This current West Coast
road trip by the Red Sox has seen great starting pitching but
absolutely horrendous offense and relief. Yesterday Daisuke Matsuzaka
pitched 6 strong innings allowing only 1 run before the bullpen once
again faltered.
Tonight it was more of the
same but a little bit different against the LA Angels. Clay Buchholz
(11-5) pitched 7 superb innings in his second start since coming off
the disabled list. After allowing a 1st inning homer to Bobby Abreu,
Clay settled down allowing no further runs and lowered his ERA to
2.71. The Sox did their part by knocking Danny Haren (LA's new star
pitcher) in the 5th inning. Once again the bullpen faltered as Scott
Atchinson came on in the 8th and allowed a 2 run bomb by Hideki
Matsui before Jonathan Papelbon shut the door.
On this night however, the
offense woke up. Fueled by the return of starting catcher Victor
Martinez, David Ortiz hit a solo home run and a 2 run shot to combine
with V-Mart's rbi single giving the Sox a 4-3 going into the 9th
inning. In the 9th, JD Drew hit a 2 run double to give the Sox 6 runs
for the first time since Game 1 of this road trip. In the bottom of
the frame, Papelbon survived a leadoff hit before getting the next 3
to end the game and pick up his 23rd save.
Final Thoughts:
The win keeps pace with
the Devil Rays who celebrated Matt Garza's first career no-hitter.
The Sox now turn to John Lackey (coming off an 8 inning 1 run
masterpiece) who opposes the AL strikeout leader Jared Weaver in game
2 against LA. Boston is now 4-3 on the road-trip and are getting
healthier by the day. Getting their catcher back eliminates the black
hole that was there previously and are one step closer to getting
their opening day lineup. With 5 starters able to pitch 1 run 7
inning ball, a comeback is not out of the question.
No comments:
Post a Comment