David Ortiz Benched, Sox Lose to Mariners

By KC Downey in Featured, Red Sox, Top Story ⋅ May 16, 2009 at 1:39pm ⋅ Post a comment

David Ortiz has now been benched, at least for a couple days. But, who could blame Terry Francona? Papi was coming off a horrible game that has punctuated his season, going 0-7 with three strikeouts and 12 men left on base Thursday night against the Angels. He sat Friday night and watched his teammates play the Seattle Mariners.

Jon Lester was on the hill for the Sox, and at times he looked dominant. He shut down the Mariners through the first four innings, but let his first run accross the board in the fifth inning on Ichiro’s HR. The wheels fell off the bus for Lester the next inning, when he let four runs in, including Ichrio’s second HR of the game, a two-run shot to give the Mariners the lead for good.

Chris Jakubauskas, known more for his ridiculous name than anything else, entered Friday’s game with a 7.67 ERA and was coming off a horrible performance against the Twins (4.1 IP, 9 ER). Chris Jack-in-the-box-as pitched well enough against the Sox however, and guided his team to a 5-4 win. He allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks in six innings pitched to earn the victory.

Sox Stud of the Game

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF: Ellsbury is turning into a very good major league player right before our very eyes. He finished Friday’s game 3-5 with a double, triple, run scored, and an RBI to raise his average to .307.

Sox Dud of the Game

Rocco Baldelli, DH: Rocco entered the game with a nice .292 batting average, but after an 0-4 while filling in for David Ortiz dropped his average to .250. He also finished with three K’s.

Game Notes

W: Chris Jakubauskas (2-4)
L: Jon Lester (2-4)
S: David Aardsma (4)

Former Sox reliever David Aardsma earned his fourth save for the M’s, and for now has taken over the closer’s role from Brandon Morrow.
In addition to Ellsbury, J.D. Drew also went 3-5 batting out of Big Papi’s No. 3 hole. Only two others had hits: Mike Lowell (1-4) and Jeff Bailey (1-4).
Jason Bay reached base three teams, but on three walks. Good eye! Bay also almost gave the Sox the lead with two outs in the ninth, as he hammered a pitch to left that reached the warning track.

About KC Downey

KC is the "head coach" of the Sports of Boston, LLC blog network. Follow him on Twitter: @kc_downey

Tags: Chris Jakubauskas, David Aardsma, David Ortiz, J.D. Drew, Jason Bay, Jon Lester, Red Sox, Seattle Mariners

Discussion

3 comments for “David Ortiz Benched, Sox Lose to Mariners”

Ortiz on the bench, Youk and Dice-K on the DL, Lester and Penny struggling. Just when Jason Bay seemed like the saving grace for the Red Sox this season, they’re starting to sink in the quicksand. I still have faith, but each additional lost player makes me more nervous.

Posted by Josh | May 16, 2009, 4:44 pm
Im encouraged with the fact they keep winning with all the injuries and ineffectiveness. Imagine when some of the players come around and start playing to their potential…

Posted by KC | May 17, 2009, 4:54 pm
what KC said!

Posted by Lokesh | May 18, 2009, 4:36 am