Game 96: Sox 4 Oreos 0

Miller's line looks way better than he deserved. Five and 2/3 innings, 0 runs on 2 hits. What jumps out is the 6 BBs to 3 Ks. He just couldn't throw his fastball for a strike to save his life. He was very lucky the Orioles didn't take advantage and even had a no-hitter going into the 5th inning despite walking the bases loaded in the 2nd. Albers, Bard, and Papelbon each had perfect outings to close out the game. Papelbon was pitching with the day off the next day just to give him some work.

At the plate, this game was powered by Ellsbury. He hit two home runs and they were both no-doubters. Gonzalez collected 4 hits the day after he responded to questions about whether participating in the home run derby had impacted his swing. He responded along the lines of once I have a 3-hit game, this will all go away. So there. It is still disturbing though his lack of power recently. He's still sitting on 17 HRs, only 2 more than Ellsbury. Pedroia hit a single in the 5th to extend his streak to 18 games but that was his only contribution at the plate.

Sox have the day off and then series against cellar dwellers Seattle (3-game) and Kansas City (4-game) next. Time to put the pedal to the metal.