Beckett's Good Performance Unable To Put Sox In Win Column (0-4)

Last night, the Red Sox suffered a depressing 3-1 loss to the Indians in Cleveland, starting their year off 0-4 for the first time since 1996. The game started off well for the Sox, in the second inning. With 2 outs and an 0-2 count on David Ortiz, he worked the count back full, and eventually got a walk. With a man on first, J.D. Drew belted a double to right field to put runners at second and third with 2 out. Enter Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who had not gotten a hit all year, and was 0/10. However, he knocked an RBI single past the first baseman. David Ortiz scored, but Shin-Soo Choo came up throwing and nailed J.D. Drew at the plate (right). This pretty much describes the whole game for us, just a bit out of reach all the time. From that point on, it was all Indians, as with one out in the 4th inning, Travis Hafner smacked a double off the wall in right field. Orlando Cabrera hit him in with a single just out of reach of Marco Scutaro. After a walk and a strikeout, the Indians took the lead on a Jack Hannahan single up the middle. In the 5th inning, they got some insurance with an Asdrubal Cabrera double and eventually a Carlos Santana sacrifice fly, after that, the scoring, and Josh Beckett's day was over.

I was fairly impressed with Josh Beckett's (left) outing, at least before the 4th inning. In his first three innings of work, he allowed 1 hit, 2 strikeouts, and 2 walks. After that, however, he allowed 3 runs on 4 hits, with 2 strikeouts and 1 walk. Overall, he allowed 3 runs in 5 innings, striking out 4 and making him 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA this year. Jarrod Saltalamacchia broke out of his funk with an RBI single, but other than a walk, that was his only plate appearance, making him now .091/0/1. J.D. Drew had a very nice hit, his first of the year as well, on a well stroked double to right field. Dustin Pedroia did pretty well also, going 2-4 in last night's game. I will be backpacking over the next few days, and I will not be able to make another post until Saturday or Sunday, but tonight, although I won't see it, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Mitch Talbot will face each other for their season debuts.

Bright Spots:

Dustin Pedroia- 2-4 in the #3 spot in the order is an eye opener

Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 1-1 and broke out of his funk, driving in the Sox's only run

J.D. Drew- 1-3 with a beautifully hit double to right field

Bobby Jenks- struck out the side in the 7th inning

Daniel Bard- struck out two in a scoreless 8th inning

Dull Spots:

Jacoby Ellsbury- 0-4 leading off the lineup, and dropping his average to .188

Carl Crawford- hitless in the #2 hole, going 0-4

Adrian Gonzalez- 0-4, and leaving 2 runners on base

Marco Scutaro- 0-3 again, as he is still hitless to start the year

I'm very unhappy that the Sox are 0-4 and they really need to turn this around right now.... or at least tonight.