Doubront and Papi shut down Marlins

Felix Doubront came out to take the mound for the Red Sox last night against Ricky Nolasco. The Sox had just bounced back from a four-game losing skid to win a 2-1 contest, and they were ready for more. This game was Boston all the way. In the third, Scott Posednik drilled an RBI groundout, then David Ortiz tacked on another run with a long home run to left. They added two more in the sixth for a 4-0 lead. Meanwhile, Felix Doubront did not allow a hit over his first five innings before giving up a home run to Jose Reyes in the sixth, and left after seven innings with a 4-2 lead. Doubront had his strongest outing of the season, giving up just three hits, two runs, and striking out nine men. In fact, he struck out the side twice during the contest. In the eighth, with the score still 4-2, the Boston offense erupted for six runs and the game turned into a 10-2 laugher. That was the final score, with Vincente Padilla, Andrew Miller, and Matt Albers combining to shut out the Marlins over the final two innings. The Sox are now tied with Toronto at the bottom of the AL East, and I think they have a chance at coming back over the next month or so. The top four batters in their order combined to go 9-17 with 7 RBI in the triumph, which I think is a good sign for the future.

In the rest of the major leagues, pitching was prevalent. Matt Cain threw the first perfect game in Giants history in a 10-0 romp over Houston. Gregor Blanco made a beautiful diving catch in the seventh inning to preserve the game, and Cain struck out a career-high 14 in the triumph. The New York Mets beat up on the Tampa Bay Rays 9-1, with R.A. Dickey extending his Mets-record scoreless streak to 32 and 2/3 innings before an RBI groundout in the ninth ended that. Dickey earned his tenth win of the season and went the distance in the win, giving up just one hit in the game. He has been one of the most dominant starters in baseball.

Finally, there were three 1-0 wins last night in baseball. The Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks on a clutch RBI single in the eighth for their win, although the Texans only managed three hits. Jason Marquis threw a stellar 6 and 1/3 innings for the San Diego Padres, giving them the win over the Seattle Mariners. Seattle actually had eight hits in the game, but could not score any of them. And Lance Lynn threw 7 and 1/3 innings of shutout baseball for his tenth win, tying Dickey for the MLB lead in wins.

Worth Noting
The Red Sox are still 6.5 games behind the New York Yankees, who have won six in a row and sit atop the AL East.