Kevin Youkilis and Daisuke Matsuzaka shine as Boston Red Sox rout Minnesota Twins, 9-5: MLB Update
Boston Red Sox’ utility player, Kevin Youkilis, and starter, Daisuke Matsuzaka, both had a remarkable day as Youkilis made four runs and Matsuzaka pitched six solid innings in the Red Sox’ 9-5 win against the Minnesota Twins at the Fenway Park in Boston
on May 8.
The Twins started the game pretty well as they scored three runs in the very first inning when Jason Kubel singled on a two-run shot of Danny Valencia. The Twins led off with 3-0 in the first inning. Trevor Plouffe, who shined in the last game, scored two
runs and went 1-for-3 while Matt Tolbert was unable to add a run for the Twins.
The Red Sox did not score in the first inning. They opened their account during the second inning and lessened the trail to 3-1, when Youkilis hit a double shot and posted a run on the grounder of J.D. Drew. The third inning proved fruitful for the Red Sox
as they scored four runs and took the lead 5-3. Carl Crawford hit a shot for triple towards the left field position, but completed a single run on the shot of Jason Varitek, who went 0-for-4.
During the fourth inning, Valencia hit a solo home run and cut-off their deficit further to 5-4. The scorecard moved to 7-4 in the fifth inning when Adrian Gonzalez drove towards the right field and contributed two runs for the Red Sox when Youkilis reached
at third base on the error of the Twins’ second baseman Alexi Casilla. Gonzalez completed his two runs by hitting a one-run homer in the fifth inning.
Gonzalez expressed his feelings as, “Once we get into the later part of May, we're all going to start feeling better. It's got nothing to do with the park, it's got something to do with my swing. You start feeling things. I felt something out there. After
that, I worked on it. The next day I worked on it.”
The sixth inning passed away without any score. During seventh inning, the Red Sox further extended their lead to 9-4 when Jacoby Ellsbury singled on the sacrifice bunt of Gonzalez. Youkilis added another single in the same inning towards the centre field
area. Denard Span made a single in the eighth inning to move the scoreboard 9-5 which was indifferent until the end because the ninth inning went score-less.
Jed Lowrie was unable to add a run and went 1-for-4. He said of Ellsbury, “Obviously he's a dynamic player that, when he gets on the basepaths, it takes the focus off the batter and allows a split second when the pitcher's not focusing on the hitter.”
Matsuzaka gave away four runs on five hits and struck-out four batters in his six inning pitches.
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