Red Sox Shutout Rays For Fourth Win (4-2)

Bard made his second start

Last night was a solid game as the Red Sox were able to put a convincing win on one of their hated rivals: the Rays. After a scoreless top half, the Red Sox put runners at the corners with no outs and after a Jacoby Ellsbury strikeout, they loaded them up. Wade Davis kept struggling with his control, however, walking the run in to give the Sox a one run lead. In the bottom of the 2nd, Darnell McDonald led off the inning with a double down the line. A sacrifice fly and a walk to Alex Hassan would put runners at the corners with one out and after Hassan stole second, they had runners in scoring position. That's when Jose Iglesias hit a seemingly harmless fly ball to center on a bizarre play. B.J. Upton ran over to get it as usual, but he just flat missed it-- Iglesias was able to get to third and two runs scored, but it was called an error on Upton. Then another bizarre play occurred, as Iglesias was caught stealing home to end the inning. In the 3rd, a one out double for Adrian Gonzalez put a runner at second, and a two out double to right for Kevin Youkilis drove him in to give the Sox a 4-0 lead. All the while, Daniel Bard had been pretty good in his second start of the spring-- he picked up the win with 3 innings, 2 hits, no runs, 2 walks, 1 strikeout. After Bard was done, Alfredo Aceves was pretty good-- 3 innings, 2 hits, no runs or walks, 2 strikeouts, and through Aceves' pitching the Sox offense stood pat. In the 7th, Matt Albers was able to get out of a spot of trouble, he allowed a walk and a hit in his one inning. Junichi Tazawa had a similar situation in the 8th, tossing a shutout inning, but walking two in the process. In the 8th, the Sox' offense came back to life. Will Middlebrooks doubled with one out, and then with two outs, Josh Kroeger lifted a liner into right field which ended up as an RBI ground-rule double. Clayton Mortensen closed out the win by going 1 inning, 2 hits, no runs, 1 walk in an eventual 5-0 victory.

Bright Spots:
Alfredo Aceves- 3 innings, 2 hits, no runs, 2 strikeouts
Nick Punto- 1-2, 1 run, 1 walk
Josh Kroeger- 1-1, 1 RBI, 1 double
Will Middlebrooks- 1-2, 1 double, 1 run
Darnell McDonald- 1-2, 1 double, 1 run
Kevin Youkilis- 1-2, 1 RBI, 1 double

Dull Spots:
Jacoby Ellsbury- 0-3, 1 strikeout, 2 left on base
Ryan Lavarnway- 0-2, 2 strikeouts, 1 left on base
Jason Repko- 0-2, 1 strikeout, 1 left on base