Once again, John Danks pitched masterfully until the seventh inning.
Once again, John Danks did not receive enough run support to allow him such a slip-up.
Kevin Youkilis' broken-bat single with one out in the seventh ruined Danks' bid for a no-hitter, and after a walk and a strikeout, J.D. Drew's double to left center gave Danks the loss.
Of course, one wonders what might've been if Ken Griffey Jr. wasn't in center field. He wouldn't have caught Drew's double, but if somebody got to the gap faster and made a stronger throw in, only one run may have crossed the plate.
Also, if somebody besides Griffey weren't in center, there would've been one out and a runner on first, instead of two on and nobody out when a single fell in front of Griffey in the ninth, leading to three runs scoring and the Red Sox pushing the game out of reach.
But then again, when only Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon have to pitch, it doesn't spell good things for the pitching staff either way. Nick Swisher scored the only run of the game when he singled, moved to second on Juan Uribe's single and scored on two flies to center. Scratching across runs proved to be that arduous, and they didn't threaten again.
Record: 65-52 |
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