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| Male
29 years old
BOSTON, MA |
RED SOX WIN 2-1 TO TAKE SERIES, FIRST PLACE
Boston-Daisuke Matsuzaka hurled six shutout innings and Boston held off a ninth inning Baltimore rally as the Red Sox edged the Orioles, 2-1, in the rubber match of a three-game set at Fenway Park.
With the win Boston jumped one-half game in front of the reeling Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East race. The defending World Series champs are 57-40 at the All-Star break.
Matsuzaka (10-1) surrendered just four hits while walking five and fanning seven en route to the win for the Red Sox, who have won five of their past six games overall.
J.D. Drew had a run-scoring double while Dustin Pedroia finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Aubrey Huff was 2-for-4 with a run-scoring single for the Orioles, who have dropped eight of nine and enter the break with a 45-48 mark, 10 games back of Boston. Brian Roberts and Adam Jones also has two hits apiece for Baltimore.
Daniel Cabrera (6-5) allowed two runs -- one earned -- on six hits and six walks in 4 1/3 innings to pick up the loss.
The BoSox jumped on top with a run in the first. Pedroia got on with a one-out infield single and advanced to second when Freddie Bynum threw the ball away, before Drew chased him home with a double to left.
The Red Sox added another run in the fourth. Sean Casey rapped a double to center and Jason Varitek worked a walk before Alex Cora laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners. After Jacoby Ellsbury walked to load the bases, Pedroia grounded into a fielder's choice to make it a 2-0 game.
The O's weren't able to muster much offense until getting to Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth. After the closer opened the inning by getting pinch hitter and former Red Sox Kevin Millar to pop out, things got messy.
Roberts and Jones collected back-to-back singles and Papelbon went to a 3-2 count on the dangerous Nick Markakis. A 98-mile rising fastball sent Markakis back to the dugout but Huff followed with an RBI single up the middle. With the go-ahead run on base, Melvin Mora hit a soft liner to Pedroia, who made a great shoestring catch to end the game.
Despite the trouble, Papelbon picked up his 28th save on the year and the 100th of his career.
Game Notes
Red Sox All-Star Kevin Youkilis left the game with a left triceps contusion after getting hit in the arm by a Daniel Cabrera pitch in the fifth inning. Youkilis, who had a grand slam and a career-high six runs batted in during Saturday's 12-1 Red Sox win, was replaced at third base by Jed Lowrie. Subsequent X-Rays were negative...Cabrera is now a miserable 2-10 against the Red Sox in his career.
-Cledus being Cledus
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