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Revived Sox relish swing in momentum

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Updated Aug 2, 2009 9:30 PM ET
     
 
RED SOX 4, Orioles 0 BALTIMORE - Three days ago, the Red Sox were in disarray. Now they're practically back in first place. Baseball sure can be a funny game. With Victor Martinez in the fold, David Ortiz another day removed from Thursday's bombshell, and Josh Beckett looking like the ace that he is, the Red Sox cruised to a 4-0 victory against the Orioles last night for their third straight victory. To illustrate how far the Red Sox have come in a week, consider what they did to Daniel Hernandez, the young right-hander who flummoxed them in a 6-2 loss a week ago today. After that game, which Hernandez controlled almost solely with his fastball, shortstop Jed Lowrie guaranteed, ``The next time we see him, we'll be ready.'' Lowrie was right. No longer slumbering offensively, the Red Sox are at least stirring. Though they only touched Hernandez for two runs, they worked him for seven hits and four walks, chasing him with one out in the fifth. The Red Sox jumped to a 1-0 lead two batters into the game when Dustin Pedroia hammered a 95 mph fastball over the left field fence. They didn't score again until the fifth, when Kevin Youkilis turned on a 93 mph fastball and sent it out to left, where it bounced off the top of the fence and into the first row of seats for Youkilis' second homer in as many nights. Youkilis went 4-for-4 to lift his average to .309. That was more than enough for Beckett, who cruised from the first batter of the game en route to seven dominant innings. He only allowed three batters past first, stranding Cesar Izturis after a two-out triple in the fifth, and then pitching out of first-and-second jams with no outs in the sixth and seventh by inducing a pair of double plays. By that point, Martinez had already made his Red Sox debut to an ovation that would have sounded pretty impressive in Fenway. He gave the expatriated fans something else to cheer about with his first hit and RBI in a Sox uniform in the sixth. The Red Sox tacked on a pair of insurance runs in that frame, aided and abetted by some atrocious play in the field, particularly by Orioles first baseman Aubrey Huff. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a single, was sacrificed to second, and stole third - tying Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford with 48 swipes in the process. He then scored on Martinez' single to left, a catchable ball that fell in front of Nolan Reimold. Ortiz grounded into what looked like a sure double play at second, but beat Izturis' slow relay to first. Pinch-hitter Rocco Baldelli then batted for Jason Bay (groin cramp) and lined one sharply at Huff, who made like a matador as it shot into right field to plate another run. From there, the only question was how many shutout innings Beckett would throw. He tossed seven, allowing six hits and striking out five before Hideki Okajima and Daniel Bard finished up. - jtomase@bostonherald.com
Tagged: Jed Lowrie, Aubrey Huff, Orioles, Josh Beckett, Red Sox, Victor Martinez, Cesar Izturis, Jason Bay, Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz

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