Friday night's game had all the makings of a 10-9 games, as the first inning took 45 minutes to play, with the Red Sox and Brewers each scored two runs. And with John Lackey giving up 4 in the first three innings, I could see a four-hour game on the horizon. It was 4-4 after 3 innings. But Lackey settled down and retired 15 straight hitters at one point, and the Sox beat up on Milwaukee pitching. Adrian Gonzalez continued his torrent hitting, as he had three hits including a home run that just made it over the Monster. He was just a triple short of the cycle, and he walked in his last at-bat. I knew a triple was just a pipe dream, unless all three outfielders collapsed in a heap. Kevin Youkilis left with "intestinal turmoil", which sounds like the trots to me. But he drove in two runs before the bug got him. But in rather more distressing news, Carl Crawford left with a left hamstring strain after legging out a single in the first, and was replaced by Darnell McDonald. No word yet on how severe the injury is. The Sox put the game away late with three runs in the seventh. Lackey went 8 innings, and ended strong. New York's loss to the Cubs in the afternoon now extends the Red Sox lead to 2 1/2 games.