“As long as we keep winning series, that’s a good thing,’’ second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. “You want to sweep teams. It’s tough. Everyone’s got good players. It’s tough to sweep a major league-caliber team.’’
They didn’t yesterday, even as the Sox allowed just three runs to the Braves in the three games against them. Of course, the Sox didn’t score a whole lot more, with just six runs of their own. With the offense shut down for six innings by ailing Atlanta starter Tommy Hanson (flu-like symptoms), and the Braves striking back with a pair of solo home runs on yet another heat-scorched day, the Sox threatened late but simply didn’t have enough.
Meanwhile, Brad Penny was doing his best to shut down the Braves, allowing just a first-inning home run to Chipper Jones off a breaking ball and a fourth-inning homer to Garret Anderson on a fastball. Though he struggled with his curveball, Penny gave the Sox six solid innings and continued a stretch in which he’s allowed just five earned runs in his last four starts.
But he couldn’t make up for the lack of offense, though Penny did get on base in the fifth inning when Jones committed an error at third, making him the second Sox pitcher to reach in two games.
“It seemed like any time we got something going, we were one big hit away,’’ Pedroia said. “We hit some balls good. Just no luck. But we had a chance there at the end. That’s all we could ask for.’’
While Hanson was on the mound, the Sox got just two hits and two walks, and threatened only in the fourth when Hanson loaded the bases on singles by Jason Bay and Ortiz and a walk to Jason Varitek. But Jacoby Ellsbury ended the inning by grounding to second base.
“Good pitcher,’’ Kevin Youkilis said. “He’s definitely a guy who knows how to hit his spots, use his offspeed [pitches] to his advantage. He went out there and threw a great ballgame.’’
