Former Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon got plenty of support from his new team in his Red Sox debut. The 35 year old had not pitched since September 29th of last year when he pitched a single inning of relief for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Colon spent almost all of last year trying to recover from a series of injuries to his throwing arm.
Wednesday night, however, Colon looked more like his former self again. Colon allowed only 2 runs off six hits scattered over five innings of work, while the Sox batters clinched the win for him with a 4 run fifth inning off Royals pitcher Brett Tomko.
Jacoby Ellsbury hit a leadoff homerun to start the first, and would score two more times in the game. Jason Varitek added a solo shot in the fifth. The win was the Red Sox sixth straight, and their 9th home victory in a row. It also gave the Red Sox a two game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.
Notes: Manny Ramirez remained stuck on homerun number 498, having not hit a homerun in seven games now.