July 18, 2008
Sox Jump on Lackey, Take Opener from Halos
Boston 9, Anaheim 4
The Red Sox offense took their much needed rest and came out rejuvenated for the second half, jumping on Angels ace John Lackey for six runs in just one-third of an inning.
After retiring Coco Crisp to lead off the game, Lackey allowed the next seven Red Sox batters to reach before being lifted by manager Mike Scioscia. Kevin Youkilis started things off with a single and moved to third on a David Ortiz double. A walk to Manny Ramirez loaded the bases for Mike Lowell, who doubled home two runs to open the scoring for the Sox. Dustin Pedroia, Brandon Moss and Jason Varitek all followed with RBI-singles before Chris Bootcheck entered the game. After allowing Julio Lugo to drive home the sixth run of the inning, Bootcheck retired Crisp and Youkilis on flyouts to center that ended the inning.
"We took advantage of a guy who didn't have his best stuff," Jason Varitek said. "Next time out, I'm sure he'll be throwing bullets. That's the type of guy [Lackey] is, we just got lucky today and took advantage."
The Red Sox added two more in the fifth on a couple of sloppy plays by Anaheim. After striking out to start the inning, Manny Ramirez was allowed to reach first when the called third strike got away from Mike Napoli. Pedroia followed one batter later with a double down the right field line into the corner that scored Ramirez easily from first. Bradon Moss, starting in place of J.D. Drew, knocked a routine grounder to short that Maicer Izturis bobbled and threw away, allowing Pedroia to score with the 8th run of the night for the Sox.
Kevin Youkilis added a solo home run, his 12th of the year, off Scott Shields in the sixth to cap the Red Sox scoring.
But, Anaheim wasn't done just yet. In the eight, Casey Kotchman drove in two runs on a single to center that put Anaheim on the board and broke up Beckett's shut out. Josh Fields would later add a two-run home run off of Bryan Corey in the ninth, but it proved to be not enough as the Sox held on for their third victory in four games against the Angels this season.
After the game, both Chris Bootcheck and Tony Graffanino were placed on the 15-day disabled list with what the team are calling minor injuries.
W: Beckett (10-4) L: Lackey (6-5)
Player of the Game: Josh Beckett (8.0 IP, h Hs, 2 Rs, BB, 9 K's, 124 PI)
Around the League:
...Washington signed MR Odalis Perez (2-4, 5.84 ERA) to a 5-year contract extension worth a total of $2.1m...Florida signed 32-year old free agent CF Cheng-en Li (.203/.288/.305 w/ Jiangsu, CBL) to a one-year contract worth $390k...Cincinnati remain silent, but reports are that C Javier Valentin (.231, 3 HRs, 13 RBIs) is requested a trade...
Manchester United Sign Vicente
The news coming out of England has Manchester United opening up their wallets in a bid to win another European Championship. In an unexpected move, Man U bought Spanish left winger Vicente from Valencia for $103m ($73m euro).
The former Levante player, who joined Valencia for $6.25m in 2000, has represented Spain forty times in his career.
Bruins finally nab Perry, FA period winding down
Free agent Corey Perry has accepted the Bruins' offer, agreeing to join the club for 3 yrs. at $1.32m p/y. A former first round pick (28th overall) of the Ducks in 2003, Perry has scored 49 goals in 213 NHL games over three season with Anaheim.
"We see Corey contributing immediately," team president Christian Franklin said in announcing the signing. "Peter and his scouting staff have liked him for awhile now, and the opportunity to sign a blossoming player at this point for us was worth the cost."
Perry is likely to start the season on the Bruins third line, behind Dustin Brown and Peter Bergeron on the Boston depth chart.
Notable NHL Signings:
- Jose Theodore signed with the San jose Sharks for 3 yrs., $8.25m
- D Darius Kasparaitis signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets for 2 yrs., $2.9m
- Patrice Brisebois signed a 1-yrs, $775k contract with the New Jersey Devils
- D Jason Smith signed with the St. Louis Blues for 3 yrs., $6m.