two-out RBI double in the ninth to create the final margin. Game Notes Red Sox All-Star first baseman Kevin Youkilis was scratched before the game with back spasms. Youkilis, who is hitting .315 with 24 home runs and 94 runs batted in, was replaced in the lineup by Bailey...Meanwhile, the Orioles scratched Jeremy Guthrie from his scheduled start on Wednesday in Boston...In other roster moves, Baltimore recalled pitchers Kam Mickolio and Bob McCrory while Boston recalled pitcher Chris Smith...Baltimore fell to 6-22 in its last 28 encounters with the Red Sox at Fenway, where the O's haven't won a series since April 25-26, 2005. Game Notes Red Sox All-Star first baseman Kevin Youkilis was scratched before the game with back spasms. Youkilis, who is hitting .315 with 24 home runs and 94 runs batted in, was replaced in the lineup by Bailey...Meanwhile, the Orioles scratched Jeremy Guthrie from his scheduled start on Wednesday in Boston...In other roster moves, Baltimore recalled pitchers Kam Mickolio and Bob McCrory while Boston recalled pitcher Chris Smith...Baltimore fell to 6-22 in its last 28 encounters with the Red Sox at Fenway, where the O's haven't won a series since April 25-26, 2005.
