When Cole Hamels was on the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Boston Red Sox couldn't do much of anything. As soon as he left the game Thursday with a bruised hand, the Sox came alive, scoring five runs against the Phillies' bullpen and avoiding the sweep with a 5-2 victory.
The Red Sox seemed incapable of solving Philadelphia's pitching all series long. That continued with Hamels for the first four innings of this game as well.
However, Hamels left the game after taking an Adrian Gonzalez line drive off his non-pitching hand. The Phillies said after the game that X-rays were negative and the injury is a contusion. He is expected to make his next start Tuesday night.
David Herndon took over for the Phils and the Red Sox' floodgates opened up. Drew Sutton and Jacoby Ellsbury delivered RBI singles in a two-run fifth inning and Dustin Pedroia and Jason Varitek hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth.
The Red Sox banged out 13 hits in all and avoided being swept by the Phillies for the first time in 11 years.
Jon Lester improved to 10-4 on the season, Herndon picked up the loss for the Phils (0-2). For more on the Red Sox, check out Over The Monster and SB Nation Boston. Keep an eye on the Phillies with The Good Phight and SB Nation Philly.