Doubront, Sox Turn Two on Heels Of Buchholz Shutdown. Take Marlins 10-2.
Hot on the heels of a Clay Buchholz skid stopper Tuesday night against the Marlins in Miami (5 hits, 1 run, 9 Ks and 2 walks over 7 innings), Felix Doubront apparently drank the same Kool-Aid on Wednesday and became the bookend to arguably Boston’s best back-to-back pitching performances of the year. Doubront pitched seven complete innings, gave up just three hits, two earned runs, struck out nine and walked only one.
While Doubront was netting the Marlins (6.2 innings of no-hit ball until a Jose Reyes homer) Boston’s offense was busy piling up runs, eventually breaking through with six runs in the eighth to put Miami and the game away with a solid 14-hit 10-2 win.
Before the big eighth inning Boston scored in the third (a Scott Podsednik ground out that scored Mike Aviles), fourth (a David Ortiz solo homer) and twice in the sixth (an Adrian Gonzalez single that scored Podsednik and an Ortiz sac fly that plated Dustin Pedroia).
After the Rays got back two back in the sixth and seventh the Sox sent 12 men to the plate and exploded for six runs in a silent killing eighth inning. There was no big blow, just a 30-minute Marlins death by a thousand cuts torture chamber performance. Aside from Nick Punto‘s leadoff double. Boston got six singles and a couple of sac flies to earn the runs the good old fashioned way. Gonzo and Papi paced the offensive attack with a combined five hits, five RBI and two runs scored.
With the win, Boston took two of three from the Marlins and now heads to Chicago for three with the Cubs starting Friday after an off day Thursday. Dare Sox fans hope for a trifecta when, well, “your guess is as good as mine” takes the mound for the Sox. Boston has not yet announced their starting pitcher for Friday’s game. The Cubs have the worst record in baseball. If Boston is to show some life and prove they can get on a roll, a sweep is in order.
I’m back
I’m back in the saddle again
I’m back
I’m back in the saddle again
Ridin’ into town alone
By the light of the moon
– Back The Saddle Again, Aerosmith