Rundown
| Game 116: August 8, 2008 | |||
| Red Sox | 3 | L: Jon Lester (10-4) | 66-50, 1 game losing streak |
 White Sox |
5 | W: Mark Buehrle (9-10) H: Matt Thornton (11) H: D.J. Carrasco (4) S: Bobby Jenks (23) |
64-50, 1 game winning streak |
| Highlights: Dustin Pedroia plated the only runs by the Red Sox of the game in the eighth inning with his tenth home run. Jason Varitek singled and J.D. Drew walked before him. | |||
Otherwise it was a fruitless night for the Red Sox at the dish.
Two rundown plays in the bottom of the seventh changed the complexion of the game.
Juan Uribe was the victim in the first sequence. He had reached on a single and was to have been off with contact on a hit and run play with Orlando Cabrera in the box. Jon Lester, being a lefty, was privy Ozzie Guillen’s ploy and initiated the 1-3-6-3 put-out.
But Cabrera would come back to haunt the Red Sox, and not in a pleasant “we loved your handshakes and contributions in 2004” sort of way. He had already doubled to plate two runs in the fifth. The shortstop walked to reach first and hung around the keystone as A.J. Pierzynski’s caromed off the right field fence.
Drew got the throw into the infield quickly and Dustin Pedroia decided to throw to Jed Lowrie instead of going home with the relay. Lowrie received the ball just as Cabrera approached third. Just as Pedroia did, instead of going home with the ball Lowrie decided Pierzynski was the quarry.
As the rundown unwound, Cabrera was able to reach home before the White Sox backstop was tagged out, making the score 4-0. Had the Red Sox stopped the run, Pedroia’s homer would have tied the score.
Carlos Quentin’s eighth inning longball perhaps renders the outcome of the Pierzynski rundown moot, but it was a frustrating play. Cabrera probably developed a special handshake with Pierzynski as a result.
