Red Sox down Cubs
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fighting back to the majors for the first time since 2010 after a lengthy absence due to shoulder and neck surgeries, 24- year-old Ryan Kalish finally got his opportunity just hours before Boston's interleague series finale against the Cubs.
Fresh off his promotion, Kalish came through with a go-ahead RBI single, which highlighted a three-run top of the seventh inning, as the Red Sox downed Chicago, 7-4, on Sunday.
Kalish was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket prior the contest for Ryan Sweeney, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with left big toe inflammation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"That's what baseball's been for years," Kalish said. "People getting hurt and people stepping up."
Making his first start in over three years -- a spot start in place of Josh Beckett -- Franklin Morales fanned nine and surrendered two runs on four hits in five innings. Beckett was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with right shoulder inflammation.
Matt Albers (2-0) picked up the win after allowing a run in the sixth.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}David Ortiz smacked two hits, including a solo homer, registered two RBI and a pair of runs scored for the Red Sox, who have won four of their last five games.
Starlin Castro collected three hits and two RBI for the Cubs, who have dropped four of their last five contests.
They fell to 3-15 against left-handed starters.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Coming into the season, I thought that one of our strong points would be when left-handed pitchers faced our team," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "It's not that they're doing horrible, we're just not getting the slugging percentage at all against left-handed pitching, which is holding us back from scoring multiple runs in an inning."
The game was tied 3-3 after six frames, but Boston surged ahead with its three-run seventh.
Darnell McDonald doubled and Jarrod Saltalamacchia -- pinch-hitting for Kelly Shoppach -- singled to put runners on the corners with no outs against Shawn Camp (2-4).
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}James Russell took over for Camp and was welcomed by Kalish, who lined an RBI single to center. Will Middlebrooks lifted a sacrifice fly to center and Daniel Nava's suicide squeeze gave the Red Sox a 6-3 advantage.
Saltalamacchia's RBI groundout made it 7-3 after eight while David DeJesus's sacrifice fly in the ninth concluded the scoring.
Earlier, an RBI double by Dustin Pedroia and a run-scoring base hit by Ortiz gave Boston a 2-0 lead in the opening frame before Castro's RBI triple in the home half and run-scoring double in the third knotted the game at 2-2.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Boston reclaimed the lead in the fourth when Ortiz belted a solo shot to center, but Chicago, aided by a pair of errors, battled back and squared the contest at 3-3 in the sixth.
Darwin Barney led off and reached base on a fielding error by Kevin Youkilis at third. Later, Barney scampered home from third when Albers' throw to second on a Jeff Baker comebacker to the mound was dropped by shortstop Mike Aviles.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Morales made his last start with Colorado on Apr. 21, 2009 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. All of his 15 career starts prior to Sunday also came with the Rockies. He had made 145 straight regular-season appearances out of the bullpen...Boston was 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position while Chicago finished 2-for-12.