June 28, 2008
Drew, Lugo Power Sox Past Astrros
Boston 4, Houston 2
In the span of five at-bats, the chances of Wandy Rodriguez beating the Red Sox seemed to evaporate. In the bottom of the 2nd, Boston jumped on Rodriguez for four quick runs which proved enough for Daisuke Matsuzaka to earn his 11th win of the season.
After a leadoff single to Manny Ramirez, Rodriguez surrendered a two-run home run on the first pitch to J.D. Drew to open the scoring for Boston. The 337 ft line drive shot, a scorcher down the right field line, just clear the high wall for Drew's 7th home run of the season. Dustin Pedroia followed Drew with a long shot of his own, but the fly ball stayed in the park, thanks to the deep dimensions of Minute Maid Park in center field. Unlike Drew and Pedroia, Jason Varitek didn't get contact, taking a four pitch walk down to first. Rodriguez continued his wild streak against Julio Lugo. With Varitek on first, Rodriguez threw to balls to Lugo before missing the plate completely, allowing the slow-footed catcher to advance to second. Facing a 3-0 count with Matsuzaka on deck, Rodriguez grooved a fastball down the heart of the plate, which Lugo deposited into the short porch in left field for the four run lead. Rodriguez would settle down after the Lugo home run, retiring Matsuzaka on strikes before inducing Jacoby Ellsbury to ground out to second to end the inning.
J.D. Drew connects on his second inning home run against Wandy Rodriguez
Daisuke Matsuzaka, on the other hand, was much stronger than his counterpart. Coming off just one loss in his last twelve games, Matsuzaka held Houston off balance all night, allowing only two hits in eight innings while striking out four.
In the fourth with a 4-0 lead, Matsuzaka ran into trouble against the Astros. With one out, David Newhan was able to bunt his way onto base when he beat out the throw from Mike Lowell at third. After retiring Michael Bourn on a fielder's choice, Miguel Tejada took Matsuzaka deep to center to cut the lead in half. The home run, Tejadja's tenth of the season, was the 17th surrendered by Matsuzaka in 19 games this season.
Boston would recover though, as the Astros were unable put another runner into scoring position all night.
W: Matsuzaka (11-3) L: Rodriguez (7-9) SV: Papelbon (23)
Player of the Game: Daisuke Matsuzaka (8 IP, 2 Hs, 2 Rs, 1 BB, 4 Ks, 108 PI)
Around the League:
...Baltimore activated 2B Brian Roberts (.292/.346/.416) from the disabled list...Kansas City Royal MR Jimmy Gobble (35g, 4-1, 2 svs., 5.62 ERA) is done for the season after fracturing his elbow against the St. Louis Cardinals...
Revolution Lackluster in Loss to Salt Lake
Salt Lake 1, New England 0
New England has had quite a run their last four matches, holding their opponents scoreless for over 360 minutes. In fact, New England hadn't lost a match since May 3rd. That stretch of six matches matched the longest undefeated streak in franchise history and enable the Revolution to pull into first place in the Eastern Conference of the MLS.
Last night, though, the run ended with a lackluster performance against an opponent not on their level.
"We didn't bring our 'A' game, that's for sure," coach Steve Nicols said. "We played a good game, but the offense wasn't there. Our transition game didn't take advantage of their opportunities."
Without Khano Smith in midfield directing the attack, New England managed just five shots on goal as they lost battled of possession.
The match was even thought the half, but, midway through the second half, Salt Lake capitalized on a New England defensive lapse to score the game's only goal. In the 62nd minute, Jake Jewsbury turned over the ball on a hard tackle and Salt Lake made the most of the turnover. Josh Gardner swiveled on the ball and fed the ball forward to Fabian Espindola who found Kenny Cutler alone in front of the goal box for the easy deposit and the 1-0 lead.
The goal was the first surrendered by Matt Reis in 330 minutes of play, ending a run of four straight blank sheets for the keeper.
The two clubs meet up next in Salt Lake City on July 7th in the back end of a home-and-home series. New England is expected to be without Khano Smith for that match too, as the midfielder continues to rehab from a rib injury suffered against New York.