Brad Penny came into this game hoping for a good start. Through the season so far, he has done well, but the numbers have not yet been anything extraordinary. He pitched against Tommy Hanson in this game, who had already put together an impressive 3-0 record and got the start.
Brad Penny did get that good start, but it wasn't enough. The offense that stood behind him no longer sparked, as the team did not score until the ninth inning.
In the first inning, Chipper Jones began the offense of the whole game. After he had already fouled off three pitches in the at-bat, he nailed the last pitch to left field. It left the field—the Braves had taken a very early 1-0 lead.
In the second and third innings, the Braves got men in scoring position. In neither situation did they score.
In the top of the fourth, it was Boston's turn to get something going (and the last for quite a bit). After two singles, a visit to the mound, and a walk, Jacoby Ellsbury had the bases loaded with two outs.
He did not wait for Hanson to act in a shaky manner, as he took aim on just the first pitch. Sadly, it was a groundball to Kelly Johnson at second, and the inning was over—for the Red Sox, that is.
As the fans in Atlanta were still settling after the close chance for Boston, Garrett Anderson took the second pitch of the inning for his own homer, this time to right. On two solo homers, the Braves had opened up a 2-0 lead in the fourth.
Brad Penny was done after six innings, he had given up two runs and had two strikeouts while only giving up six hits with no walks. It was a very nice outing by Brad, maybe even his best. Yet, his offense had let him down, they only achieved two hits while Penny was on the mound.
Another chance came for the Red Sox in the seventh inning. Varitek doubled and was followed by Ellsbury getting on base via error; Jason went to third. Nick Green came up to the plate with two men on and only one out. The chances looked very good, but Nick let one get into a double play and the chance vanished once again.
Saito and Bard took down the seventh inning and eighth inning easily, giving up no hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.
It was up to the ninth inning, as Boston came back up to the plate.
Kevin Youkilis singled to start it on his fourth pitch, an inner fastball he took to the outfield. Jason Bay then got his at-bat to a 3-2 count, and it looked as if two men would be on. Sadly, the last pitch (though it wasn't in the actual strike zone) was a called K, and Bay walked back to the dugout.
Ortiz followed with a grounder, in which Kelly Johnson made a mistake by not throwing to second for the double play to win it, but it was still getting to be all over.
Youkilis stole second, though, and Varitek had a single up the middle. Kevin made it home easily, and the lead was cut down to one.
Yet, as Ellsbury came up, so did a man screaming into the outfield. Though he was just going to get caught and make no actual difference, the feeling of the rally was long gone, and Jacoby disappointed for the second time that game.
The Sox lost 2-1 in a tough one where the key was a little more offense, but no matter what, it is still just another great day to be a Sox fan.
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