Cody Ross hit his second home run in the ninth inning after Daniel Bard comes in to get out of a jam in the eighth and the Sox get a much needed victory, winning the game 6-5.
Bard came in to relieve Franklin Morales after Ryan Sweeney misplayed a Jamey Carroll single and somehow got to third base. Bard got Josh Willingham to line out and after a intentional walk to Justin Morneau, he got Ryan Doumit to pop up to end the inning. Alfredo Aceves got the save even if everyone, including Bobby Valentine, thought he gave up a two run shot to Trevor Plouffe. Thankfully this was in Minnesota and it's 377 feet to get one out of the park as Ross was able to catch it at the warning track.
The offense got a lead early for Jon Lester. After a Adrian Gonzalez sacrifice fly in the first, Jarrod Saltalamacchia continues to swing a very hot bat as he hit a two run shot to give the Sox a 3-0 lead after two innings. Salty finished the game going 2-4 and now has his batting average to .237, which is nearly three times higher than what it was five days ago. (He was batting .080)
Lester was in cruise control until the fourth inning where he couldn't put away anybody after getting ahead of the count. He gave up two strike hits to Joe Mauer (single), Ryan Doumit (double), & Danny Valencia (home run) gave the Twins a 4-3 lead.
Lester appeared to be heading down a scarier path the following inning as he walked Plouffe and a single to Denard Span to start the fifth. Lester managed to minimize the damage by getting Jamey Carroll to ground into a double play and giving the Twins another run in exchange for the two outs. Lester got out of the fifth and then retired six straight after that to end his night. Lester's final line: 7 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 K's.
Ross hit his first home run in the seventh, this time a two run shot to guy the game at 5. He's now leading the team in home runs (5) and RBI's (13). He also can be declared the best acquisition in the Cherington era!!!!
Besides Ross & Salty, Ryan Sweeney, Dustin Pedroia, and David Ortiz all went 2-for-4 tonight. Glad to see the bats continue to hit and thankfully the bullpen kept the lead.
