ST. LOUIS — Inserted into the starting lineup only because another player was a late scratch, slugger Jonny Gomes made his mark on the World Series by hitting a tiebreaking three-run home run for the Boston Red Sox on Sunday night.
Gomes' blast against reliever Seth Maness carried into the visitors bullpen beyond the left-field fence at Busch Stadium, giving the Red Sox a 4-1 lead against the St. Louis Cardinals in the top of the sixth inning of Game 4. St. Louis came in leading the best-of-seven Series 2-1.
Boston manager John Farrell changed his lineup a little more than an hour before the first pitch, putting Gomes fifth in the batting order after Shane Victorino was removed because of muscle tightness in his lower back.
Gomes came in batting .125 in 42 career plate appearances in the postseason, an average which dropped a little more after he hit into a 5-4-3 double play in the second inning. But he had a much better turn in the fifth, working a 10-pitch walk against starter Lance Lynn, and Gomes stayed hitter-ish when he came up again in the sixth.
The Red Sox had started a rally against Lynn with two outs, with Dustin Pedroia singling and David Ortiz working an "unintentional intentional" walk to put runners at first and second. After a pitching change, Gomes followed by crushing a 2-2 sinker from Maness that didn't sink enough. A loud groan came over the Busch Stadium, which had been geeked to see the Cardinals possibly go up 3-1 in the Series, with ace Adam Wainwright waiting in the wings for Game 5.
Gomes also recovered to make a nice catch — after taking perhaps the worst route possible — on a fly ball to left by Carlos Beltran in the bottom of the fifth. He managed to find the ball, though, before finding the bullpen in the next inning.
The Red Sox also got a solid four-inning start from right-hander Clay Buchholz, whose balky balk/shoulder limited his effectiveness. He still was able to spot pitches and keep the Cardinals off balance enough. Lefty Felix Doubront also came the rescue by keeping Cardinals off the board in the fifth and sixth.
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David Brown is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rdbrown@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
via Y! Sports Blogs - Yahoo Sports http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/jonny-gomes-three-run-homer-puts-red-sox-024838769--mlb.html
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