Alex Gonzalez earned himself a valuable pair of singles, as the Red Sox checked off their seventh victory in just eight days, against the Los Angeles Angels, 9-8.
Watching A-Gonz at the center of the home plate pig-pile still takes some getting used to, but after almost 80 hits in nearly 100 games with the Sox this season, Gonzalez has found his place back in Boston, knocking in a two-run single as part of a five run sixth inning, and then again with the walk-off single to end the game.
With the Red Sox trailing by one in the bottom of the ninth, Angels’ closer Brian Fuentes made quick work of Jason Bay and Mike Lowell before falling apart, allowing four straight base-runners (two on singles, two on walks). The table was set, and Alex Gonzalez was the one that came to dinner.
Paul Byrd’s pitch count continues to be an issue, as the starter threw 54 pitches in just his first three innings of work — allowing for nine hits and three earned runs in his 5.1 innings. Joe Saunders kept the Red Sox subdued until the wheels fell off in the sixth, resulting in eight hits and two earned runs after 5.2 frames.
Tonight’s ” ‘Good Eye’ Doesn’t Always Pertain to the Kid Who is Afraid to Swing the Bat” Award goes to Alex Gonzalez, not for his walk-off or the two-RBI single earlier. Instead, it’s a congratulatory note for taking his first walk in 96 at-bats (that .265 OBP certainly tells that tale well).
Next Game: Thurs 9/17 vs. LA Angels – Josh Beckett / Ervin Santana
