Red Sox Can't Come Back From Early Deficit To Angels (59-64)

Cook imploded in his last few innings

Aaron Cook (3-6, 4.58) is becoming a real disappointment as he just continues to give up hits and home runs and last night was evident of this. He and Ervin Santana (6-10, 5.59) both held the opposition scoreless in the first few innings, but Cook ran into some trouble in the third. With one out, Mike Trout singled and stole second but Torii Hunter struck out-- leaving Albert Pujols hitting. Pujols did his job and singled up the middle to score Trout easily and make it 1-0. But the Angels kept on going in the fourth, knocking back-to-back singles with one out in the inning. That was when Erick Aybar somehow singled softly past both Adrian Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia on the right side to score a run and make it 2-0. Another scored on an RBI single by Chris Iannetta. However, the Angels still weren't done as they kept going in the fifth.

The Red Sox honored Johnny Pesky,
who recently passed away

With one out and Kendrys Morales at first base, Mark Trumbo came up and promptly crushed one over the green monster to make it 5-0. That was Cook's last inning-- he left the game with an unimpressive line of 5 IP, 11 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K and is now 3-7/4.79/11. After Cook was gone, it was the Red Sox' turn to strike as they got going in the sixth inning. Cody Ross's walk with two outs constituted a rally as Jarrod Saltalamacchia came and and knocked a two-run home run just over the wall in right field to cut it to 5-2. The Red Sox kept rolling in the seventh benefiting from a one out double by Scott Podsednik. He would eventually score on a wild pitch after being advanced to third on a groundout. However, the Red Sox couldn't cut the lead any more than that and Angels' bullpen was fantastic in a 5-3 loss.


Bright Spots:
Clayton Mortensen- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 K
Vicente Padilla- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Alfredo Aceves- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB
Cody Ross- 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 1-2, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 RBI
Scott Podsednik- 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B

Dull Spots:
Aaron Cook- 5 IP, 11 H, 5 R, 4 R, 1 BB, 4 K, L (3-7)
Adrian Gonzalez- 0-4, 1 K, 2 LOB
Mike Aviles- 0-4, 4 LOB

Player of the Game:
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- Salty had a great game, reaching base three times in the loss including a two-run homer, he is now .229/21/49.

Red Sox Beat Verlander In Rain Shortened Game (53-51)

Beckett was taken out due to injury

Last night was a weird game in many ways for the Red Sox-- it was raining all night, and they finally decided to call the game in the sixth inning, giving the Red Sox a cheap win. Heading into the ballgame, though, it didn't look as though they'd be able to get anything cheap with reigning MVP and Cy Young winner Justin Verlander (11-6, 2.54) set to pitch against Josh Beckett (5-9, 4.57). But the Red Sox started the game off in a big way, they did not score any runs-- they wound up stranding the bases loaded-- but were still able to make Verlander throw 35 pitches in the first inning. It would ultimately be the Tigers that scored first, as they loaded the bases on two walks and a hit for Miguel Cabrera. Beckett walked him on a 3-1 count to drive in a run, then motioned to the trainer and was taken out of the game due to some weird injury.

Ciriaco continued his fantastic start

Clayton Mortensen, who had been recalled that day, entered the game and got Prince Fielder to fly out to end the inning. It took the Red Sox until the fourth inning, but eventually they showed their support for Mortensen by loading the bases on two singles and a walk. Pedro Ciriaco promptly drove a low line drive into right field to score one and leave the bases loaded for Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury worked a walk off the Tigers ace and suddenly the Red Sox had a 2-1 lead, and no signs of stopping. Next came a very weird play as Carl Crawford hit a very slow bouncer to the right side of the pitcher's mound. Verlander went after it but couldn't rein it in and Omar Infante's view must have been blocked because the ball got by him and two runs scored to make it 4-1. It stayed there until the sixth, when the umpires finally decided to call the game and give the Red Sox their fourth straight win.

Bright Spots:
Josh Beckett- 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Clayton Mortensen- 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K
Jacoby Ellsbury- 1-2, 1 BB, 1 RBI
Carl Crawford- 1-3, 1 RBI
Cody Ross- 1-2, 1 R, 1 BB
Pedro Ciriaco- 1-2, 1 R, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:
Dustin Pedroia- 0-3, 1 K, 3 LOB

Player of the Game:
Clayton Mortensen- When it seemed that this game would be over due to Beckett's injury and a tough situation, Mortensen came in and tossed 2.1 scoreless innings-- he is now 1-0/1.17/17 this year.

Rainy Day In All Respects For Red Sox (38-35)

Doubront wasn't at his best

This was a disappointing game for the Red Sox as they came back from an early deficit only to be thwarted again. After a leadoff single to start to game, a Colby Rasmus home run to right (just eclipsing the wall) gave the Jays an early 2-0 lead. After Jose Bautista reached base on an error later in the inning, he was driven in on a double high off the monster by Edwin Encarnacion to make it 3-0. Doubront finally got the first out of the inning after that but Yunel Escobar still had a single to keep the rally going. Rajai Davis grounded into a potential double play, but with his speed beat it out and Encarnacion scored from third to make it 4-0. The Red Sox almost immediately mounted a comeback effort in the bottom of the first though, as Dustin Pedroia tripled to right with one out. David Ortiz absolutely got ahold of one after that and crushed one to right-center for a two-run homer to make it 4-2.

The game was delayed during the
seventh inning

Ben Francisco of the Jays doubled to lead off the second inning, however, and moved up to third on a single by Brett Lawrie. Colby Rasmus singled up to middle to make it 5-2 as Doubront definitely was not working. However, the Red Sox offense continually tried to bail him out as they put runners at the corners with two outs in the third. It quickly became a bad day for Blue Jays' second baseman Kelly Johnson. Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit what appeared to be a routine ground ball to Johnson, but he bobbled it and it allowed a run to score. On the very next play, Adrian Gonzalez hit a hard ground ball to the right of Johnson and it deflected off his glove to allow another run in and make it 5-4. The Sox finally fully came back in the fifth as after a leadoff double by Cody Ross, Ryan Kalish drove him in with a single up the middle. However, two run homers for the Jays-- J.P. Arencibia in the sixth and Jose Bautista in the seventh made it 9-5. The Red Sox scored again in the eighth on a homer by Ortiz but it wasn't enough as they fell 9-6.

Bright Spots:
Clayton Mortensen- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Dustin Pedroia- 2-4, 2 R, 1 3B
David Ortiz- 2-3, 3 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Adrian Gonzalez- 1-4, 1 RBI
Ryan Kalish- 2-4, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:
Felix Doubront- 6 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, L (8-4)
Matt Albers- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB
Daniel Nava- 0-5, 2 K, 1 LOB
Jarrod Saltalamacchia- 0-4, 2 K, 1 LOB
Nick Punto- 0-4, 1 K, 2 LOB

Player of the Game:
David Ortiz- Ortiz continued his fantastic season by going 2-3 with two home runs, three RBIs, and three runs scored to became a remarkable .304/20/52.

Bad Fielding Costs Sox Series Win (12-18)

Lester suffered from some tough luck

The Sox are just in a ridiculously bad stretch right now and I don't even know what to think-- maybe they are the worst team in the AL East? With two outs in the first, they allowed the Royals to walk and single to put two runners on base. Then, Marlon Byrd overran a ball and it tipped off his glove on a catchable ball which made it 1-0 Royals. Later in the inning, the Sox gave another pair of runs away when a fly ball popped out of Cody Ross' glove and hit the wall, scoring two runs and making it 3-0-- a completely unearned lead for Jon Lester. However, the tide appeared to be turning when the Sox loaded the bases with two outs in the third.

Gonzalez had the big hit

As it turned out, they did answer as Adrian Gonzalez knocked a line drive right into the right-center gap. It was a ball that should have easily scored two runs, but Dustin Pedroia is a hero and he came all the way around from first to score. Mind you, Jeff Franceour has a really good arm so this is a pretty big deal, as Pedroia tied the game at 3-3 in the third inning. Things appeared to be turning again, however, as Irving Falu hit a leadoff double in the fourth, then he was bunted over to third with only one out for Alcides Escobar. hit a line drive on a ball into right-center which turned out to be a double that would give the Royals a 4-3 lead. After the fifth inning, Jon Lester was taken out of the ballgame after a disappointing game. His final line was 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K in a game that, because of the first, actually lowered his ERA to 4.29-- but still resulted in a loss. Clayton Mortensen came into the game and tossed three scoreless (he's been impressive) to end the game with the score of 4-3.

Bright Spots:
Clayton Mortensen- 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 K
Adrian Gonzalez- 1-4, 1 2B, 3 RBI

Dull Spots:
David Ortiz- 0-4, 2 K, 4 LOB
Will Middlebrooks- 0-4, 1 K, 1 LOB

Player of the Game:
Adrian Gonzalez- He kept the Sox in the game with a timely three-run double in the third, recording his 17th, 18th, and 19th RBIs of the young season.

Orioles Cook Up A Rout Over Sox (11-15)

Aaron Cook made his Red
Sox debut today

A day game after a thirteen inning night game is always a difficult task, and the Red Sox showed that today. Aaron Cook was making his Red Sox debut and, the O's first got started off Cook when Chris Davis came in on a passed ball in the second. Davis's cleats spiked Cook on his slide and Cook was never the same for the rest of the game. The Orioles put runners on first and second with one out in the third and flew from there. Nick Markakis singled on a slow liner up the middle before Adam Jones crushed a two-run homer on a hanging curveball over the monster to make it 4-0. They proceeded to put another runner in scoring position on a Matt Wieters double and a Chris Davis single. Wilson Betemit singled into right to bring in Wieters and move Davis up to second. At this point, the Red Sox realized things were not going well for Cook and pulled him from the game after going 2.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 BB-- entering Clayton Mortensen into the ballgame. 

He was not sharp though

Mortensen didn't open up too well, allowing a three-run homer to Mark Reynolds-- a no-doubt shot well over the green monster. Mortensen stayed in, however, and was quite good in his role with 3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 5 K-- as he has started off the season very well with a 1.42 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 6.1 innings so far. The Sox opened up the seventh by putting Adrian Gonzalez at first base with two outs before Ryan Sweeney knocked him in with a double high off the Green Monster to make it 8-1. Cody Ross proceeded to drive Sweeney in with a little bloop single into right field to make it 8-2. Scott Atchison had come in to pitch the top of the seventh, and he stayed in for the rest of the ballgame. He pitched well with 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K as he continued a strong season-- he currently stands at 1-0/1.50/14 in 18 innings this year. Just one tough inning led the Sox to dropping an 8-2 loss in Aaron Cook's debut.

Bright Spots:

Clayton Mortensen- 3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 5 K

Scott Atchison- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Dustin Pedroia- 2-4, 2B

Adrian Gonzalez- 3-4, 1 R, 1 2B

Ryan Sweeney- 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Cody Ross- 1-4, 1 RBI

Dull Spots:

Aaron Cook- 2.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Nick Punto- 0-4, 2 K

Mike Aviles- 0-4, 6 LOB

Marlon Byrd- 0-3, 1 K, 2 LOB

Player of the Game:

Adrian Gonzalez- Gonzalez played an excellent game for the Red Sox, with a 3-4 day-- including a double and scoring a run. 

Late Rallies Not Enough As Sox Drop Series (11-13)

Daniel Bard took the loss

For the first time in a pair of series, the Red Sox lost a series-- dropping this game and thus, the series, to the Oakland A's. Tonight was the major league debut of top prospect Will Middlebrooks and he first came up in the second inning-- walking on four pitches and stealing second base. There was no scoring for either team until the fourth inning. With one out, Yoenis Cespedes doubled into left-center and was promptly driven in by Seth Smith, who grounded a ball into right-center to make it 1-0 A's. Daniel Bard had been cruising along other than that fourth inning blemish, but in the sixth, things got much worse. With one out and a man on first for the A's, Seth Smith doubled to left on a ball that Cody Ross overran to make it 2-0. Kila Ka'aihue doubled down the first base line to score another run and then Brandon Inge doubled off the monster to make it 4-0 in the fourth, Inge would be Bard's last batter.

Will Middlebrooks made his
major league debut

Bard was taken out after recording one out in the sixth with a final line of 5.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 1 K before being pulled for Matt Albers. Albers recorded the final two outs of the sixth, and then his night was done as well. Newly recalled Clayton Mortensen entered the game for the seventh and threw a scoreless inning before the Sox got on the board in the bottom of the seventh. The Sox put runners on second and third to start the inning on a walk to Jarrod Saltalamacchia and a double for Will Middlebrooks. Marlon Byrd knocked a sacrifice fly to bring in Salty and make it a three-run game at 4-1. Mike Aviles got out before Ryan Sweeney and Dustin Pedroia walked to load the bases, bringing Adrian Gonzalez to the plate-- who struck out to end the inning. Dustin Pedroia knocked in another run with an RBI double in the ninth to make it 4-2, again leaving Adrian Gonzalez with the clutch hitting-- this time, Gonzalez grounded out. A lack of clutch hitting and one bad inning spoiled Will Middlebrooks' debut.

Bright Spots:
Clayton Mortensen- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 6 K
Ryan Sweeney- 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB
Dustin Pedroia- 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
David Ortiz- 2-4, 2 2B
Will Middlebrooks- 2-3, 2B, 1 BB, 1 SB

Dull Spots:
Adrian Gonzalez- 0-4, 1 BB, 2 K, 4 LOB
Cody Ross- 0-4, 1 K, 2 LOB

Player of the Game:
Will Middlebrooks- Yes, I'm a little bit biased since it was his debut, but he played a really good game-- going 2-3 with a double, a walk, and even stealing a base.

Sox Ride Strong Pitching To Third Win (3-0)

Bard threw 2 scoreless innings

Today, the Red Sox continued their winning ways against the Orioles with yet another solid win. The Red Sox got going quick out of the gate when a Jacoby Ellsbury double and Dustin Pedroia single put them at the corners with none out in the first inning. However, only one run came out of it-- a sacrifice fly by Ryan Lavarnway. In his first two innings of the spring, Daniel Bard (right) was very strong: 2 innings, no runs or hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts. The Red Sox had their biggest inning in the 3rd, when they put runners at the corners with one out. Adrian Gonzalez proceeded to hit a wall ball double off the monster to score one and a Ryan Lavarnway single scored another. The lead became 4-0 when Cody Ross hammered one high off the monster to score Gonzalez. All the while, Alfredo Aceves was brilliant-- tossing two perfect innings and striking out two. However, the problems came when Alex Wilson came in to pitch-- in 1+ innings, he allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. However, a 2-out RBI double off the monster by Pedro Ciriaco netted the Sox the victory. Clayton Mortensen was fantastic, throwing 2.1 strong innings and striking out four with just a hit allowed while Michael Bowden was also very good-- he threw 1.2 perfect innings while striking out one.

Bright Spots:
Daniel Bard- 2 innings, no runs or hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
Alfredo Aceves- 2 innings, no runs, hits, or walks and 2 strikeouts
Clayton Mortensen- 2.1 innings, no runs, 1 hit, 4 strikeouts
Michael Bowden- 1.2 innings, no runs, hits, or walks and a strikeout
Jacoby Ellsbury- 1-2, 1 run, 1 double
Dustin Pedroia- 1-2, 1 run, 1 walk
Pedro Ciriaco- 1-1, 1 RBI, 1 double
Adrian Gonzalez- 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 double, 1 run
Ryan Lavarnway- 1-1, 2 RBI
Cody Ross- 1-2, 1 RBI, 1 double

Dull Spots:
Alex Wilson- 1+ innings, 4 runs, 5 hits, 2 walks
Luis Exposito- 0-2, 1 strikeout, 1 left on base
Jason Repko- 0-2, 1 strikeout
Alex Hassan- 0-3, 1 strikeout
Will Middlebrooks- 0-2

Red Sox Ship Scutaro To Colorado

Today, the Red Sox completed a move that broke the heart of many Red Sox fans, including me. They shipped scrappy fan favorite Marco Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies in return for Clayton Mortensen. This move is likely just a payroll dump as they are trading Scutaro, who will make $6 million in 2012 for Mortensen, who is not even arbitration eligible yet-- this could secure some payroll space for a guy like Roy Oswalt. Mortensen finally broke through as a major leaguer in 2011, going 2-4/3.86/30 for the Rockies. However, he got lucky as his FIP stood at 5.34 and his xFIP was 4.67; plus, his K/9 of 4.63 and BB/9 of 3.70 are less than impressive. Mortensen is no more than depth just like Aaron Cook, Carlos Silva, and Vicente Padilla. At shortstop, the Red Sox will likely platoon Mike Aviles and Nick Punto. If this move translates into Roy Oswalt, I will be happy-- if not, I will be very mad at Ben Cherington.