Bard Blows Game As Sox Fall To Cards (7-3)

Pedroia hit a home run today

Well, so far the Red Sox have lost twice this spring, and two of those times have been to the Cardinals. Both of the games against the Cardinals have been blown in the 8th inning by a Red Sox pitcher. The Cardinals first took the lead in the 2nd inning as one of few blemishes in a very good outing by Alfredo Aceves: 4 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 4 strikeouts. The Sox then scored three in the fourth inning. A one-out double by David Ortiz and a two-out double for Ryan Lavarnway knotted up the score at 1-1. Darnell McDonald proceeded to homer over the psuedo-monster in left field to make it 3-1. After an inning in which Justin Thomas allowed two hits in a scoreless inning, the Sox took a 4-1 lead in the 5th after Dustin Pedroia (right) led off the inning with a homer. However, the Cardinals scored three to tie it up in the sixth. The Sox took a 6-4 lead back though in the 6th when, after three consecutive walks, Pedro Ciriaco doubled to left. Unfortunately, in the eighth, the game unraveled in front of Daniel Bard who wound up with 7 runs in 2.2 innings. Chorye Spoone closed things out by allowing a run on four hits in 1.1 innings.

Bright Spots:
Alfredo Aceves- 4 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 4 strikeouts
Jacoby Ellsbury- 2-3
Dustin Pedroia- 1-3, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 home run
Pedro Ciriaco- 2-2, 1 double, 2 RBIs
Ryan Lavarnway- 1-3, 1 double, 1 RBI, 1 run
Darnell McDonald- 2-2, 1 run, 2 RBIs, 1 homer

Dull Spots:
Daniel Bard- 2.2 innings, 6 hits, 7 runs, 4 walks, 1 strikeout
Chorye Spoone- 1.1 innings, 4 hits, 1 run
Juan Carlos Linares- 0-2, 1 strikeout, 4 left on base
Cody Ross- 0-3, 2 strikeouts, 2 left on base
Mike Aviles- 0-2, 1 left on base