The Red Sox won't die just yet, as they hit Randy Niemann's kid Jeff for six runs in the first two innings and were on their way to an rather easy 12-5 win at Fenway on Labor Day Night. (Or should that just be called Labor Night?) Niemann has been simply awful since he returned from the DL, and the Sox took advantage of him on Monday night.
Jon Lester won his 16th game, and still has a shot at a 20-win season if he can run the table the rest of the way. Lester looked shaky in the first, giving up a run to Tampa Bay while throwing nearly 30 pitches. But he settled in, and David Ortiz got the Sox a first inning lead they would not give up, belting a two-run shot down the right field line. Adrian Beltre then blasted one into the Monster Seats to make it 3-1.
The Sox added three more in the second, and put the game on ice in the fourth when Ryan Kalish hit his second grand slam of his young career to make it 11-2. Lars Anderson made his MLB debut at first, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Lester went six and allowed just two runs in getting the victory, while striking out ten. But Robert Coello, making his MLB debut following Lester, walked in two runs, and Dustin Richardson walked in another in the seventh. That makes 7 walked in in the last 2 games.
The Sox now trail TB by 6 1/2 in the Wild Card. The funeral hasn't begun just yet.
And off the subject slightly. I have the MLB Extra Innings and enjoy it very much. Can anyone tell me what they have against the San Diego Padres? They bumped them off the package once last week, and tonight's game against the Dodgers is not on, as well as Tuesday night's game against LA. (The MLB Network is showing part of the game right now as I right this.)
I have never been able to figure out exactly the reasons why the games they don't carry are. They carry EVERY game by the Red Sox, Mets and Yankees (that aren't carried by Fox or ESPN), but the Padres seem to get bumped a number of times.
That's no way to treat a first-place team!
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