Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation Extravaganza
Or as Dustin Pedroia calls it, “laser show.”
Ramon Ramirez took a head-clearing stroll through the forests of center field in the first inning. He must have known the bullpen would be in for a busy evening after witnessing Daisuke Matsuzaka’s laborious first inning in which he faced eight batters but still allowed just two runs.
The Red Sox starter lasted only five innings mainly because of his strenuous first frame. Manny Delcarmen took the mound in the sixth with his team leading 6-2 and proceeded to load the bases and fail to get an out. Hideki Okajima allowed all three of Delcarmen’s runners score; the third run charged to his teammate’s tab came when he failed to cover first quickly enough on Miguel Olivo’s grounder to David Ortiz. What should have been the third out became a bases-loading single. With the score 6-5 Ian Stewart golfed a single to shallow center to plate two runners for the lead.
The visiting lineup took their pent-up frustration from the previous two games out on the Rockies relief corps, scoring three runs in the seventh for the lead. Pedroia hit his second homer in the eighth for a pair of insurance runs, two runs that were sorely needed since Jonathan Papelbon was slotted to pitch the ninth.
Inevitably the Rockies tied the Red Sox in the bottom half of the ninth, fed as they were a steady diet of Papelbonian fastballs.
In his vain quest to be recognized by the security staff of Coors Field, Pedroia launched his third circuit clout in the top of the tenth for the lead. He did the requisite post-game interview with Heidi Watney and wasn’t mistaken for the bat boy as he made his way back to the visitors’ clubhouse.
Papelbon secured the final three outs in the tenth to close out Boston’s second extra-innings win of the season. He was opposed by Stewart, who heads the bottom third of the lineup, and a pinch of semi-regulars in Chris Iannetta and Melvin Mora. None of these hitters were particularly imposing, but perhaps Papelbon regained confidence by shutting them down.
| Game 74: June 24, 2010 ∙ 10 innings | ||
 Red Sox44-30 | 13 | BS: Hideki Okajima (3) H: Scott Atchison (1), Daniel Bard (17) BS, W: Jonathan Papelbon (3, 3-4) |
| 2B: Dustin Pedroia (24), Adrian Beltre (21), Mike Cameron (6), Jason Varitek (6) HR: Dustin Pedroia – 3 (12), Adrian Beltre (11) | ||
| Rockies 38-34 | 11 | H: Joe Beimel (11) BS: Manuel Corpas (3) L: Huston Street (0-1) |
| 2B: Seth Smith (7) | ||
