[BostonRS14]

May 13, 2008

Baltimore 4, Boston 3

The Red Sox came out on fire, carrying over the momentum gained in sweeping the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins in recent series, but it was the unlikely Radhames Liz who took control of the game and held the Sox in check for eight innings to earn the win for Baltimore.

With three regulars (Coco Crisp, Dustin Pedroia, J.D. Drew) out of the lineup, manager Terry Francona orchestrated an unorthodox lineup, with Mike Lowell (0-4) leading off.

"We felt it was worth a gamble, the way our guys have been hitting everything," Francona said post-game. "We need to get some guys some rest their natural rest and then J.D.'s back acted up on the flight so that necessitate additional moves that didn't pan out."

With two outs in the first, Boston got things started. David Ortiz singled and moved up to second when Liz put a fastball into the rib cage of Manny Ramirez. Kevin Youkilis drove both home with a double off the scoreboard in right field. Alex Cora followed with a single through the hole between first and second that allowed Youkilis to beat the throw home from Nick Markakis with the third run of the inning.

Liz would settle down afterwards, surrendering just 4 hits the rest of the way in picking up his third win of the season.

Clay Buchholz was just as sharp as Liz, allowing three runs over five innings before leaving with 99 pitches thrown. Javier Lopez came in to start the sixth and surrendered a solo home run to Aubrey Huff that proved to be the game winning run for Baltimore. The run was just the second Lopez has surrendered in 19.1 innings this season.

Boston doesn't expected Drew to miss tomorrow night's game against the O's.

W: Liz (3-2) L: Lopez (3-1) SV: Bradford (2)
Player of the Game: Aubrey Huff (3-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBIs, 2 Runs)

Around the League:
...Atlanta SS Yunel Escobar (.223, .283 OBP) will miss the rest of the season with a ruptured disc in his back after a collision against Philadelphia...