Games 146-148 - Red Sox Sweep Orioles

Friday – September 18

The Boston Red Sox finished their season series with the Baltimore Orioles with a record of 16-2. Sad to say I attended one of those losses. You remember the one with the Sox up 10-1 at Camden Yards before the rains came and a lengthy delay ensued. The O’s came back to win 11-10 as the bullpen imploded! But back to the present as Clay Buchholz won his 6th game of the year with 6IP, 1R and 5H. Bard, Okajima and Papelbon each contributed a perfect inning. Kotchman, Bay (solo homer) and Ellbury each had an RBI.

Final Score: Boston 3 Baltimore 1
Jacoby Watch: 2 for 5 with an RBI and a SB his league leading 62nd


Saturday – September 19

The Red Sox belted out 17H good for 11R as Josh Reddick, Brian Anderson and J.D. Drew all homered. Reddick and Drew each had 4RBIs. Jon Lester although not as sharp as usual now has 14 wins as he went 6 innings with 3R and 10H allowed. With the score 11-3 Manny Delcarmen pitched to four batters in the 9th recording no outs and giving up two solo homers. Delcarmen’s decline month by month is alarming as his September ERA has soared. Ramon Ramirez came in to finish the game.

Final Score: Boston 11 Baltimore 5
Jacoby Watch: 1 for 5 with 1BB

Sunday – September 20

The Red Sox scored in each of the first four innings including a 3 run 1st. With the Sox up 7-0 in the 4th the Orioles got 2 runs off Daisuke Matsuzaka. He went 5.1 innings with 5SO, 3R and 8H as his starts continue to be very encouraging. The bullpen with Ramirez, Okajima and Saito gave the Sox 3.2 scoreless innings. Both Jason Bay and Jacoby Ellsbury had solo home runs with 3 RBIs each. Mike Lowell was the DH today and had 2RBIs. Victor Martinez continues his hot hitting and now has a 19 game hitting streak.

Final Score: Boston 9 Baltimore 3
Jacoby Watch: 3 for 4, 2R, 3RBIs, 1BB and a SB

Games 76-78 Red Sox Win Another Series vs Orioles

Monday – June 29

I had the pleasure of being at this game at the beautiful Camden Yards. Jon Lester was dominant as he went 7 innings allowed 5 singles and had 8K’s. J.D. Drew had a two run homer and was a double short of hitting for the cycle. Pedey and Tek each had an RBI.

Final Score: Sox 4 O’s 0
Jacoby Watch: 1 for 3 with 1R and 2 SB

Tuesday – June 30

The weather had a huge impact on this game. I was among the rain soaked fans. The Sox had a 9-1 lead when the game was delayed after the completion of the top of the 5th. Youk had a two run homer, Ellsbury a solo shot, Pedey had 3 RBI’s and the Sox were rolling. It was John Smoltz second start and he looked good after 4 IP with 1R and 3H. After play resumed Masterson pitched two scoreless innings. No one could imagine what would happen next. Masterson was roughed up in the 7th inning giving up a three-run homer to PH Salazar. In all he was charged with 5R as Delcarmen allowed an inherited runner to score. Then in the 8th Okajima could not get an out and was charged with 4 runs. Saito faired no better giving up 1R. The absolute end of the bullpen ‘meltdown’ featured Markakis getting a two-run double off Papelbon who entered the game with the tying and winning runs on base and allowed both inherited runners to score. An embarrassment of epic proportions as the Orioles completed the biggest comeback in their history after being down 10-1 entering the 7th inning. The Sox bullpen was the best in baseball with an ERA of 2.89 – not any more. Hope they work their way back.

Final Score: O’s 11 Sox 10
Jacoby Watch: 3 for 5, 1R, and 2 RBI

Wednesday – July 1

This game also featured a comeback – this time by the Red Sox. The Orioles were cruising behind rookie starter Bergesen. He gave them 8 innings of 1R 4H ball. In the meantime Josh Beckett was touched for 5 runs in the first four innings with Scott and Wigginton getting solo homers and Markakis getting another two run double. Then Beckett seemed to settle down and retired the last 12 batters in a row after the lead off homer by Wigginton in the 4th. The Sox had a little magic of their own in the 9th down 5-1 Youk blasted a two run homer off Johnson after Pedey had walked. Enter the closer George Sherrill who had the save yesterday. Well he struck out both Bay and Ortiz. Down 2 with 2 outs Ellsbury singled, both Bailey and Tek walked bases loaded as PH Rocco Baldelli singled scoring Ellsbury and Bailey to tie the game. Bard was superb retiring all 6 batters he faced as Ramirez had a scoreless inning. In the 11th Julio Lugo singled to score Ellsbury who led off with a double. Then Paps had a clean bottom of the 11th to get the save and preserve a very exciting come from behind victory. Sox pitchers retired the last 24 Orioles in a row – amazing! On the down side Jason Bay is struggling. He went 0 for 15 in the series and struck out 5 times today. Nevertheless an incredible series!

Final Score. Sox 6 O’s 5

Jacoby Watch: 2 for 5 with 2R