After saying goodbye to the Cleveland Indians with that dramatic, crazy, walk off 6-5 victory on Sunday afternoon, the Red Sox welcomed the Philadelphia Phillies to Fenway Park on Memorial Day to kick off their portion of inter league play.
Clay Buchholz was scheduled to pitch for Boston but was scratched with irritation in his collarbone so it was left to the enigmatic Alfredo Aceves to make the spot start.
It was a good one as Aceves kept the Phillies in check while the Sox offense got it done early and often in an 9-3 victory, Boston’s fourth in a row and 10th in their last 14 games.
May 27, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher
Alfredo Aceves(91) delivers a pitch during the fourth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Dustin Pedroia got things going in the top of the first as he wrapped a two-run homer around the Pesky Pole to quickly put Boston up 2-0 against Tyler Cloyd, who is slotted in the injured Roy Halladay‘s spot in the Phils rotation. One out later, Mike Napoli cracked a solo homer to deep right center to make it 3-0.
Aceves was pretty good in the early innings. He was helped out by a couple of double plays and his only blemish in the first four innings was a solo homer by Erik Kratz in the third to cut the Sox lead to 3-1.
But Napoli struck again in the bottom of the third as he drove in David Ortiz, who lead off with a double, with a ground rule double of his own to make it 4-1 and the suddenly hot Stephen Drew made it three hits in a row to start the inning as he singled in Napoli to make it 5-1.
Later in the inning, after Cloyd was knocked out and relieved by Michael Stutes, Jacoby Ellsbury singled in Drew with two on but the other runner, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, was thrown out at the plate to end the rally.
Aceves ran into some mild fifth inning trouble as the Phils put two on with two out but Michael Young ripped a liner back to the mound that Aceves stabbed to retire the side.
From there the Red Sox piled it on and broke it open in the bottom of the fifth as Saltalamacchia made it 8-1 with a two-run single that drove in both Drew and Mike Carp.
May 27, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Alfredo Aceves (91) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
The Red Sox really got what they needed out of Aceves in this one. Six innings with just the one run allowed is more than adequate for a spot start. Maybe Aceves has gotten the message from management and is again serious about performing well at the major league level.
The Phillies Domonic Brown hit his team leading 10th homer of the year off Andrew Miller in the eighth for a little window dressing but it wasn’t nearly enough.
The series continues tomorrow night at 7:10 with a couple of veterans lined up to start as Ryan Dempster goes for the Sox against the Phillies Cliff Lee.