More of the Same
Thursday, May 31, 2012 – Fenway Park, Section 43
Tigers 7, Red Sox 3
The Red Sox won the first three games against the Tigers, finally getting above the .500 mark. By the time I got to Fenway for my next game, the Red Sox were still in last place, but they were only 2.5 games out of first in a tightly-bunched A.L. East. They were going for a four-game sweep of Detroit and finally seemed to be moving in the right direction. The Sox even took a 2-0 lead in the second, on a homer by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and an RBI double by Scott Podsednik.
Scott Podsednik warms up before the game. His play while filling in for the injured outfielders had been one of the bright spots of late.
Josh Beckett was helped out of trouble in the second, when Ryan Sweeney threw a runner out at the plate for an inning-ending 9-2 double play. But there was no bailing him out in the third, when he gave up 4 hits and a sac fly. Mix in a stolen base along the way, and the Tigers scored 3 runs to take the lead.
View from right field on a warm night at Fenway Park.
The Sox tied it up in the third, when Kevin Youkilis doubled and Saltalamacchia drove him in. But Salty’s errant throw on a stolen base in the fourth set up a run-scoring single that allowed the Tigers to retake the lead. The Red Sox bats went silent after that, with only an infield single and a walk for the whole rest of the game.
Franklin Morales, Scott Atchison, Matt Albers, and Rich Hill walk out to the bullpen before the game.
Franklin Morales gave up a homer in the eighth, then walked two. Matt Albers got him out of it, but Rich Hill gave up 2 more runs in the ninth, which featured a second throwing error by Salty and a triple. It just wasn’t anyone’s night, and all-in-all it had been a productive series, but it’s hard to focus on the positives when the game I go to is yet another loss.
