CHICAGO -- It may have been the ultimate in ugly wins, but the Red Sox, happy to be back at .500, were in no position to refuse it.
The Sox beat back the Chicago Cubs in a comedy of errors Sunday, 7-4, overcoming a litany of fundamental missteps and errors to win their second in a row and fourth in their six-game interleague road trip.
The game featured Dustin Pedroia in two near-collisions with teammates, each resulting in runs for the Cubs. He failed to secure a pop-up in shallow right in the third as Darnell McDonald raced in from right field. Then, in the comic sixth, both he and shortstop Mike Aviles covered the second-base bag at once, spoiling what could have been a double play.
Still, the Sox erupted for three runs in the seventh, with some help from the Cubs and the aid of a nicely excecuted suicide squeeze from Daniel Nava.
Franklin Morales was brilliant in his first start in more than three years, allowing two earned runs in five innings while fanning nine and walking no one.
Alfredo Aceves made things interesting by loading the bases with no outs in the ninth, but the Cubs could only score one run from it on a David DeJesus sacrifice fly. Boston's bullpen allowed just one other unearned run over the previous three innings.
David Ortiz had two RBI, the second of which came on his 16th homer of the season. Ryan Kalish, back in the big leagues for the first time since 2010, contributed a run-scoring singles.
Boston Red Sox
Naturally, the game was not without its share of bad news for the Red Sox as both Scott Podsednik (left groin strain) and Kevin Youkilis left the game with injuries.