Athletics vs Red Sox (9/25-9/26)

Game 1: Curt Schilling pitched 6 strong innings on Tuesday night against the Athletics. He allowed 6 hits, 1 run, and struck out 6.

The only run scored on Schilling was a homerun in the 1st inning by Daric Barton which gave the A's an early lead. Gaudin gave the run back in the bottom of the 1st and the game stayed tied until the 4th inning when Gaudin lost his control. The Red Sox drew 4 consecutive walks off of Gaudin and ended up plating 2 runs in the 4th inning.

The Red Sox were able to tack on some insurance runs in the 7th and 8th innings. David Ortiz hit a 2-run homer in the 8th to make it a 7-1 Red Sox lead.

Papelbon, who threw one pitch in the 8th inning to bail Eric Gagne out of a jam was removed in favor of Bryan Corey. Corey allowed 3 consecutive hits to start the inning but he got the next batter to fly out to JD Drew. The game ended when Shannon Stewart hit a bloop to Dustin Pedroia with 1 out. Pedroia snagged it and threw it to 2nd for a double play.

The Yankees game is currently tied in the 8th inning. A Yankees win means that the Red Sox remain 2 games ahead, a Yankee loss moves the Red Sox to 3 games ahead. The magic number to clinch the division is now 4 and could be down to 3 before the night is over.

Game 2: Jon Lester turned in some very odd results in his final start of the regular season. Lester was masterful, striking out 9. Unfortunately, Lester allowed the A's to score 4 times in his 4.1 innings of work.

The Red Sox offense, however, was up to the challenge. Mike Lowell collected 3 hits and 5 RBIs. David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez also had 3 hits apiece. Kevin Youkilis went 1/3 in his 2nd game back from injury.

Kyle Snyder, Javier Lopez, Mike Timlin, Eric Gagne, and Julian Tavarez finished the last 4.2 innings of the game for the Red Sox. Tavarez was the only one of them to allow a run.

On Deck: The Red Sox will begin a 4-game series against the Minnesota Twins. Josh Beckett will face Boof Bonser in the opener.