My fingernails are significantly shorter now than they were at the beginning of the game.
Tim Wakefield continues on his streak of pitching really well-it's too bad the W-L record doesn't reflect it. Over the course of seven innings, he really stymied the Reds hitters. With eighty-nine pitches, he gave up just four hits (two of them solo home runs), walked only two and struck out six. He played some heads up defense and except for his batting, there really wasn't too much more you could have asked of him. When he left the game, he had a four to two lead.
Okajima came out of the bullpen first and wasn't having much luck today. He gave up a first pitch, broken bat single to the first batter he faced. He did get the second batter to strike out swinging but walked the next batter with four pitches. At that point, Francona pulled him in favor of Delcarmen.
Manny Del didn't pitch particularly well either but he did have more luck. He also gave up a single to the first batter he faced-on which the Reds scored another run. Luckily for him, he got Junior to ground into an inning ending double play.
Now with a score of four to three, Papelbon came out to finish the game off. He got the first batter to ground out to second for one. He got the second batter to ground out to second for two. Then, on a two-two count, he gave up the game tying home run. He then proceeded to walk the next batter. He finally got himself out of there by getting the last batter to strike out swinging. But we were headed for extra innings.
The top of the tenth inning went well for the Sox and when Hansen came out to pitch the bottom of the inning he had a two run lead to work with. The first batter grounded out to short for the first out. The second batter struck out swinging for two. The third batter got a base hit, moved over to second on fielder's indifference, and then over to third. After all of that, Junior finally drew a walk. With runners on first and third, and the winning run at the plate (Brandon Phillips), a seemingly rattled (but maybe not) Craig Hansen served up a ball-low and away-to start things off. The second pitch was right over the plate but low in the strike zone-Phillips got a good piece of it and lofted it to the waiting Drew. Game over. And Craig Hansen was able to pick up his first career save.
While the Reds were able to score the majority of their runs via the long ball, the Red Sox scored a third of them on throwing errors/wild pitches, a third of them on RBI singles, and the last third of them with home runs.
Ellsbury started off the first inning by getting a base hit. He moved over to second on a wild pitch. He then stole third and when the throw from the catcher intended to stop him went awry, came home.
By the fourth inning, the Reds had tied the score at one. Pedroia opened the inning by lining out to third. Bad fielding by Adam Dunn turned a JD Drew double into a JD Drew triple. With JD standing at third, Lowell popped out to third for the second out. The first pitch to Youkilis was a strike looking and the second was low for a ball. The third pitch was low but it was also a wild pitch; it got away from the catcher, rolled to the backstop and JD hustled his way the last ninety feet to, once again, give the Sox a one-run lead. Youkilis eventually struck out to end the top half of the inning.
Having had enough of scoring runs with luck, the Sox then moved on to scoring runs with singles. The score hadn't changed as they headed to the sixth inning. Pedroia began to change that by beating out the throw on an infield single to short. Drew struck out for the first out. Lowell got a base hit and Pedroia moved to second. Youkilis singled to left center and Pedroia came around to score. Coco struck out and Cora grounded out to finish the inning.
The Reds had gotten the run back in the seventh but JD Drew was having none of it when he came up to start the eighth. He put a good swing on the first pitch he saw and sent it to nearly the same spot he sent the triple; better fielding by Adam Dunn kept this JD Drew double as a JD Drew double, though. Lowell ran the count full and then singled to center to bring JD around. Youkilis doubled; for some reason Demarlo Hale sent Lowell and he was out at home for the first out. Coco grounded out for the second out. They intentionally walked Cora (I know he was hitting the ball well today and Cash was up next, but it made me laugh) and Cash grounded into a fielder's choice and they took the force out at second to end the top of the inning.
With Papelbon having blown the save in the ninth, drastic action was called for. As the first batter of the tenth, Lowell struck out swinging. On a one and two count, Youkilis got the perfect pitch to hit and sent it out into the seats beyond right field to give the Sox the lead. I'll admit that although I didn't actually see Youk's home run (I was baking some bread and had to go retrieve it from the oven) seeing him all happy in the dugout after I had sprinted back warmed my frosty New England heart a little bit. Coco, meanwhile, (who, when he had been making contact with the ball, had been hitting it well all day) took the very first pitch he saw and, in true back-to-back fashion, sent it to nearly the same spot as Youkilis to give the Sox a two-run lead that would carry them through to the win.
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