With the Red Sox recent woes this west coast road trip needed some key players to step up and that is just what several have done.
This west coast road trip began with a sense of urgency as the Red Sox had lost 3 series in a row only taking 1 out of 4 from the Royals, and only 1 of 3 from both the Blue Jays and Yankees allowing the Rays to come scratching at our heels and are now currently tied for first place in the AL East.
The road trip began in San Francisco against the defending World Series champions Giants.
Game 1 saw Jon Lester on the mound and he was definitely the Jon Lester we have come to know and love. He pitched what could possibly be his best game of the season as he went 8 and 1/3 innings giving up 6 hits 3 K’s and 2 walks. When the 8th inning came to an end Lester was already over 100 pitches but very adamantly told manager John Farrell that he was coming back out to finish the game, the kind of fire we need from a recently struggling starting pitcher. This game also saw Nava and Victorino both have a 3 hit game which led to the Sox winning 7-0.
Game 2 was one that just fell the wrong way as an 8th inning run and then a walk off walk led to the 3-2 loss. The Giants went 0-10 with runners in scoring position yet still found a way to win. Victorino hit his 8th homerun of the season and Jake Peavy pitched a rather decent game as he struck out 4 and only gave up 1 run. Tazawa gave up the tying run in the 8th and then Morales loaded the bases in the 9th before he was pulled for Villareal. Scutaro was very patient at the plate and drew ball 4 and a well played game was lost to a walk off walk.
The third game had the Red Sox back in top form. Felix Doubront had one of, if not the, best game of the season going 8 innings allowing 5 hits, striking out 3 and only 1 walk with the only earned run coming from a solo shot in the 2nd inning. The Sox tallied up 12 hits along with 12 runs including another 3 hits from Victorino and Ellsbury. Jacoby also earned his league leading 46th stolen base. Uehara had another great inning as he came in for a non save situation and threw a perfect inning.
Come Friday Red Sox bats did just the opposite from the Wednesday night hit parade and saw another gem of a pitching game from John Lackey go without a victory. Lackey pitched a complete game and in essence made only one real mistake as Hanley Ramirez hit his 14th HR of his career in the bottom of the 4th inning to drive in the only 2 runs of the game. Lackey went the full game and only gave up 3 hits while striking out 6. Lackey this season has pitched better than most have anticipated coming off Tommy John surgery but unfortunately has been a victim of little to no run support. He has had 23 starts this season and has been shut out 5 times and the Red Sox have scored 3 or fewer runs in 13 games. Lackey has posted a very respectable 3.17 ERA but only has an 8-11 record. This once again was the case Friday night as the Red Sox only saw Pedroia and Drew get hits.
Despite the small fall backs the Red Sox are still in first place, although tied with Tampa Bay but it is still a far cry from last season. If we can come out of Los Angeles with a series win then we would arguably have some proof that we did the right thing in our salary dump of Beckett, Crawford, Gonzalez, and Punto was well worth it. We now look to Lester and Peavy on the mound to make this possible and if they pitch the way they have recently then the Red Sox should be beginning a new win streak as we head back to the East coast for a 9 game home stand.
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