Dominating pitching? Check. Heavy hitting? Check. Give Pitcher Big Early Lead? Check.
The Red Sox took it to the Rockies last night. Before the game could even really get started, the Red Sox had a 3-0 lead and by the end of the fifth inning, they had thirteen runs. Josh Beckett was very good on a night where he could have stunk the place up and that made it even sweeter.
Beckett needed just 93 pitches to get through seven innings and he gave up just a single run on six hits with a walk and an impressive nine strikeouts. Mike Timlin and Eric Gagne threw a shutout frame to close things out and you wonder why Francona didn’t go with one of his back end relievers instead of Gagne. Maybe he wanted to give him a low pressure situation to fine tune some things.
Dustin Pedroia had the only homerun in what turned out to be a doubles attack. Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz had two doubles a piece while Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Julio Lugo each had a team high three hits. Youkilis and Ramirez scored three times while five different players had a pair of RBIs.
Curt Schilling gets the nod tonight as the Red Sox will try to take a commanding 2-0 lead. Rookie Ubaldo Jimenez throws for the Rockies but don’t let the inexperience fool you, this kid can throw.
