"It was a total team effort, a good win. We used a lot of players in this game and they all came through for us," said Dustin Pedroia, who went 0 for 7 but still wore a smile.
While the Red Sox were able to trot out Hideki Okajima, Ramirez, Justin Masterson, and winner Takashi Saito, they had Bard available at the end. Not so lucky for the Phillies, who already were missing closer Brad Lidge, and who were forced to use righthander Kyle Kendrick, who had been summoned from Triple A Lehigh Valley yesterday morning to replace Scott Eyre (disabled list).
The result for the Phillies was devastating, as Kendrick allowed three runs after the Sox loaded the bases in the 13th with one out on singles by Jason Bay and pinch hitter Julio Lugo, and a walk to Jason Varitek. That set the stage for Jacoby Ellsbury, who singled between first and second through a drawn-in infield to score Bay with the go-ahead run. The Sox piled on with a sacrifice fly by Nick Green and an RBI single by Mike Lowell.
"I was just trying to get a pitch to handle," said Ellsbury. "I just tried to hit something hard with the bases loaded and the infield in, and I was able to do it and we were able to tack on some more runs."
Lugo was one of three Sox pinch hitters during the course of the game, and they went 3 for 3, greatly improving the Sox' pinch-hit batting average for the season, which coming in was .095 (4 for 42) with a walk and a sacrifice fly, according to stat man Chuck Waseleski.
"Good for him," said Sox manager Terry Francona of Lugo. "He's been given a lot of tough news. We had a good talk the other day and when he came home the guys were all over him in the dugout."
With a three-run lead, Bard, who hasn't allowed a run in his last seven appearances, was a little too amped up, but struck out the side for his first major league save. After walking Chase Utley, Bard fanned Jayson Werth and Howard, hit Raul Ibanez with a 99-m.p.h. fastball, then got Shane Victorino to chase a low slider for the final out.
