Aced Out
Tim Lincecum looked like his usual self against the first two batters he faced, inducing a fly ball out off the bat of Marco Scutaro and striking out Daniel Nava. Even the Nava family, proud and supportive as they are of their son, probably didn’t expect much when he faced the two-time Cy Young award winner. Not many batters do.
David Ortiz is not just any batter. While he is past his career apex, flashes of the elite slugger he once was have reemerged, glimmering like his vibrant smile. The Red Sox designated hitter arced Lincecum’s hanging change-up over the brick edifice in right and into McCovey Cove. It was the 20th home run hit into the drink by a visiting player and the 72nd overall. Since Ortiz doesn’t play for the Giants, it doesn’t get added to the Splash Hits counter in the park but it should get added to the Giants’ website.
J.D. Drew returned in fine fettle, hawking fly balls and legging out a triple off the right field bricks. But even as one player returns healthy another goes down with an injury. Victor Martinez seemed to re-injure his toe in the bottom of the second during Pablo Sandoval’s at bat when a foul ball smashed into his toe but it was later revealed that he broke his left thumb.
With Dustin Pedroia out with a dislocated foot the Red Sox acquired left-handed hitter Eric Patterson, possibly to platoon with righty Bill Hall at second. Patterson was traded from the Athletics for left-handed reliever Fabian Williamson. Laverne and Shirley are now die-hard Athletics fanatics.
Jon Lester pitched in a manner befitting Lincecum: a complete game with a single run scored, 5 hits, 1 walk, and 9 strikeouts. Lester also broke the 1-1 tie in the second by lofting a sacrifice fly to right just shy of the warning track; even though he’s not a hitter, he took the intentional walk of Darnell McDonald personally. He also drew a walk from Guillermo Mota.
Unlike Clay Buchholz, who tweaked his knee running the base paths, Lester escaped AT&T unscathed. Since there is no structural damage to Buchholz’s knee, the two off days in the coming week will give him enough time to return to normal and assume his spot in the rotation. The long-term impact of Martinez’s and Pedroia’s injuries remain to be seen.
| Game 77: June 27, 2010 | ||
 Red Sox46-31 | 5 | W: Jon Lester (9-3) |
| 2B: Bill Hall (5), Darnell McDonald (8) 3B: J.D. Drew (2) HR: David Ortiz (16), Adrian Beltre (12) | ||
| Giants 40-34 | 1 | L: Tim Lincecum (8-3) |
| No extra base hits. | ||
