Boston Red Sox defeat Cleveland Indians 7-5 to level series – MLB Update
Boston Red Sox finally restored some of the lost pride as they defeated Cleveland Indians 7-5 on Friday, May 11 in the second game of their four match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Cleveland was the stronger of the two teams in the opening game and they secured a comfortable 8-3 win to dent their rivals’ confidence levels. Manny Acta and company once again made an aggressive start to the contest and Carlos Santana singled to the right to give his team 1-0 lead.
It seemed the Indians will cruise to another easy win to take a decisive 2-0 lead in the series but the Red Sox lifted their spirits just at the right time to give the home fans something to cheer about.
Dustin Pedroia, Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney displayed some high quality hitting skills in the second and fifth innings of the game to put the Red Sox 7-1 ahead. The Indians fought back bravely in closing stages of the game but they failed to stop their opponents from earning a well deserved victory.
"I just wanted Clay to understand that I believed in him and everyone behind him thought he was a good pitcher. Prove it to the guys in front of him," Valentine said. "Now he can look at his record of four wins and say that he's really building on something."
"I think our opportunities were early in the game, but then after that, he got into a very good groove and he moved his fastball in and out and used that changeup of his. It's a very good pitch," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "He's as tough as it gets when he's going well."
Boston’s record at Fenway Park this season is extremely disappointing and their win against the Indians on Friday evening was only the fifth time they emerged victorious in 16 home games.
Contrastingly, they have done a much better job away from their home, winning eight out of 16 games. It will be interesting to see if the Red Sox can continue their good form throughout this series to win back their fans’ hearts.
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