June 4, 2005

G54: Red Sox 7, Angels 4

Walks and doubles. That's what brought in three runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings for the Red Sox last night.

Once Kelvin Escobar left the game, with his team up 4-1, the bats went to work. Kevin Millar hit Brendan Donnelly's first pitch for a double. Bill Mueller walked, Mark Bellhorn doubled (4-2), Damon got an RBI on a ground out (4-3) and Ortiz tied the game with a sac fly off Scot Shields.

In the eighth, Trot Nixon singled and stole second when Jason Varitek struck out. The Angels decided to walk Mueller intentionally, which backfired when Shields walked Bellhorn on four pitches unintentionally (however, ball 3 looked like a strike, splitting the plate above the belt).

Damon then cleared the bases with a double over Steve Finley's head in center field. Keith Foulke annoyed the Nation by loading the bases in the ninth, but he struck out Finley for the save.

Also, it was great to see Orlando Cabrera get a standing ovation -- and tip his batting helmet -- when he led off the top of the third.

The Tigers beat Baltimore again, so Boston moved to within two games of first place. The Yankees lost their sixth straight game, this time to the Twins, and are five games out.

Arroyo / Colon at 1:15.

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