June 24, 2008
Lester Out Duels Big Unit as Ortiz leads Sox in rout of Dbacks
Boston 8, Arizona 2
After a strong performance in May, David Oritz has struggled like much of the Red Sox offense this month. Ortiz, the winner of the AL Batter of the Month award last month after hitting .364 with 10 HRs and 27 RBIs, has slipped down to .222 in June. Last night, facing Arizona veteran Randy Johnson, Ortiz responded with a two-for-four showing with 3 RBIs. It was his first multi-RBI game since collecting 5 against Kanas City back on May 22nd.
Leading 1-0 in the 5th, Ortiz increased the Boston lead with a two-run home run off Johnson. It was a good thing as Sox starer Jon Lester ran into trouble in the bottom half of the inning. Arizona scored twice in the sixth on a pair of bases-loaded walks to Chris Young and Mark Reynolds that forced in runners from third. Lester had gotten into trouble by allowing Chris Snyder, Eric Bynres and Justin Upton all to bases with one-out singles. Fortunately, Lester was able to settle himself after a visit at the mound by Jason Varitek and retired the final two batters, Stephen Drew and Alex Ojeda, on full-count strike-outs.
Arizona managed one more base runner against Lester before the left-hander exited the game with a 4-2 lead in the middle of the eight.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Red Sox managed to pack on some insurance runs against Tony Pena. With one out, Dustin Pedria reached base on an error by Drew before advancing to third on a throwing error by Reynolds at third. With runners at the corners, Pena and Snyder crossed signals, allowing Pedroia to come home on a passed ball. Willie Bloomquist added a bloop single to right to score Lugo before Varitek put the game to rest with a two-run home run, his fifth of the season.
Manny Delcarmen pitched the final inning and one-third to earn his sixth save of the season.
W: Lester (9-3) L: Johnson (8-3) SV: Delcarmen (6)
Player of the Game: David Ortiz (2-4, HR, R, 3 RBIs)
Around the League:
...CF Derrick Robinson (Omaha, PCL) extended his hitting streak to 32 games...