Los Angeles @ Boston preview
Fenway Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 18, 2010 ) LA Dodgers 6, Boston 10
It took one night for the Red Sox to make the city of Boston forget about the heart-breaking loss of the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA finals.
The Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-6, on Friday to gain a sense of revenge for the Celtics, who lost to the L.A. Lakers one night earlier.
The Dodgers and the Red Sox meet again Saturday in the second of the three-game interleague series at Fenway Park.
Friday night was a wild night for Red Sox fans. Not only was the city crazed to beat Los Angeles, but it also marked the return of Manny Ramirez to Boston for the first time since he was traded away during a tumultuous time in the 2008 season.
Ramirez went 1-for-5 in Friday's game and made the last out, taking a called third strike from Daniel Bard with two runners on base in the ninth inning.
Ramirez was greeted by a loud mixture of responses throughout the night. In his first at-bat, many fans stood and cheered while others booed him loudly. Fans wore T-shirts and held up signs for and against the former Red Sox hero who helped the team win the 2004 World Series, breaking their drought of 86 years without a title.
Ramirez won the World Series MVP award in 2004 and again starred on the team that won another title in 2007. He left in 2008.
But the Red Sox remained focused on the field on Friday and put up seven runs in the fifth inning to break open a tie game and put away the Dodgers. With the win - their fifth in their last six games - Boston closed to just a game back in the AL East.
Both the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays lost on Friday to open the door for the charging Red Sox, who hand the ball to struggling starter Tim Wakefield Saturday.
Wakefield is one of the few Boston starters who has been ineffective of late. He has lost three of his last four outings filling in for the injured Josh Beckett.
The Dodgers counter with Vicente Padilla, who is returning from the disabled list after suffering a sore right forearm. Padilla has not pitched for the Dodgers since April 28 and was 1-1 with a 6.65 ERA before going on the disabled list.
He'll have to be sharp against the surging Red Sox. David Ortiz has homered in three straight games and Boston hit three homers in all in Friday night's win.
The Red Sox have won seven of their last 10 series and tied the other three to climb back into the AL East race.