Red Sox Take Series Finale

Masterson had a strong debut on the mound and at the dish (Press Herald)

Last night's Red Sox-Phillies game was unusual. What made it unusual was that in the third inning, both teams combined to score eight runs. In the other eight innings, neither side scored once.  Even more unusual was that all eight runs scored with two outs.

Thankfully for Boston, their third inning was much more productive, as they batted around and scored six runs. Philadelphia managed just two runs in the bottom half, and that was it for scoring for the rest of the evening.

What made Boston's big inning even more impressive was that the Sox scored all their runs with two outs, after Mookie Betts and Dustin Pedroia were retired. David Ortiz started the rally with a single to Chase Utley, Hanley Ramirez followed with an infield single of his own, and Pablo Sandoval walked.

With the bases full, Shane Victorino delivered, rifling a shot down the third base line that Cody Asche gloved, but threw over too late to nab the speedy Victorino. A coaching visit to the mound did nothing to settle David Buchanan, who walked in a run to make it 2-0 Boston.

The big blow was a triple by Xander Bogaerts, who lofted a fly ball down the right field line that took a funny hop and bounced past Jeff Francoeur, who came in so hard and fast that his hat flew off Willie Mays-style. As if that wasn't enough, Justin Masterson got in on the action by roping a single back through the box to knock in Bogaerts, helping his own cause by extending Boston's lead to six.

Masterson gave back two of those runs in the bottom of the frame, allowing Freddy Galvis to score on a wild pitch and serving up an RBI single to Utley--all with two outs.

Masterson wasn't masterful, but he was pretty good, making it through six to earn the quality start and the win Buchanan exited after his nightmare inning, and while Philadelphia's bullpen held the Red Sox in check, the Phillies were unable to get anything going offensively.

Boston's road trip continues tonight at Yankee Stadium, with Wade Miley making his Red Sox debut against Nathan Eovaldi, who'll be making his Yankee debut.