With Tampa Bay’s loss yesterday, the Red Sox retained their slim hopes to win the American League East by beating the Indians, 6-1.
Only a sweep of the Yankees and a Tigers sweep of the Rays this weekend will give the Red Sox the division and home field for the first round of the playoffs against either the Twins or White Sox. Otherwise, they’re headed to Anaheim, Calif., as the AL wild card.
The Sox cruised past the Indians behind six strong innings from Jon Lester, who took a no-hitter into the sixth before Josh Barfield led off with a double and scored on Jamey Carroll’s single. Lester finished his breakout season 16-6 with a 3.21 ERA.
Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie and Kevin Youkilis stroked two hits apiece, with Youkilis blasting his career-best 28th home run in the seventh, which helped draw the Sox within two games of the Rays with three to play.
Nation Notes: It was one and done for J.D. Drew. Tentatively scheduled to be the designated hitter last night, Drew woke up with stiffness in his back and legs and was relegated to the bench. The Bartolo Colon saga is officially over. The Red Sox placed Colon on the restricted list, opening up a spot on the 40-man roster. The team suspended Colon without pay because he refused to pitch out of the bullpen. Colon will be a free agent in the offseason. The Sox announced their minor league awards, and the recipients were honored before last night’s game. Reliever Daniel Bard (Greenville/Portland) was the pitcher of the year; first baseman Lars Anderson (Lancaster/Portland) was offensive player of the year; outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin (Greenville) was defensive player of the year; and outfielder Wilfredo Pichardo (Gulf Coast Red Sox/Lowell) was base runner of the year. Lefthanded pitcher Manuel Rivera (Dominican Summer League) was the minor league Latin Program pitcher of the year, and first baseman Eddie Lora (DSL Sox/GCL Sox) was the Latin Program player of the year.
