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| Game 113: August 12, 2009 | |||
| Tigers | 2 | L: Zach Miner (5-3) | 59-54, 3 game losing streak |
 Red Sox | 8 | W: Josh Beckett (14-4) | 65-48, 3 game winning streak |
| Highlights: Jerry Remy continued the trope of celebrity sufferers of depression visiting the broadcast booth that Joe Pantoliano started a few weeks ago. Who can blame him? He had an arduous recovery from lung cancer surgery and news that his son Jared was fired from his Fenway security post because of steroids recently surfaced. The elder Remy hadn’t been watching NESN games because his doctor recommended that he stay away from things that might further depress him, like Don Orsillo. Despite the ribbing, Remy, Orsillo, and Dennis Eckersley were clearly delighted to be together in the booth as evidenced by their giddy giggling. The fans at Fenway applauded the analyst in the middle of the second. Second inning visit, second baseman — nice touch. | |||
If you ever miss Hanley Ramirez, just watch a Josh Beckett start. Like the one he had Wednesday evening, a seven-inning jewel in which he carried a perfect game 3⅔ innings and a no-hitter until the fifth inning. Carlos Guillen abruptly shattered the no-no and the shutout with a thunderous swing on the first pitch he saw. The only other run by the visitors was also a homer; Marcus Thames got a hold of a fastball up and outside in the seventh.
In the second Mike Lowell revealed that he is an adherent of the Kirk Gibson School of Baserunning; if you can’t walk, jack it out of the park. Jason Bay, who just came back from a hamstring pull, tried out the philosophy himself in the third.
The left fielder just missed a home run in the fifth, arcing a two-out double against the the W.B. Mason sign. David Ortiz roped a single into center and Zach Miner was relieved by Freddy Dolsi.
The home run trot limbered Lowell up; he legged out an infield single in the fifth. He lobbed the ball to no-man’s land behind the mound to plate Bay. The Red Sox proceeded to bat around for the 25th time this season; it had more to do with Dolsi’s wildness and the Tigers’ sloppiness than the batters’ prowess. When the dust settled the local nine scored five runs in the fifth, a lead that Beckett, Hideki Okajima, and Ramon Ramirez held easily.
Dennis Eckersley tried to give Okajima the sobriquet the Count of Full, but no nickname other than the tried and true Oki has stuck. You can ask for Eck’s expert advice on a range of topics from baseball jargon to hair care, but lipreading and nicknaming are not amongst his fortes.
While Detroit is the class of the AL Central that division isn’t particularly strong. With bouts against the Rangers and Yankees on the horizon this could have well been a trap series that lengthened Boston’s lassitude. Instead, the Red Sox secured a series win with this victory and kept pace with the Bronx Bromides.
