Halfway Closed
Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched for six solid innings with five whiffs and had just his third outing without a base on balls. Terry Francona tried to stay with his starter for seven but he surrendered a two-run homer to Aaron Hill. The Red Sox skipper tapped Daniel Bard to pitch two innings and the set-up man displayed why he should be in Anaheim with the other Red Sox all-stars.
David Ortiz hit what would be the game-inning home run in the sixth inning. The 411-foot long shot landed in the second deck of the right field seats in Rogers Centre. That particular bank of seats was in sunlight because the retractable roof was stuck halfway closed (or halfway open depending on your point of view).
Ortiz took his homer-hitting ways with him to Anaheim and beat Chris Young (not the pitcher, but you wouldn’t have guessed it by his single circuit clout), Vernon Wells, Nick Swisher, Matt Holliday, Miguel Cabrera, Corey Hart (how Chris Berman restrained himself from talking about wearing sunglasses at night or never surrendering is beyond me), and last but not least Hanley Ramirez.
Watching Ramirez keep pace with Ortiz while recalling the myriad shortstops who went through the revolving door in Boston made me momentarily rue the trade that sent the infielder to Florida. Then I remember 2007 and how superb Josh Beckett was and can be and the regret ebbs away a bit.
One good I can say about George M. Steinbrenner III on the day of his death: he left the Stade Fasciste lights on so that the Red Sox could celebrate their ALCS win against the Yankees.
| Game 88: July 11, 2010 | ||
 Red Sox51-37 | 3 | W: Daisuke Matsuzaka (6-3) H: Daniel Bard (19) S: Jonathan Papelbon (20) |
| 2B: Marco Scutaro (22) HR: Darnell McDonald (6), David Ortiz (18) | ||
| Blue Jays 44-45 | 2 | L: Jesse Litsch (0-4) |
| 2B: Alex Gonzalez (25) HR: Aaron Hill (12) | ||
