Tomko v. Colon (Game 49)

That was a nice, solid performance by Colon. It was probably the best one could hope for going into the game. He went five innings and threw seventy-four pitches. He gave up two runs on six hits but struck out four. And although he did walk two, his command of his fastball was nearly impeccable. He was moving around the strike zone with confidence-left, right, up, down, it didn't matter. He put the ball where Varitek wanted it to go.

Hansen was the first reliever out of the 'pen. He threw ten pitches for a strong 1-2-3 sixth inning. He struck out the first batter and then got two ground outs. Lopez came out to pitch the seventh inning and saw four batters in the process of getting his three outs. I really felt quite bad for teasing him yesterday when he walked the first batter he faced. He came back to get the next batter to strike out looking so I didn't feel as rotten. He got a ground out and a swinging strike out to end the inning cleanly.

The next guy summoned from the bullpen was Manny Del. Delcarmen faced three batters for his three outs and got a fly out and two ground-outs. Timlin pitched the ninth and started off well. He got two quick outs: one on a fly out and the other on a bad bunt bid that he fielded well. But then he walked the next batter and gave up a single to the batter after that, that brought in another run for the Royals. He finally got the last batter to fly out to right.

As for offense they were able to put up some nice numbers in support of Colon. Ellsbury was on top of things right out of the gate-hitting a homerun in his first at bat. They didn't score again until the fifth inning when Varitek answered with a homerun of his own. After which Coco got a double, moved over to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by Lugo. Ellsbury and then Pedroia both got hits of their own to load the bases. Ortiz hit a sacrifice fly to center and Lugo came around to score. After which, Ellsbury came around to score on a wild pitch before Manny struck out swinging. They picked up another run in the seventh inning. Ellsbury got a single and then stole second before Pedroia got a single that brought him home. And that was it for runs.

They continue to have a problem with leaving men on base. There were eight men left on base in this game, including leaving the bases loaded in the eighth. They also hit into two doubles plays (thankfully, neither one of them involved Lugo.)