Sox, Celts Lose / Lovable Lou Passes Away
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Well, I guess 162 wins is out of the question!
This season of great promise for the Boston Red Sox started with a thud in Arlington, Texas Friday.
The Boston bats did their part, but the pitching was not even close to where it needed to be in the Sox’ 9-5 loss to the Rangers.
Boston gave starter Jon Lester a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to some poor Texas defense and RBI hits by Kevin Youkilis and newcomer Adrian Gonzalez.
Lester, however, would relinquish that lead giving up solo homeruns in the first and second innings allowing Texas to tie the game at 2.
Boston’s offense would give their ace another lead as Gonzalez drove in two more with an RBI single in the top of the third to make it 4-2 Boston. But Lester failed to hold the lead for a second time giving up a 3-run homerun to Mike Napoli in the bottom of the 4th which made it 5-4 Texas.
That would remain the score until the explosive 8th inning. David Ortiz belted a solo shot to tie the game at 5 and take Lester off the hook in the top half of the inning. But flame-throwing set-up man Daniel Bard gave up 4 runs in just 2/3 innings of work in the bottom of the inning allowing Texas to win the opener in front of their home fans.
John Lackey will start for the Red Sox tonight in Texas. He will face the Rangers’ Colby Lewis. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05pm.
NOTES:
-It was a mixed day for the new high-priced additions to the Red Sox. Adrian Gonzalez had a great day at the plate going 2-4 with 3 RBI and a stolen base while hitting fifth in the order. Carl Crawford struggled in the third spot going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts.
CELTICS LOSE IN ATLANTA:
In somewhat predictable fashion, the Boston Celtics lost last night in Atlanta 88-83. It was the Celtics second road game in as many nights and they have not fared well in that situation all year long. It also came on the heels of a great effort in San Antonio Thursday night where they handed the NBA’s best team a sound defeat.
The Celtics had to play without center Nenad Krstic who will have an MRI today on his injured right knee. That put Glen “Big Baby” Davis into the starting line-up. The combination of Davis and Jermaine O’Neal was not enough to stop Hawks’ center Al Horford who had 16 points and 15 rebounds in the win.
Boston’s starters did hold their own finishing +19 for the night while on the floor. However, the Celtics’ bench was a whopping -44 against the Hawks.
If Thursday night’s win in San Antonio taught us anything, it’s that we should not worry about this team until the playoffs begin. Despite all of the injuries, when the “Big 4” of Rondo, Pierce, Allen and Garnett bring it, they are pretty tough to beat no matter who’s playing center.
Also keep in mind that once the postseason begins, teams do not play games on back-to-back nights which will help the Celtics.
Still, as good as they looked the other night against the Spurs, you have that feeling that this will be something short of a championship team in 2011.
GORMAN ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS:
As sad way to start the baseball season yesterday for the Red Sox who lost a key member of their family. Former Red Sox GM and Rhode Island native Lou Gorman passed away at the age of 82.
While many liked to poke fun at Gorman for the ones that got away like Jeff Bagwell, he had many success stories as well. The jovial GM was the architect of the 1986 American League Championship team which came inches away from beating the Mets in the World Series. His Red Sox also won the division in 1988 and 1990 before falling to the mighty juicers – the Oakland A’s in the American League Championship.
Above all, however, Gorman was truly a nice man and a pleasure to be around. He will be missed.
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