Red Sox Live Blog: Sox Run Away With 10-4 Win Over Brewers in Series Opener

Postgame, Red Sox 10-4: That is 12 wins in 13 games and 25 in the last 32 for the Red Sox. We are getting near the point where you have to start breaking out the record books, if you haven’t already.

Just an incredible run right now.

Of course, we know the one thing that can sink everything — injuries. Carl Crawford had an MRI on his left hamstring and it showed a Grade 1 strain. He was walking around just fine with his little boy in the clubhouse, and said he will meet with the staff tomorrow to figure some things out. It looks like he might be able to get back in there after a day or two or three off, but these things can change after a night of sleep.

And with that we will put the live blog to bed. It will be Shaun Marcum and Randy Wolf when the two teams meet again Saturday night (not day!!!). It is a 7:10 p.m. start, moved from 1:10 due to the Bruins parade.

We’ll see you then.

Final, Red Sox 10-4: Things looked a little iffy after one half of an inning, but after that, it was pretty much all Red Sox.

Matt Albers worked a perfect ninth, and the Sox improve to 42-27 with another win.

Once Tony Lee is done winning an Emmy, he’ll be back up to wrap things up from Fenway.

End 8th, Red Sox 10-4: The Red Sox threatened in the eighth, but Tim Dillard was able to get out of things.

Dillard, who seemingly didn’t throw one pitch in the strike zone, got Darnell McDonald to smoke a grounder back to him. Dillard got him at first, but he did so with a submarine toss, the same way he delivers to home. Bizarro.

Anyway, John Lackey was at 111 pitches through eight, so he’s gone, as Matt Albers comes on to try and protect this slim six-run lead. The tension is mounting.

Mid 8th, Red Sox 10-4: As Tony headed downstairs to get his makeup done, John Lackey got a little help from his friends — and Nyjer Morgan.

After lining a single up the middle, Morgan’s bone-headed base running cost the Brewers and got Lackey through the eighth.

Ryan Braun then hit a soft liner to center. Jacoby Ellsbury made a running catch, and then continued to throw on the run doubling Morgan off of second.

Big break for Lackey who, after struggling early, has gotten through eight. Bulldog.

End 7th, Red Sox 10-4: It’s become a bit of a laugher. Three hits and an error by shortstop Craig Counsell gives the Red Sox three more runs.

The capper was a two-run single by J.D. Drew through a drawn-in infield.

Indeed, John Lackey will get a chance to go eight in this one. There are two men up in the pen.

I’m passing you off to the immortal Mike Cole. You’ll see my shiny head on TV in a bit.

9:36 p.m.: The Red Sox offense is relentless, even without two of its key cogs lost to injury.

Drew Sutton, batting cleanup, rips a double to begin the seventh and David Ortiz follows with a single, his third hit of the game.

That chases Daniel Herrera. Into the game is Tim Dillard to face Darnell McDonald with runners on the corners and nobody out.

Mid 7th, Red Sox 7-4: Raise your hand if about an hour ago you thought that John Lackey would last seven innings in this one.

If you could see me, both of my hands are down. Well, I’m typing, so they have to be, but you dig.

Lackey has set down 13 in a row since Dustin Pedroia made that remarkable stop on a double play in the third. It has become the play of the game, for all intents and purposes.

At 98 pitches, it is conceivable that Lackey could get another inning. There is no action in the pen.

End 6th, Red Sox 7-4: Jason Varitek is not batting .308 (20-for-65) in his last 19 starts after an RBI double scores J.D. Drew in the sixth.

Varitek moved up 90 feet and then scored when Dustin Pedroia snuck one through a drawn-in infield.

Adrian Gonzalez, needing that triple to complete the cycle, then grounded into a double play to end it.

Mid 6th, Red Sox 5-4: John Lackey has settled down nicely. He has retired the last 10 in order.

Kevin Youkilis, on the other hand, is rather unsettled right now. At least his digestive system is. He left the game with what the Red Sox are calling a “stomach illness.”

They served baked parmesan scrod in the media dining room earlier, and I thought I saw a goateed man in uniform in there. Not sure. Can’t confirm.

End 5th, Red Sox 5-4: The superlatives continue to mount for Adrian Gonzalez. He is now 3-for-3 after a solo shot into the first row of the Monster seats.

That is Gonzalez’s 15th of the year. He entered the night leading the AL in hitting and RBIs. Home runs was the one category within which he needed to make some strides, ranking seven behind the leaders before this game.

However, as we saw earlier in the year, Gonzalez is prone to massive home run binges. If he goes on another we could see some Triple Crown talk begin to bubble up. Quite the hitter.

Mid 5th, 4-4: In fitting fashion, Drew Sutton immediately factors into things upon taking over for Kevin Youkilis.

Sutton fields the final two outs of the top of the fifth. He nipped Ryan Braun on a broken-bat roller to end it.

No immediate word on Youkilis right now. He has had the hip ailments, and seemed to tweak something in that Tropicana Field turf last night. We will get an announcement soon.

8:49 p.m.: And now Drew Sutton has taken over for Kevin Youkilis at third base. Presumably, whatever was bother Youkilis last night in Tampa when he was limping around is now acting up.

End 4th, 4-4: Suddenly, Marco Estrada has retired seven in a row. The Brewers have to feel pretty good about being in the position they are after four innings.

John Lackey’s pitch count is at 63 as he heads out to begin the fifth.

Mid 4th, 4-4: If they wanted to hand the Gold Glove to Dustin Pedroia right now, you would have a hard time making an argument against it. At least you would if you were at Fenway Park tonight.

Pedroia just made his second sensational play in as many innings, ranging up the middle to backhand a ball and throwing across his body to get Jonathan Lucroy.

Lucroy is not a speed demon, but the sheer execution by Pedroia was something to behold. John Lackey should be buying him a beer after this one. Maybe a Budweiser. Or Grolsch. Either one.

End 3rd, 4-4: After the Red Sox go quickly in the bottom of the third, this becomes a very big inning for John Lackey.

Just giving the team some innings tonight is huge, for two reasons. For one, the Sox bullpen is short its closer for this game and the next. The pen has six available arms.

Also, the Brewers rendered that rather insignificant when they were forced to go to the pen after just one inning, likely leaving their pen short going forward. A short outing by Lackey would have a similar effect.

Does that makes sense? It does in my head. Anyway, big inning for Lackey.

Mid 3rd, 4-4: It’s not often that the opposing team ties the game with its fourth run in just three innings and the fans rise to their feet.

That’s how good Dustin Pedroia’s defensive gem was in the third.

John Lackey gave up four straight singles to start the inning, allowing the Brewers to pull within 4-3. Casey McGehee then hit a rocket to Pedroia’s left.

Pedroia laid out and got the ball on one hard hop, turned and fired a strike to second for the first half of a huge double play. The runner from third came home, but the fans knew how critical that play was to preventing the Brewers from taking a lead.

Still, John Lackey is getting knocked around again. Seven hits in three innings.

End 2nd, Red Sox 4-2: Two innings into this one and Adrian Gonzalez is already 2-for-2 with two runs scored.

Gonzalez followed a two-out walk by Dustin Pedroia with a double off the Green Monster. He then scored when Kevin Youkilis delivered a two-run single.

Two-out walks will kill ya. They did for Marco Estrada right there.

By the way, the word on Carl Crawford is a left hamstring strain. We should know more about the severity of it later on, or perhaps by tomorrow if some exams are needed.

Mid 2nd, 2-2: John Lackey follows up Shaun Marcum’s 44-pitch inning with a nine-pitch frame. Give credit to Adrian Gonzalez for a nice scoop on the inning-ending grounder to short.

Marcum may have an injury. Forty-four pitches in one inning is a lot, but not enough to end a night unless something physical is going on. But the night is over for Marcum. Marco Estrada will begin the second.

A big test here for the Brewers bullpen. The Sox can make this a very winnable series if they can burn through a bunch of relievers right here and make the next two games that much more difficult for manager Ron Roenicke.

End 1st, 2-2: A rather eventful bottom of the first inning at Fenway, filled with positives (Jacoby Ellsbury home run, David Ortiz RBI double) and negatives (Carl Crawford injury).

We will start with the bad news. Crawford legged out an infield hit on a slow grounder to third, but came up limping as he crossed the bag. He was holding his left thigh or knee and was removed immediately in favor of pinch runner Darnell McDonald.

It’s been quite a run of injuries for the Red Sox. They haven’t hurt the team just yet in terms of its play on the field, a testament to the depth in the organization and the power trio of Ellbury, Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez, who continue to carry the load.

Ellsbury is now just one home run shy of matching a career high after taking a 1-2 offering from Shaun Marcum and depositing it into the Red Sox bullpen to start things off.

The speedy center fielder has five career leadoff homers, including two this month. His slugging percentage is .482. It has never been higher than .415, aside from a .509 mark in his 33-game stint in 2007.

OK, that’s sort of a weak statistic, but it represents strength for Ellsbury. He had plenty of time to get in better shape after the injury-ravaged 2010 season, and it has paid off in a big way.

Gonzalez singled one out later and scored on a double into the right-field corner by Ortiz.

Crawford followed with his hit and Marco Scutaro walked. Finally, after working a 3-2 count, J.D. Drew grounded to second on Marcum’s 44th pitch. Again, that’s 44 pitches. Rather amazing the Sox only scored two runs. Even more amazing they only scored one on the final 40 pitches.

Mid 1st, Brewers 2-0: John Lackey gets the reputation for complaining about bad luck from time to time.

He’s likely bemoaning at least one of the hits in the first that led to a pair of early runs for the Brewers.

With two outs and a man on first, Prince Fielder fought off a slider and landed it about a foot inside the line in left. It bounced into the stands for a double, and Casey McGehee followed with a line single to center to score the two runs.

Lackey’s ERA at home now sits at 8.72.

6:49 p.m.: One final note before dinner, and it involves the catching corps.

As you will see by glancing at the lineup, Jason Varitek is catching John Lackey for just the second time this year (second straight time).

Terry Francona said he wants Jarrod Saltalamacchia to catch the next two days, which includes a day game after a night game, and then for Varitek to catch Andrew Miller on Monday.

Although he has kept certain guys with certain guys, it has gotten to the point where Francona feels pretty confident pairing Varitek or Saltalamacchia with anyone.

“I have no reservations,” Francona said. “Tek even caught [Tim Wakefield], which is really good. I think that’s a compliment to both of them I think that’s a compliment to Gary Tuck. I think Tuckster’s done a great job with those guys. I know Tek’s a veteran. But there was some rough sledding early on. Tuckster, more than anybody, didn’t bail on anybody. He kept working, especially with Salty, and it’s working out pretty well.”

Indeed it is. The rotation, despite some injuries, has been solid, and both catchers have been hitting well for about a month now.

OK. Food.

6:25 p.m.: It’s been a bit nutty, so the blog might be leaner than most nights. That doesn’t mean we are not throwing up some stuff for you to read.

Click here for the take on Jed Lowrie and his injury. Click here for the story on Jonathan Papelbon and his suspension. And keep your eyes peeled for the Andrew Miller/Clay Buchholz story, which is in the queue and awaiting approval (I ain’t spell no good so these things take time).

Also, for some numbers on the Red Sox and interleague play, click here.

6:16 p.m.: To add to the stories that are going up in a bit, Daisuke Matsuzaka is prepared to see Dr. Lewis Yocum and then head to Fort Myers to begin his long rehabilitation.

Rich Hill was in the clubhouse sporting a protective cast over his surgically repaired left arm. He will rehab in Boston, where he resides.

In other news, Terry Francona was asked about whether he is considering a six-man rotation in any way.

“No,” Francona said. “We can use six guys once or twice. We have some days off coming up. Rest is good, too much is not good. [Clay Buchholz] is a little beat up. We’ll try to make this work as best we can.”

The rotation going forward has Jon Lester on Saturday, Tim Wakefield on Sunday and Andrew Miller on Monday. Josh Beckett would be lined up to go Tuesday against San Diego and then probably John Lackey on Wednesday with a normal four day’s of rest. Thursday is the day off, after which we could see some shuffling. There is also a day off the following Monday.

My guess is that Lester goes next Friday, followed by either Miller or Wakefield and then Beckett on Sunday. It seems as if they want to make sure this time with Buchholz, so missing two starts may be on the agenda.

4:45 p.m.: OK, a lot to catch up on.

First things first. Jonathan Papelbon will begin serving a two-game suspension tonight for his actions in that Oakland meltdown earlier this month. His appeal got it down from three games to two, and he was pleased with that result. That leaves Daniel Bard as the presumed closer until Sunday, although that may not be guaranteed. Terry Francona loves using Bard to put out seventh- and eighth-inning fires, and could turn to someone like Albers to take care of the ninth.