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Sunday, June 9, 2013 – Fenway Park, Section 10

Red Sox 10, Angels 5

After the series against the Texas Rangers wrapped up, the Los Angeles Angels were next to come into town.  The first game of the series was rained out on Friday night, and on Saturday the teams split a doubleheader.  My next game was Sunday, and despite some traffic snarls on the way in, we were able to find a parking space on the street and go in when the gates opened.  Our seats were in the right field grandstand, so that they would be shaded from the sun and shielded from any potential rain.  We lucked out on the weather front with a really nice day, and the seats were close enough to the infield that they were not bad.

Action freeze frame: Jacoby Ellsbury pops up after sliding in safely with a steal in the third.

Action freeze frame: Jacoby Ellsbury pops up after sliding in safely with a steal in the third.

Ryan Dempster gave up a solo homer in the first, but he had a better second inning, and escaped further damage by getting out of the third with the bases loaded.  In the bottom of the third, Jose Iglesias started things off with his specialty – yet another infield hit.  He was erased on Jacoby Ellsbury’s fielder’s choice, but Ells quickly stole second and then scored the tying run on Daniel Nava’s hit.  After Dustin Pedroia singled, Big Papi put his definitive stamp on the game.

Good things tend to happen when #34 comes up to bat...

Good things tend to happen when #34 comes up to bat...

...like this...

...like this...

...and this.

...and this.

Papi launched a 3-run homer, giving the Sox the lead.  And though the Angels got one run back the next inning, the Red Sox continued to pile on runs.  In the fourth, Mike Carp reached on an error, and then was able to go first-to-third on a wild pitch that took a weird high bounce in front of the plate to the backstop.  Ellsbury followed with a triple, extending the Sox’ lead.

In the sixth, Jarrod Saltalamacchia led off the inning with a shot into straightaway center field, where it bounced off the tarp that covers the Section 35 seats during day games, and into the hands of a guy who had run over from Section 36.  Mike Carp sent the very next pitch to almost the same spot, where it was caught by a guy in a gray shirt in the front row of Section 36.  We got a kick out of the long batter/pitcher scoreboard in left-center, as it continued a tradition I had noticed at my previous game earlier on the homestand.  When a Red Sox player hits a home run, they show an extreme closeup of his eyes and then his name.  At my last game, it was Dustin Pedroia, and the scoreboard had said “PEDEY”.  I realized I hadn’t noticed if they did that for Big Papi’s home run earlier in today’s game, because I was focusing my camera on home plate, and we wondered if it had said “PAPI”.  What cracked me up was that when Saltalamacchia hit one out, I would have assumed they’d use his nickname “SALTY”, but instead, they spelled out the whole “SALTALAMACCHIA”.  (Actually that board is just the right size for his entire name.)  So when Carp followed with his, what did it say?  “MIKE”, which just looked silly on that giant board.

A giant Jarrod Saltalamacchia watches over the bleacher section where both his home runs landed.

A giant Jarrod Saltalamacchia watches over the bleacher section where both his home runs landed.

In the seventh, Salty was up again, this time with two runners aboard.  He smacked his second homer of the day, and it also went into Section 36, where it was caught by a guy in a gray shirt.  When I got home and watched the game back on tape, I saw that the guy who caught Salty’s second homer was the same guy who had caught Carp’s.  Now that’s a lucky seat!

With four homers hit by the Red Sox and 10 runs across the plate, we didn’t have to get too stressed when Koji Uehara struggled a bit in the eighth.  He threw 31 pitches and gave up two runs in just 2/3 of an inning.  But Andrew Miller was able to bail him out (actually it took a good throw from Nava in right to cut down a baserunner and end the inning).  Andrew Bailey, who hadn’t worked in a few days, came in for the ninth despite the lopsided score and finished up a fun game.

Posted on June 9, 2013 · Permalink · Share on Facebook
Posted in: 2013 Games

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