Game 117: Sox 6 M’s 4

Dad drove up this Friday for the start of the Sox-M’s series here in Seattle. We got to the game in time to see the very end of the Sox batting practice. So no stories of, ‘Player X was really crushing it in BP today! He should have a good game today.” We were sitting up in the upper deck, behind home plate, a little on the third base side.

Seattle got off to an early start on Lackey, putting up two runs before getting the first out of the game. Seemed like everything Lackey threw got torched. Ortiz answered in the top of the 2^nd with a deep home run to straight away center. Of course, both Dad and I had gotten up so we both missed it! There was a scary play two batters later. Crawford was on second after hitting a single and stealing second. Saltalamacchia hit a grounder to first baseman Justin Smoak who took the big bounce off the face and fractured his nose. Crawford nearly got thrown out rounding third as the third base coach was waving him in (Bogar!). Smoak came out of the game and was put on the DL. Scary moment. Of course the Mariners’ arcane practice of refusing to show any replays at the ballpark meant nobody in the upper deck knew exactly what happened. More on the replay policy later. Aviles hit a sac fly for one run but that’s all we got.

Lackey’s troubles continued in the 2^nd giving up a run on 3 hits and a walk. The third inning was better but in the 4^th he gave up another run on a single, SB, and a double. Sox answered in the top of the 5th with a deep home run from Lowrie into the right field seats. Lackey pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 5^th and 6^th and the Sox took the lead in the top of the 6^th after Saltalamacchia singled and Reddick hit a monster home run off the Hit It Here Café. In the 7^th the Sox got some insurance after Gonzalez hit a double, went to third on a bunt from Pedroia, and Ortiz singled him in.

Lackey pitched to one batter in the 7^th before getting pulled. I swear Tito does that intentionally just to mess with him. I don’t notice him pulling any other pitcher in the middle of an inning nearly as much as he does with Lackey. Morales gave up a single and a sacrifice before getting a K and letting Bard finish the inning with a K of his own. Bard also pitched the 8^th before Papelbon came in the 9^th for the save. We watched the 9^th from the scoreboard bar and outside of an infield single, Papelbon coasted through the inning.

Somehow Lackey ekes his way into another win despite pitching pretty poorly. The streak continues although it just goes to show the wins are a stupid statistic.