Boston (43-27) at Washington (21-48)

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bos

Ellsbury thriving in new lineup spot

Ian Browne / MLB.com
Since Jacoby Ellsbury moved down in the batting order, he has been an on-base machine. While hitting mostly seventh since May 31, Ellsbury has produced a .449 on-base percentage.
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Red Sox probable pitcher

Jon Lester

  • #31 LHP
  • (5-6) 4.69 ERA 100 SO
Coming off a stretch in which he became the first lefty in Red Sox history to strike out 10 or more batters in three straight starts, Lester wasn't nearly as effective last Thursday against the Marlins at Fenway Park. Florida peppered the 25-year-old southpaw with eight hits over five-plus frames, including a pair of second-inning home runs by Ronny Paulino and Dan Uggla. Lester shined in one previous outing against the Nationals, fanning 10 over six innings of one-run ball in the third start of his Major League career.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 32-14 3.98 441.0 168 362 .265
Season 5-6 4.69 86.1 28 100 .266
June 1-1 1.71 21.0 4 26 .164

Series at a Glance

Standings - 06/24/2009 W L PCT GB Home Away
Boston Red Sox (AL East) 43 27 .614 - 25-10 18-17
Washington Nationals (NL East) 21 48 .304 16.5 13-24 8-24
Stats - 06/24/2009 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
BOS .271 376 85 358 55 482 4.12 622.1 632 241 531
WSH .259 301 67 288 23 545 5.19 612.2 664 290 385
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Bard approaching series like any other

Mark Selig / MLB.com
As Josh Bard plays his former team at Nationals Park this week, the 31-year-old catcher is steadfast about having nothing to prove to the Red Sox, who let go of him twice.
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Nationals probable pitcher

Craig Stammen

  • #35 RHP
  • (1-2) 4.76 ERA 15 SO
Win No. 1 was quite impressive for Stammen, who went into Yankee Stadium last week and shut out the Bronx Bombers in 6 1/3 innings. A control pitcher, Stammen did not walk a batter and struck out two. Manager Manny Acta has mentioned that with the Nationals defense improving, a pitcher like Stammen can throw his sinker with more confidence. As he showed Thursday in New York, Stammen is at his best when he's pitching to contact, as long as that sinkerball is down in the zone.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 1-2 4.76 34.0 9 15 .256
Season 1-2 4.76 34.0 9 15 .256
June 1-1 4.37 22.2 6 10 .261

Red Sox hitters vs Craig Stammen

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Anderson, Brian - - - - - - - -
Bates, Aaron - - - - - - - -
Brown, Dusty - - - - - - - -
Drew, J.D. - - - - .333 3 0 0
Ellsbury, Jacoby - - - - .000 3 0 0
Hermida, Jeremy - - - - .333 3 0 0
Iglesias, Jose - - - - - - - -
Kotchman, Casey - - - - - - - -
Lowell, Mike - - - - - - - -
Lowrie, Jed - - - - .000 6 0 0
Martinez, Victor - - - - - - - -
Ortiz, David - - - - .667 3 1 3
Pedroia, Dustin - - - - .667 3 0 1
Reddick, Josh - - - - - - - -
Varitek, Jason - - - - .333 3 1 2
Wagner, Mark - - - - .250 4 1 1
Youkilis, Kevin - - - - .000 2 0 0

Nationals hitters vs Jon Lester

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Bernadina, Roger - - - - - - - -
Desmond, Ian - - - - - - - -
Dukes, Elijah - - - - .333 6 1 1
Dunn, Adam - - - - - - - -
Flores, Jesus - - - - - - - -
Gonzalez, Alberto - - - - - - - -
Guzman, Cristian - - - - .500 2 0 0
Harris, Willie - - - - .000 3 0 0
Maxwell, Justin - - - - - - - -
Morgan, Nyjer - - - - .500 2 0 0
Morse, Mike - - - - - - - -
Nieves, Wil - - - - .000 2 0 0
Willingham, Josh - - - - .500 2 0 2
Zimmerman, Ryan - - - - .167 6 0 0

Road warriors (44-27) (20-49)

Red Sox 6, Nationals 4

Papi powers Sox

Ian Browne / MLB.com
David Ortiz now has 1,002 career RBIs following a three-run homer in the fourth inning, Jason Varitek drilled a two-run jack in the sixth and Jon Lester pitched his eighth quality start as the Red Sox clinched their third straight series win away from Fenway.

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Series at a Glance

 

Stammen stumbles

Bill Ladson / MLB.com
Craig Stammen reeled off three perfect frames to start the night, but the rookie righty hit a rough patch in the fourth inning and the Nats never recovered. Josh Willingham drove in two runs, while Cristian Guzman and Anderson Hernandez each recorded an RBI.
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Red Sox 6, Nationals 4

Boston AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Pedroia, 2B 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 .293
Drew, J, RF 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 .255
Youkilis, 3B 3 1 0 0 1 1 3 .313
Bay, LF 4 0 0 0 0 3 2 .281
Ortiz, D, 1B 3 2 2 3 0 0 0 .219
  Kotsay, 1B 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .241
Varitek, C 4 1 1 2 0 0 0 .229
Ellsbury, CF 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .307
Green, N, SS 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 .291
Lester, P 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
  a-Lugo, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .297
  Masterson, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  Okajima, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  b-Baldelli, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .275
  Papelbon, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 33 6 7 6 2 8 6  

a-Struck out for Lester in the 7th. b-Lined out for Okajima in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Pedroia (20, Stammen), Drew, J (15, Stammen).
HR: Ortiz, D (7, 4th inning off Stammen, 2 on, 2 out), Varitek (11, 6th inning off Stammen, 1 on, 1 out).
TB: Pedroia 3; Drew, J 2; Ortiz, D 5; Varitek 4; Green, N.
RBI: Ortiz, D 3 (33), Pedroia (29), Varitek 2 (29).
2-out RBI: Ortiz, D 3; Pedroia.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Youkilis 2.
S: Lester.
Team RISP: 2-for-5.
Team LOB: 3.

FIELDING
DP: (Green, N-Pedroia-Ortiz, D).
 
Washington AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Harris, W, CF-2B 5 0 0 0 0 1 2 .222
Guzman, C, SS 4 0 2 1 1 0 0 .337
Zimmerman, R, 3B 4 1 1 0 0 2 3 .297
Johnson, N, 1B 4 1 0 0 0 0 4 .310
Willingham, LF-RF 3 1 1 2 1 1 0 .254
Dukes, RF-CF 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 .247
Hernandez, A, 2B 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 .260
  c-Dunn, A, PH-LF 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .266
Nieves, C 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 .244
  a-Gonzalez, Al, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .325
  Beimel, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  d-Belliard, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .171
  MacDougal, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Stammen, P 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 .250
  Villone, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  Tavarez, J, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  b-Bard, J, PH-C 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 .247
Totals 34 4 8 4 4 9 15  

a-Struck out for Nieves in the 7th. b-Doubled for Tavarez, J in the 7th. c-Walked for Hernandez, A in the 8th. d-Struck out for Beimel in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Zimmerman, R (19, Lester), Bard, J (8, Masterson).
3B: Guzman, C (4, Masterson).
TB: Guzman, C 4; Zimmerman, R 2; Willingham; Dukes; Hernandez, A; Stammen; Bard, J 2.
RBI: Hernandez, A (18), Willingham 2 (15), Guzman, C (16).
2-out RBI: Guzman, C.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Johnson, N; Zimmerman, R; Belliard.
GIDP: Nieves.
Team RISP: 3-for-10.
Team LOB: 7.

BASERUNNING
SB: Harris, W (6, 2nd base off Lester/Varitek).
 
Boston IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Lester (W, 6-6) 6.0 6 3 3 2 6 0 4.68
Masterson (H, 4) 1.2 2 1 1 1 2 0 3.70
Okajima (H, 14) 0.1 0 0 0 1 1 0 2.51
Papelbon (S, 17) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.74
 
Washington IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Stammen (L, 1-3) 5.1 7 6 6 1 5 2 5.49
Villone 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.11
Tavarez, J 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3.64
Beimel 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.41
MacDougal 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.94

Pitches-strikes: Lester 103-67, Masterson 30-18, Okajima 14-9, Papelbon 11-8, Stammen 86-59, Villone 9-6, Tavarez, J 16-9, Beimel 8-8, MacDougal 8-5.
Groundouts-flyouts: Lester 11-1, Masterson 2-1, Okajima 0-0, Papelbon 1-2, Stammen 9-2, Villone 0-1, Tavarez, J 0-2, Beimel 0-2, MacDougal 2-1.
Batters faced: Lester 25, Masterson 8, Okajima 2, Papelbon 3, Stammen 24, Villone 2, Tavarez, J 4, Beimel 3, MacDougal 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Okajima 1-0.
EjectionsBoston Red Sox Batting Coach Dave Magadan ejected by HP umpire Bob Davidson. (4th).
Umpires: HP: Bob Davidson. 1B: Jeff Nelson. 2B: Mark Carlson. 3B: Tim Tschida.
Weather: 85 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 5 mph, In from LF.
T: 2:58.
Att: 41,530.
June 24, 2009

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner