The game started out well enough; they were up five to two going into the ninth. Wakefield went three innings and gave up only one hit. He walked two batters and struck out three. He was replaced by Mike Timlin. He went one inning and gave up two hits (one of them a home run to Matt Kemp.) David Aardsma took over in the fifth. He went two innings, gave up three hits and struck out one. Bryan Corey was up in the seventh and gave up a hit.
Craig Breslow pitched in the eighth. I've admitted before that I really want him to do well but today wasn't really his day. During his inning he didn't give up any hits but he did load the bases with three walks. He did manage to strike out the last batter but before he could do that he gave up the second run for the Dodgers. Peter Gammons mentioned during the broadcast that there were a couple of teams that might be interested in Breslow if they sent him back to Pawtucket. His main competition for the role of second lefty in the 'pen seems to be Lopez; if they choose to go with Lopez over Breslow (which would require Lopez really getting his act together), then I suppose that would be best for him. I was kind of hoping he would slip through waivers and then when the Front Office figured out that Lopez sucks at getting out lefties, they could bring him up. Still at the end of his inning, the Sox were still up five to two.
Then came Hunter Jones. During his two thirds of an inning, he struck out one batter, walked one batter, and gave up one hit (which happened to be a grand slam). Only two of the four runs he allowed were earned. Jones split his time almost evenly between A and AA last season, where he did very well. It's hard to blame him for the performance, especially after how disappointed he looked in the dugout when it was over.
The pitcher brought in to finish Jones' inning was Lee Gronkiewicz. Gronkiewicz needed to face six batters to get his out. He walked a batter, hit a batter with a pitch, allowed three hits, and ultimately, allowed the Dodgers to score three runs before he got the strike out.
Offensively: Jacoby, Pedroia, Sean Casey and Chris Carter each hit a double. Pedroia, Lowell, Casey, Moss and Kottaras each also hit a single. An amusing moment occurred when Derek Lowe accidentally hit Mirabelli with a pitch-they sort of laughed at each other.
Overall, Casey had a nice game. Besides what he provided offensively, he made some nice plays at first base (he helped turn two double plays, one rather dramatic.) Jacoby made a nice play in center. And while Pedroia was charged with an error for an errant throw to Lowrie, he did participate successfully in three double plays.
In other interesting news, Coco was supposed to start today's game but was scratched due to a root canal he had this morning. He did appear to be at the game, smiling away; I don't know what sort of pain killers they must have put him on.
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