Red Sox Update: Lester and Pedroia
Monday, March 12, 2012
Those who were with Boston for their regular season finale won’t soon forget that devastating loss in the 162nd game of the season at Camden Yards. It kept the Sox out of the playoffs and satisfied Baltimore’s Boston-bashing skipper Buck Showalter.
Sunday, Lester allowed only 1 hit over 4 innings of work but he did walk 4 Oriole hitters while striking out 2 and gave up the only run scored by Baltimore. Still, for his first game against Major League hitters this spring, it was a very solid start.
Offensively, Dustin Pedroia went 2 for 3 out of the 2-hole including a double and 2 RBI. Newcomer Cody Ross went 2 for 2 with a walk and a pair of runs scored.
The win improved the Sox spring record to (5-2). That, along with their +15 run differential is third best in the Grapefruit League thus far.
NOTES:
-Lester threw a total of 66 pitches, 37 of which were strikes. Lester felt like home plate umpire Chad Fairchild had an inconsistent strike zone which partially contributed to the 29 balls. Lester is expected to pitch on opening day for the Sox in Detroit on April 5.
-Aaron Cook made his Red Sox debut pitching 2 solid innings of no-hit, scoreless baseball. He walked 2 and struck out 1. The former Colorado Rockies starter is one of the pitchers competing for the 5th spot in Boston’s starting rotation this season. Ironically, Cook was the starting pitcher for the Rockies when Boston beat Colorado in the decisive game of the 2007 World Series.
-Carl Crawford’s injured left wrist continues to improve and, according to manager Bobby Valentine, will soon be cleared to swing the bat once again. Valentine did say that Crawford will be watched very closely and will not be allowed to overdo it as he did early in camp which resulted in aggravating the wrist.
-Valentine also mentioned that short stop Jose Iglesias did not make the trip to Sarasota because he was back in Fort Myers nursing a groin injury. Valentine said that Iglesias will get a few days off to recover from the mild strain.
-In Boston’s 5-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays Saturday night, starter Daniel Bard tossed 3 scoreless innings. Bard has pitched well in his two starts this spring going 5 innings while allowing just 2 hits, no runs. He has walked 3 and struck out 3. Opponents are hitting just .118 against him thus far. Maybe most important is the fact that Bard feels good now that he’s stretching his arm out a bit.
-Alfredo Aceves followed Bard Saturday and pitched 3 innings of 2-hit, shut out baseball. Like Bard and Beckett, Aceves has tossed 5 innings of scoreless baseball so far this spring.
-After their game against Miami Monday, the Red Sox travel to Tampa to take on the New York Yankees
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