Projo Sox Blog

MINNEAPOLIS -- The new-look Red Sox lineup didn't have the punch required to overcome one bad inning by Jon Lester and get past the Minnesota Twins, and the Red Sox fell tonight, 5-2.

JD Drew replaced David Ortiz in the third spot in the lineup, with Ortiz moving down to sixth. In his first appearance hitting sixth since May 11, 2004, David Ortiz turned in a pretty good at-bat, doubling to right field off Minnesota's Nick Blackburn.

Ortiz, dropped from third in the order to sixth before today's game, fell into an 0-2 count, but didn't expand his strike zone, staying away from several low, outside strikeout pitches from Blackburn. He then hit Blackburn's sixth offering into right-center. It looked like it would be a single, but the ball bounced well on the Metrodome turf, and Ortiz took a chance, motoring to second just ahead of the throw.

Ortiz said he understands the move down in the lineup.

"I started hitting third a little bit after I got here. When you hit third, you must be swinging the bat well. I'm not, obviously. The manager moved me to sixth because we've got guys swinging the bat good. Now I've got to work my way back up, right. I'm an employee, I follow orders," he said.

Ortiz' teammates couldn't get him home in that first inning, and that isolated incident soon became a nightlong theme. Twins starter Blackburn scattered eight hits over eight innings, but got key outs when he needed them. He struck out a career-high seven, and stymied the Red Sox time after time.

"He was very tough. He had some two-seam movement on his fastball.... I thought he commanded very, very well," manager Terry Francona said of Blackburn.

Jacoby Ellsbury did what he could to get the offense going. He singled to lead off the game, extending his hitting streak to 21 games. Ellsbury did it all for the Sox tonight, scoring both of Boston's runs. He also made an amazing catch to take away a sure extra-base hit from Delmon Young in the climactic fifth inning.

"It's tough, actually, to get fly balls here, with the ceiling. But I was able to get a good jump on the ball over my left shoulder. Fortunately, I made the catch. The guy from first could've scored on that one."

It was, Ellsbury said, his favorite kind of spectacular catch -- the over the shoulder grab.
"I always like those ones over your shoulder -- they're always fun to make," he said.

The catch wasn't enough to save Jon Lester, however, who once again, couldn't avoid the big inning. In the fifth, he ran into trouble, allowing a single to Brendan Harris before Ellsbury's highlight-reel grab robbed Delmon Young of a hit. With Harris still on first, Lester then gave up consecutive singles to Matt Tolbert and Nick Punto to bring in the first Twins run, and Denard Span grounded out, sending Tolbert home from third and making it 2-0.

The damage wasn't done. The hottest hitter in baseball, Joe Mauer came to the plate, and Lester pitched around him, walking him on five pitchers. Justin Morneau quickly showed why that's a lose-lose strategy, pounding Lester's second pitch over the right field wall for a three-run homer and a 5-1 lead.

"Fastball in. He turned on it, so obviously he was looking for a fastball in, and he didn't miss it," Lester said.

The one poor inning ruined an otherwise good start for Lester.

"I need to make good pitches and get people out. I did that for four innings, and obviously I didn't do that in the fifth," he said.

The Red Sox later closed to 5-2, but couldn't draw nearer than that. Ortiz finished 1-for-3 with a walk. Drew went 0-for-3 with a walk of his own.

 Tags  Boston Red Sox Dan Barbarisi David Ortiz Jacoby Ellsbury

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