Series Wrap-up: 1918 Repeat – Red Sox Beat Cubs
As it’s been well documented, it was the first visit to Fenway Park for the Cubbies in over 93 years and much like in 1918, the Red Sox defeated the Cubs. Only this time it was just a weekend series and not the World Series.
The Red Sox got off to a great start on Friday night, getting to Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano and then annihilating their bullpen en route to a 15-5 drubbing. On a night when Jon Lester wasn’t totally sharp on the mound, the offense bailed out the lefty ace and managed to secure his team leading sixth win of the year. Everyone but Mike Cameron had at least one hit in the game and in total the Sox tallied 19 for the game.
Saturday night, both clubs dawned the throwback jerseys to 1918 and the Red Sox looked like they were missing their paint brushes and a gallon of paint. All fashion talk aside, the Red Sox rode Alfredo Aceves who made his first start in over two years and was pretty darn good. He went 5 solid innings while only allowing 1 earned run on just 3 hits. A David Ortiz long ball, his 300th as a Red Sox, gave his club a 3-1 lead only to watch a catastrophic eight inning. With Daniel Bard unavailable due to some much needed rest, Matt Albers was called upon to try and get the game to closer Jonathan Papelbon in the 9th. I don’t know if Albers was to worried about Rapture Sunday, but he stunk. He gave up 6 runs, 5 earned, on 3 hits while walking 2 as he was given the loss and it was well deserved in a 9-3 Cubs win.
The rubber match coming on Sunday night with all the rest of baseball watching, veteran Tim Wakefield got another spot start and Wake’ cruised to his first victory of the series. The knuckleballer threw 6.2 innings, allowing one run on just 4 hits. The knuckler was dancing as Wakefield struck out 3 batters and induced many ground balls. What a site it was to see Wake’ walk off the mound in the 7th to a standing ovation from the faithful. A Kevin Youkilis stand up triple provided some insurance runs as the Red Sox took the finale 5-1.
Series Monstah’
While Adrian Gonzalez, Youkilis and Ortiz continue to drive in runs and watch their batting average climb north, I’m going to give this Series Monstah’ to a surprising Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The catcher who’s seen his backstop duties diminish early this season, had a powerful two games against Chicago. Salty went 3 for 7 at the plate, belting 2 home runs, good for 2 RBI. He’s shown some great signs at the plate in the last couple of weeks and maybe, just maybe he’s turned the corner and will put all the critics and doubters to rest with his resurgence.
The Last Word:
When you look back at this series, the Red Sox really had one bad inning that cost them the series sweep. That aside, it was a nice weekend for Boston as the starters were solid, the relievers were good (Albers aside) and the offense continues to torch opposing pitchers. The club is now just a half game back of both the Yankees and Rays for the AL East division lead. After a 2-10 start, the Red Sox have gone 23-10 and are playing like the club we were all patiently waiting for (just a tad of sarcasm).
On Deck:
A rematch from early April is on deck for the Red Sox when they head to Cleveland for a three game series with the Indians. For more on this series, watch for my Series Snapshot post.
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