Shaken and Stirred
The bad news: Jake Peavy was hammered for seven earned runs in a mere three innings of work. He gave up five hits and three bases on balls. One of the walks was to Austin Jackson with the bases loaded. Yes, the Austin Jackson who was an out machine until Jim Leyland shook up his lineup and had the center fielder batting eighth.
Wily Leyland must have known that Jackson’s numbers against Peavy were outstanding: in 32 plate appearances the outfielder’s slash stats are .345/.406/.992. Leyland’s shake-up was well-timed to coincide with a favorable match-up for his struggling player.
The good news: Despite losing the Red Sox batters tallied 12 hits, which is equal to the number of hits they had for the first three games combined. While Leyland shuffled his leadoff hitter lower into the order, John Farrell stuck with Jacoby Ellsbury long enough for it to pay dividends. Ellsbury busted out with a 4-for-5 showing, a run scored, and a run batted in.
Farrell’s patience with Will Middlebrooks may have given out at last. The Red Sox skipper gave Xander Bogaerts a try in Middlebrooks’s slot last night and the rookie laced a ground-rule double to right in his only at bat. In tonight’s game Bogaerts is playing third.
Time to wake up from the siesta.
| ALCS Game 4: October 16, 2013 | ||
| Boston Red Sox 2-2 |
3 | L: Jake Peavy (0-1) |
| 2B: Mike Napoli (1), Jacoby Ellsbury (1), Shane Victorino (1), Xander Bogaerts (1) 3B: Ellsbury (1) | ||
 Detroit Tigers2-2 |
7 | W: Doug Fister (1-0) |
| 2B: Torii Hunter (2), Omar Infante (1) | ||
