Red Sox Update: Saturday & Sunday in Seattle

Saturday - Daisuke Matsuzaka played the role of stopper Saturday night, helping put an end to the Red Sox's nine-game losing streak at Safeco Field. The right-hander delivered seven solid innings, leading Boston to a 4-3 victory over the Mariners.

The Boston starter allowed two runs, both on home runs, and struck out 10 batters on the night, equaling his Major League career high. It's the third time he's reached double-digit strikeouts, but the first since April 17 at Toronto. He finished with the following sparkling line:

7IP 6H 2ER 2BB 10K

The big offensive blow came from Jason Varitek, who delivered a two-out double into the left-field corner off Jarrod Washburn scoring David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. The Boston captain has been swinging a hot bat as of late, with nine hits in his last 24 at-bats (.375) with six RBIs.

Sunday - Josh Beckett tallied his 14th win of the season as the Red Sox won Sunday afternoon's rubber match 9-2 over the Mariners on Sunday afternoon. Two runs would be enough for Beckett. He looked sharp early, tallying seven strikeouts over the first three frames and finished the game with nine punchouts in 6 2/3 innings of work. Not to be outdone by Matsuzaka the night before, his final line was:

6 2/3IP 8H 1ER 2BB 9K

There really was no dominant offensive performance this afternoon, as the Red Sox team effort included 8 different players with RBI's. With the win the Red Sox improved to 25 games over .500, with a record of 68-43. Next up on Monday is Curt Schillings return from the disabled list atthe Angels, where he will face off against Jered Weaver.


With these two pitching in this manner, the Red Sox are nearly impossible to beat!



GO SOX!

TomC