Red Sox Hand Jered Weaver First Loss of 2011

 

                                                                Sports Illustrated

Red Sox 9  Angels 5

 Winning Pitcher: Clay Buchholz (2-3)

Losing Pitcher: Jered Weaver (6-1)

Recap

Jered Weaver came into this game blistering hot with a 6-0 record an a 0.99 ERA, but the Red Sox got a big outing out of Clay Buchholz and the lineup showed the pop everyone expected late in the game to give the Red Sox their second straight win. The game started with Buchholz avoiding a possible dangerous inning in the top of the first, but was able to escape unscathed. The red-hot Weaver went out to the mound in the bottom half of the first, and allowed a single to lead off man Jacoby Ellsbury, who then stole a base and scored on a single from Kevin Youkilis. The Sox carried this lead into the third, when the Angels were able to string together a Maicer Izturis double and Bobby Abreu single to tie the game. After the Angels took the lead in the top of the fifth, the Red Sox changed the game in bottom half. The offense got started with a Carl Crawford double, which was followed by a Jason Varitek walk and Jacoby Ellsbury fielders choice. Dustin Pedroia then came up with Crawford and Ellsbury in scoring position and Weaver on the mound. The former MVP then managed to foul off nine pitches and culminated a 13 pitch at bat with a 2-RBI single to give the Red Sox the last lead they would need in the game. The game went into the seventh with the same 4-3 score, and used back-to-back RBI doubles from Kevin Youkilis and Adrian Gonzalez and a solo home run from David Ortiz right after them to blow the lead wide open. The Angels were able to tack on a couple more runs off of Dan Wheeler and Hideki Okajima to make the game finish with a 9-5 final score.

News and Notes

•  Jacoby Ellsbury left the game in the 7th inning after hitting his knee against catcher Jeff Mathis's pads. Ellsbury had gone 2-4 with three runs in the game, and has been hitting very well out of the leadoff hole. Terry Francona said "He's real stable and everything. He's just got a bruise on the inside of his knees." From the looks of it, Ellsbury won't be forced to miss more than a game or two. The Red Sox are hoping that's the case, since the offense has looked good the past few games and Ellsbury has been a big part of that resurgence. 

•  Speaking of hitters getting back on track, don't look now but Carl Crawford is now 6 for his last 12 with two runs scored. It will be interesting to see if the struggling left fielder can keep up his production long enough to get bumped up from the seventh spot in the lineup. One thing to watch for is if Crawford will be put in the lead off spot if Ellsbury indeed needs to miss some games, since he has struggled in the lead off spot his entire career.

 The Red Sox and Angels meet up for game two of the series on Tuesday on 7:10 PM ET. Boston will be sending ace Jon Lester (3-1 2.52) to the mound, while Los Angeles will be countering with Dan Haren (4-1 1.23).