A Good Night for the Red Sox

Last night, the Red Sox beat the Rockies 11-4.  Ryan Dempster had one of his better outings, in my opinion, with his line being: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, and 1 HR.  Ellsbury, Pedroia, Nava, and Iglesias collected 3 hits a piece, and the Red Sox combined for a total of 20 hits, their most in a game this season.  Also, Kevin Millar manned the Red Sox Twitter feed throughout the game, so there were some interesting postings on Twitter.

The Red Sox needed this win, and I think it’s great that it came behind Dempster.  Dempster’s record is 5-8, but it doesn’t really reflect the way he’s been pitching.  I can recall numerous games where he’s pitched into the 6^th inning and given up 3 or less runs, but he either gets the loss or a no decision.  Yes, he gives up a lot of home runs; but luckily, they seem to be single shots mostly (like last night).  Dempster didn’t just need this win for his record; he needed this win for his moral.

I do find it interesting how the Red Sox's offense seems to rally when some pitchers are on the mound while they don’t with others.  Lester seems to get a lot of offense when he pitches.  I know it’s nothing they can control, as sometimes pitchers/teams luck changes from game to game.  I mean, Felix Hernandez won the Cy Young award a couple years ago with a losing record.  Wins and losses don’t mean as much anymore, but it is an interesting thing to note. 

The Red Sox scored all their runs without a home run being hit, which is intriguing for an organization known for power bats.  Well, there was a home run that was hit (in my opinion), but it was counted as a Triple (get to that in a moment).  Ellsbury, Victorino, Pedroia, Ortiz, and Iglesias all had doubles, and Drew was scored with a Triple.  Pedroia went 3-for-5 and had 4 RBIs.  He seems to pound the Rockies (remember a few years ago when he went 5-for-5 against them with 3 home runs?   And don't forget what happened in the next game.)

And back to that “Triple.”  So, in the fourth inning, Stephen Drew hit a shot to center field that hit on top of the wall and bounced back onto the field.  He ended up at third base, and the umpiring crew went to review.  They scored the hit a Triple, which I don’t understand.  You could clearly see in replays that the ball hit the top of the wall, right where the cameras are located, and it hit “debris” that was lying on the ground.  To me, that’s a home run; it went above the wall, hit something, and then bounced back in.  Drew ended up scoring when Iglesias hit a double.

Some other notes from the game:

Will Middlebrooks was sent down to Triple-A to hopefully get his swing and defense back to the caliber it was at this point last year.  He’s hit .192 with 9 home runs (3 in one game, if you recall), and 25 RBIs this season.  His demotion comes a year (on Monday) after Youkilis’s trade to the White Sox.  Kind of ironic.  Brandon Snyder, a thrid baseman, had his contract purchased.  Haven’t heard too much about him except that his average isn’t exceptional, but he brings some power.

David Ross was placed on the 60-day disabled list.  He’s had two concussions his season, and he suffered with concussion-like symptoms between.  A concussion specialist examined Ross and recommended that he leave the team and return to his home in Florida to recover.  He’ll be eligible to return August 18^th.

Franklin Morales was also placed on the disabled list with his sore pectoral muscle, which I brought up on Monday.

Finally, Victorino ran into the wall again and hit his head last night.  He hit it pretty hard, but he stayed in the game.  Victorino’s fun to watch and plays with a lot of energy, but I feel like he should be wearing bubble-wrap when he plays.  The man runs into more walls than any player I’ve seen.