The Juice: Cody Ross criticizes Red Sox management, beats them with home run
The Juice returns for season No. 6! It's almost eligible for free-agency! Stop by daily for news from the action, along with great photos, stats, video highlights and more.
Prior to playing his first game at Fenway Park since leaving the Boston Red Sox in the offseason, Cody Ross let his feelings and frustrations be known after he felt general manager Ben Cherington lied to him.
“They told me that they didn’t want to sign guys to long-term deals, and then they gave [Shane] Victorino a three-year deal, and then [Mike] Napoli a three-year deal or four-year deal, whatever it was [later shortened to a one-year deal after health issues popped up]. So, basically they lied to my face. At that point, I kind of got a bad taste in my mouth and wanted to move on, and that was it.
“It is what it is. Like I said, it was a great time being here.”
There's only one proper way to take out those frustrations. In Arizona's 7-6 victory, Ross did just that by going 4 for 5 with a pair of doubles and the game's biggest hit, a go-ahead solo homer in the seventh.
And just like that, a weight had been lifted.
''Obviously, I want to come in here and perform and play well. Any time you play against one of your old teams you want to do that,'' Ross said, ''but I have no hard feelings toward anybody in this organization.''
I think that's good news for the Red Sox on Saturday.
Even dozen: For a team with high expectations that struggled tremendously out of the gate, the Los Angeles Dodgers have recovered nicely and are on quite roll right now. Historic even, because with their 6-2 win over the Cubs on Friday, they matched a franchise record with their 12th consecutive road victory. You have to go all the way back until July 6 in San Francisco to find their last road loss. And you have to go back to 1924, when they were known as the Brooklyn Robins, to find the original record.
''It's pretty special,'' said Nick Punto, who had two hits and drove in two runs. ''Pretty cool. Since 1924 someone was saying. That's really cool. This is a really special team.''
In addition to Punto's nice game, Los Angeles also received multi-hit efforts from Adrian Gonzalez and some guy named Yasiel Puig. Hyun-Jin Ryu picked up his tenth win on the hill.
MORE SCORES
Tigers 2, White Sox 1: Starting for Miguel Cabrera, newly acquired Jose Iglesias had a critical RBI in his Detroit debut.
Marlins 10, Indians 0: The brilliance of Jose Fernandez continues. Eight scoreless and 14 mores strikeouts for the now 21-year-old rookie.
Orioles 11, Mariners 8: League-leading 40th home run for Chris Davis. Nate McLouth added a grand slam to put Baltimore over the top.
Rockies 4, Pirates 2: Jhoulys Chacin was excellent over eight innings as Colorado plays spoiler.
Braves 6, Phillies 4: Make it eight straight wins for Atlanta.
Mets 4, Royals 2 (11 inn.): Eric Young Jr. delivered his first career walk-off home run to end Kansas City's nine-game winning streak.
Cardinals 13, Reds 3: St. Louis has bounced back from a six-game losing streak with consecutive 13 run outbursts.
Giants 4, Rays 1: Boston maintains a one game lead in the AL East.
Twins 4, Astros 3 (13 inn.): Brian Dozier had three hits, including the game-tying single in the ninth and the game-winner in the 13th.
Nationals 4, Brewers 1: Wisconsin native Jordan Zimmermann earns his career best 13th victory.
Padres 7, Yankees 2: Ironically, the Yankees were done in by another player facing a suspension in connection with the Biogenesis scandal. Everth Cabrera equaled a career-high with four hits.
Rangers 8, A's 3: Texas has gained 3 1/2 games on Oakland in the past four days after going 32 consecutive days without gaining any ground. The deficit is now 2.5.
Angels 7, Blue Jays 5: The J.B. Shuck show was center stage.
''Baseball is the same. Great group — and fun to win today.''
— Jose Iglesias on his adjustment to playing in Detroit. Simple, yet logical.
Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley and Rickey Henderson run the inaugural hall of famer race in Oakland.
• The Giants have announced Barry Zito will be moving to the bullpen.
• David Wright could face a DL stint after injuring his hamstring.
• Chris Johnson tied a Braves franchise record with his eighth straight multi-hit game. Hank Aaron was the last to do it in 1959.
Looking for more baseball chatter?
Follow @bigleaguestew, @Townie813, @AnswerDave and @MikeOz on Twitter
Also, check out the BLS Facebook Page
Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Two Rockies minor leaguers charged with rape
• A-Rod homers in rehab game, discusses future
• Must watch: J.B. Shuck's unreal home run theft
• Royals haven’t lost in the ‘Prince George’ era
