Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Boston 8, Atlanta 4
When: 7:15 PM ET, Saturday, June 23, 2012
Where: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
Temperature: 65°
Umpires: Home - Doug Eddings, 1B - Alan Porter, 2B - Kerwin Danley, 3B - Paul Nauert
Attendance: 37782
Red Sox 8, Braves 4: Will Middlebrooks and Dustin Pedroia each had three hits, and Boston knocked out Atlanta starter Randall Delgado in the second inning at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox won for the eighth time in their past 10 games, bouncing back from losing Friday’s series opener by scoring twice in each of the first two innings. Delgado (4-8) surrendered six hits and four runs with two walks and one strikeout in 1 1/3 innings.

Boston starter Franklin Morales (1-1) gave up three runs (two earned) in six innings, striking out eight.

Trailing 1-0 in the first, Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez singled home Pedroia to tie the game. Middlebrooks doubled to center later in the inning, scoring Jared Saltalamacchia to put the Red Sox ahead 2-1.

Pedroia drove in Mike Aviles and Daniel Nava with a double to center in the second inning, giving Boston a 4-1 advantage. Middlebrooks took reliever Cristhian Martinez deep leading off the third inning, his ninth homer of the season pushing Boston’s advantage to 5-1.

Down 6-2 after five innings, the Braves nudged closer. Chipper Jones doubled home Dan Uggla in the sixth, and Michael Bourn’s groundout in the seventh scored David Ross to bring Atlanta within 6-4. But with runners on first and third with one out, Brian McCann lined into an inning-ending double play.

Bourn finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two stolen bases for Atlanta.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Boston scratched Sunday’s starting pitcher, Clay Buchholz, due to illness. Aaron Cook will be activated from the disabled list and start the series finale. … Boston third baseman Kevin Youkilis did not start for the third consecutive game, highlighting another potential rift between the veteran and new Boston manager Bobby Valentine. … Jason Heyward extended his hitting streak to nine games with an infield single in the fifth.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Atlanta   Boston
Randall Delgado Player Franklin Morales
Loss W/L Win
1.1 IP 6.0
1 Strikeouts 8
6 Hits 7
27.00 ERA 3.00
Hitting
Atlanta   Boston
Michael Bourn Player Will Middlebrooks
3 Hits 3
2 RBI 2
0 HR 1
3 TB 7
.600 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Atlanta 10 0 12 .286 17 8 4 2 3 0
Boston 14 1 22 .389 20 9 8 4 0 1