KOJI CELEBRATES 39TH BIRTHDAY WITH HIS FIRST SAVE OF THE SEASON

It only took Koji Uehara 7 pitches to close out the bottom of the 9th inning and get his first save of the season.  While the win was a team effort and 8 of the 9 players got at least one hit, Koji needs to thank the "kids" on the team for this save opportunity.

Of the 4 runs the Red Sox scored tonight, the kids had a hand or two in all of them.  Bogaerts was 3 for 4 tonight and scored 2 of Boston's runs.  Bradley and Middlebrooks both went 2 for 4 and scored a run of their own.  Although both players drove in a run, Bradley was the only one to get credited with an RBI since Middlebrooks hit into a double play.

The other RBIs went to Ortiz and backup catcher David Ross.  Massachusetts native Chris Capuano made his regular season debut and had a clean 7th inning which included a strikeout. 

Felix Doubront pitched a good game giving up 3 runs, 6 hits, and 1 walk over 5.1 innings.  Most of his trouble occurred during the 4th inning when the Orioles would send 6 players to the plate.  He got hit pretty hard during that inning and ended up giving up 2 doubles and 2 runs before ending the inning on a strikeout.  Doubront made it through the 5th inning a lot quicker by facing only 3 batters and sitting 2 of them down on strikeouts.  

Both teams had one player who left 5 guys on base and didn't register a hit.  For the Red Sox that player was last night's RBI machine Mike Napoli.  For the Orioles it was Nelson Cruz.

The unsung hero of the night would have to be 3rd base coach Brian Butterfield with his great job sending the kids home.

If you like what you've read here, share with your friends and follow @BOSsportschick on twitter.