Boston Red Sox flatten Chicago Cubs 7-4 to improve to .500 – MLB Update
For the fifth time this season, Boston Red Sox hit the .500 win percentage mark as they defeated Chicago Cubs 7-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday, June 17 in the finale of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Dustin Pedroia had an excellent time on the plate as he doubled to deep centre in the first inning and Scott Podsednik scored to put the Red Sox 1-0 ahead. David Ortiz and Pedroia combined to make a wonderful play in the first to double Boston’ advantage to 2-0.
Starlin Castro hit back for the Cubs to level score 2-2. Ortiz helped the Red Sox reclaim the lead in the fourth inning, adding a solo home run to centre. Will Middlebrooks hit a sacrifice fly to centre in the seventh to extend his team’s lead to 5-3.
Daniel Nava and Jarrod Saltalamacchia also played a crucial role in deciding the outcome of the clash. Starting pitcher Franklin Morales struck out a career high nine batters, giving up just two runs and four hits in five solid innings.
"That's what baseball's been for years," said Ryan Kalish, who drove in the toe breaking single in the seventh. "People getting hurt and people stepping up. That's just the name of this game."
"We had a hunch he could perform well in that situation and he proved our hunch correct," said Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine. "He pitched five pretty good innings."
"The confidence I have and the opportunity Bobby (Valentine) gave me, I tried to throw strikes," said Morales in a post game interview.
The Cubs will be disappointed to lose the series considering the quality of their pitching in the opening game. Bobby Valentine and company fought hard to secure a narrow 4-3 win in the second game.
Credit must be given to the Red Sox for executing their game plan to perfection in pressure situations. It will be exciting to see if the Red Sox can bring more consistency into their game play to give themselves any chance of making it to the post season.
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