David Ortiz's horrible April and May seem like a distant memory, no? Big Papi continued to find his stroke as we continue to get deeper into the summer.
Last night, he blasted a three-run bomb and also drove in a run with a groundout as Boston (51-33) beat Oakland (35-48), 5-4 to take the three-game series at Fenway.
Tim Wakefield continued his remarkable season as he picked up his AL-leading 11th win with a classic Wakefield outing. In six innings of work, he gave up 10 hits but only three runs as he walked one and struck out a season-high eight.
Jonathan Papelbon labored through 30 pitches (in only the ninth) to get his 22nd save. He allowed a run on two hits with a walk but he struck out two including Jack Cust (3 hits) to end the game.
Cust had given the A's a 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI single.
In the sixth, J.D. Drew hit a solo homer and three batters later, Ortiz provided a vintage Papi swing.
Kurt Suzuki (3 hits), who should have been Oakland's All-Star representative instead of Andrew Bailey, cut it to 4-3 with a two-run single in the seventh.
Ortiz's groundout in the seventh gave Boston the two-run cushion that Papelbon would desperately need.
Scott Hairston crushed a ball to center in the ninth with two guys on but Jacoby Ellsbury caught it near the wall in center and it was only a long sacrifice fly.
The still hapless Kansas City Royals come to Fenway tonight for a four-game set that wraps up the first half of the season. The Red Sox lucked out that Royals ace (and probable AL All-star starter) Zach Greinke pitched last night so they'll miss him this time around.
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