Red Sox Report: Papi Hot, Youk’s Back Hurting

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Normalcy has been restored.

Last night in Seattle, the Red Sox had all hands on deck after an off day on Thursday. And they needed all hands.

Daniel Bard came in to get the final out of the 7th and all 3 outs in the 8th before handing it over to closer Jonathan Papelbon who closed the Mariners out in the 9th for a 6-4 Boston win.

As was written here the other day, in a perfect world, a baseball team has two dominant relievers that can come in and shut down the opposition in the late innings. That is exactly what the Boston Red Sox have. Let’s hope it stays that way.

-David Ortiz continues to be on fire! The Sox DH went 2-5 in the series opener Friday night which included his team-leading 24th homerun of the season in the second and an RBI single in the 7th. With a .299 batting average to go along with his 24 HR’s and 79 RBI, Ortiz is going to cash in this offseason even if it is with another team besides Boston. He will clearly demand more than the 1 year the Red Sox supposedly would like to offer him.

-Kevin Youkilis was a scratch from last night’s line-up due to lower back soreness. Youkilis felt it Wednesday night in Minnesota but felt fine all day Thursday in Seattle. However, on his way to the ballpark he started to feel the pain once again forcing Terry Francona to make some changes to his line-up. Mike Aviles played 3rd and batted 9th, Jed Lowrie played short and batted 2nd while Dustin Pedroia assumed his favorite spot in the batting order hitting in the clean-up spot. The original plan was to have Lowrie play 3rd for Youkilis but he had to be moved to short when Marco Scutaro also complained of back soreness.

-It wasn’t the best start for John Lackey Friday night but, thanks to his teammates, he did pick up the win. Lackey gave up 2 runs in the first, 1 in the second and another in the 4th putting Boston behind 4-2. But despite those 4 earned runs, 10 hits and 2 walks he gave up through 6, Lackey got the win because Boston score 1 in the 5th, 2 in the 6th and 1 more in the 7th.

-J.D. Who? Josh Reddick continues to make J.D. Drew a distant memory. The rookie belted his 6th homerun of the year to right Carl Crawford field in the 6th turning a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 Boston lead. Reddick is hitting .322 with 6 homers and 25 RBI. He is also playing solid in the outfield defensively.Felix Hernandez (10-10) 3.31 ERA

-Every hitter in the Boston line-up had a hit Friday night with Alex Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Jarrod Saltalamacchia each picking up two. As a team, Boston went 13-37 (.351) for the game.

-Jacoby Ellsbury (31) may lead the team in stolen bases this season, but not if Dustin Pedroia has anything to say about it. The little man who thinks that he is the perfect clean-up hitter for the Red Sox stole his 23rd base last night ranking him second on the team. With all due respect to the well-rounded Pedroia, he would likely rank third on the team in that category if didn’t miss time this season due to injury. Crawford swiped his 14th base in last night’s win.

-Tonight’s (10:10pm) pitching match-up at Safeco Field is a good one. Josh Beckett (9-4) 2.17 ERA will face Mariners’ ace Felix Hernandez (10-10) 3.31 ERA. The Sox beat Hernandez at Fenway on July 22nd scoring 6 runs on 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings on what was the hottest day of the year in Boston.

-Sunday afternoon’s series finale (4:10pm) features Tim Wakefield (6-4) 4.92 ERA against Charlie Furbush (2-4) 4.46 ERA.

-The Sox wrap up their 6-game road trip on Sunday in Seattle. After Sunday's game, the Sox return home to Fenway for a quick 3-game series with Tampa Bay. Then it will be back on the road for 8 games with 4 in Kansas City and 4 in Texas.