David Ortiz is starting to find his groove.
Ortiz went 2-for-3 with three RBI knocking in his 1,000th run batted in with a three-run homer in the fourth inning. Jason Varitek also homered in the sixth inning.
Jon Lester picked up his sixth win of the season pitching six innings, yielding six hits, three earned runs, two walks and six strikeouts.
Dustin Pedroia drove in Boston’s other run in the fifth plating Nick Green with a single.
Jonathan Papelbon closed the door in the ninth inning for his 17th save of the season.
Star of the Game – Ortiz
Big Papi’s average maybe .219 but Boston’s slugger is slowly getting his swing back.
Next Game – 6/25 vs. Washington Nationals – John Smoltz/Jordan Zimmerman
Smoltz makes his Red Sox debut and I am excited to see how he does.
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It’s not so much that Papi is “slowly getting his swing back.” His swing is definitely back. It’s just that he has to dig himself out of a very deep statistical hole.
For the month of June, he’s hitting .327/413/709. Classic Papi hot streak. But even so, his season numbers are a Lugo-esque 219/314/386. Even if he’s the Papi of old from here on out, his 2009 totals are not going to look all that good. But we’ll all be happy to have him nonetheless.