Boston Red Sox Offense Awakes from Brief Slumber

The Boston Red Sox offense has been inconsistent of late. While David Ortiz and Jacoby Ellsbury have been on fire, Jason Bay, Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, J.D. Drew, and Nick Green have cooled considerably.
Boston, because of the woeful hitting by some of their stars, were unable to put away the Seattle Mariners in the first game of their series, then were held to just two runs in the second game. In the final game of this series, however, the offense awoke in a big way.

Pedroia entered the game 6 for his past 28, a .214 batting average. It didn’t take him long to right the ship, as he lined a blazing, but straight, fastball from 24-year old Brandon Morrow into the Green Monster seats in left-field.

Ortiz followed with a stoic drive. Morrow threw a fastball low, but not low enough, as Big Papi feasted on the offering, launching into the left-field seats. He paused to admire his ninth home run of the season, then rounded the bases to rambunctious cheers from the Fenway crowd.

Despite the early lead and Jon Lester on the mound, the Red Sox couldn’t be satisfied with just these solo homers. After all, the day before they scored the first two runs, only to lose the lead and be shutout for the remainder. On cue, Boston’s bats went quiet, as Morrow settled down.

Then, just like during their previous game, the lead was lost. Lester pitched well over the first three frames, striking out four.

The fourth inning proved difficult for him, but it wasn’t entirely his fault. He allowed singles to Ken Griffey Jr. and Franklin Gutierrez to start the inning, then, after recording an out, got the ground-ball necessary for an inning-ending double-play.

Youkilis fielded the hot shot to third and fired it to Pedroia, who was on second base ready to make the turn. Stumbling, the reigning Gold Glove award winner muffed the catch.

From analyzing his play at second base in the series, the TBS announcers said it appeared he “was on skates out there.” Pedroia did look uncharacteristically uncomfortable in a few other instances throughout the game, clearly unable to move smoothly in Fenway’s infield dirt.

It seemed that Lester would get out of the jam to take Pedroia off the hook in facing light-hitting Ronny Cedeno. Prior to this at-bat, the Mariners second baseman was hitting an anemic .150 in 118 at-bats.

This is not an admiration, as Cedeno is known for his defense not his offense. Yet, Boston found out he can hit, and in the clutch. Cedeno socked a 1-2 fastball from Lester into the right-field corner. Drew chased, but it ricocheted farther and farther away from him. Once he collected Cedeno’s hit, three runs had scored.

Cedeno took a wide turn around third base, contemplating attempting an inside-the-park home run. He stayed at third. The damage was done; Seattle had the lead. Lester, his teammates, and the sold-out crowd were stunned.

They stayed that way as the Mariners, the team Lester was originally signed by, tacked on another run in the fourth. But, just like the Red Sox’s, their advantage would last.

Ellsbury tomahawked a Morrow hanging changeup deep to right field for his fifth home run, cutting the deficit in half. The score remained that way until the bottom of the following inning, when Boston reminded Seattle which team is superior

Drew worked a one-out walk. Pedroia moved him over to second base with a single. Youkilis, a tremendous hitter with runners in scoring position, failed to come through, flying out, unable to even drive it deep enough to move Drew to third. Youkilis was mad, but his frustration had soon eased. This was because Ortiz strode to the plate.

Two months ago, I wouldn’t have been excited about this. Then, the chances of him driving in a run would have been slim to none. Instead of anticipating an RBI-single, I would have wondered in what way he would make an out. He’s was playing that poor.

Oh, what a difference two months make. Now, considering he hit .320 in June, I expected him to be the clutch Ortiz of old. The one that beat the New York Yankees in historic fashion in the 2004 ALCS on the Red Sox way to ending their 86-year curse. He showed up.

Because he’s a pull hitter, infielders shift considerably to the right. So much so that the left side of the infield is wide open. Throughout his career, Ortiz hasn’t taken advantage, and he didn’t in this instance either. Nonetheless, he ripped a single in between the first baseman, who was holding the runner at first, and the second baseman, who was playing shallow left-field.

Drew scored the tying run. Ortiz rounded first, then trotted back to the bag, took off his elbow pad, and celebrated with first-base coach Tim Bogar. The Fenway crowd clapped profusely. When he was in the midst of his slump, he vowed to return. Well, he has.

Mark Lowe relieved Morrow, but didn’t provide much relief. Bay walked on four pitches to load the bases. Ellsbury, with two-out, had a prime opportunity to break the game open.

Patiently, the second-year centerfielder watched pitch after pitch narrowly miss the strikezone. He didn’t even swing, but thanks to his good eye at the plate, he drove in a run anyway, walking once Lowe’s fifth fastball miss outside.

Mark Kotsay, who has filled the shoes of the injured Mike Lowell superbly, added some insurance, plating Ortiz and Bay with a screamer to leftfield.

Sean White replaced Lowe, but couldn’t keep the lead from growing. The first pitch he threw evaded catcher Kenji Johjima. Ellsbury sped home for their eighth and final run.

Boston avoided a sweep, and, thanks to a rejuvenated offense sparked by Ortiz and Ellsbury, the AL East leader got back on track.