Rest Assured

Clay Buchholz, ladies and gentlemen.  The man never ceases to amaze me.  His ERA is still under 2.00; his 1.73 leads the league.  Watching him work is like watching the quintessential example of everything that pitching is supposed to be, in all its expert and masterful glory.  He just keeps getting better and better.

We got on the board first and established a lead early.  Granted, it was only a one-run lead, but when you have the right pitchers, that’s really all you need.

We really didn’t waste any time.  Ellsbury grounded out on the game’s third pitch, but after that, Gomes got hit, Pedroia doubled, and both scored on Papi’s single.  Napoli then walked, but Nava and Middlebrooks both struck out to end the frame.  Although Papi did steal third in the process.  You don’t get to see Papi steal a base very often.  It’s always fun to watch, even if ultimately it doesn’t amount to anything.

Our offensive production was all very nonexistent after that.  Ellsbury singled in the second.  Napoli walked in the third.  Ellsbury walked in the fifth.  That was it through six.  Salty and Ellsbury hit back-to-back singles in the seventh with two out, but it amounted to nothing.

We had a truly excellent scoring opportunity in the eighth; the best there is, really.  Pedroia lined out to start it off, but then Papi and Napoli hit back-to-back singles and Nava walked to load the bases.  We didn’t do anything major, but we did enough to provide some insurance, and in a game in which a one-run lead held until the eighth, scoring one other run alone would have been like scoring ten.  Middlebrooks hit a sac fly, bringing Papi home.  Drew walked to re-load the bases, and Napoli scored on a passed ball.  The inning ended with Salty’s strikeout, but we managed to double our run total and triple our lead.

If there are two pitchers on this staff that you can feel absolutely one hundred percent confident in when it comes to a one-run lead, they’re Lester and Buchholz.  Last night, it was Buchholz.  Watching him pitch with a one-run lead is like watching him pitch with a ten-run lead: easy and efficient.  His fastball and his off-speed pitches don’t miss.  They mix up the hitters and get the outs.  And he isn’t afraid to take the risks that allow him to keep batters on edge and win ballgames.

His second pitch of the game was actually hit for a single; fortunately, the runner was caught stealing second base.  He then issued two consecutive walks, but he got out of the inning unscathed.  He had a one-two-three second; his only blemish came in the third.  He gave up a single, issued a walk, and induced a force out that resulted in runners at the corners.  Then one run scored on a groundout, and the inning ended with a strikeout.  That’s what I would call a smart run; it’s usually advisable to trade the run for the out, especially if it’s only one run.  You should always be able to count on your lineup to score more than one run.

He gave up a single in the fourth, but thanks to a double play, he faced the minimum.  He gave up a single in the fifth and sixth, which ended with another caught-stealing.  The seventh inning was a thing of beauty: nine pitches, three up, three down.  All told, he pitched seven innings, gave up one run on five hits, walked three, and struck out four.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Uehara had a one-two-three eighth.  And we padded our lead even more in the ninth.  Ellsbury walked, Nava singled, and two outs later, Napoli walked to load the bases yet again.  And yet again, it was nothing big, but it was a single that scored another two runs.  Middlebrooks ended the rally with a groundout.

Bailey came on for the ninth; it was less than flawless.  He got the first two outs fine, then made a mistake and allowed a solo shot, and then ended the inning with a strikeout.  Fortunately, the score wasn’t still 2-1 at the time.  We won, 4-1.  We avoided the sweep and won the road trip.  Simple enough.

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Silver Lining

That was close.  That was way too close for comfort.  We were no-hit through seven innings.  I mean, we walked a few times.  But we were no hit through seven full innings.  It was awful.  It was awfully, awfully awful.  If Big Papi didn’t start the rally that never was in the seventh, who knows what would have happened? I don’t even want to think about it.

This was, by far, Doubront’s best start of the year.  It was certainly one of the best starts he’s had in recent memory.  Unfortunately, it was Doubront who caved first.  With two out in the fifth, he gave up a single followed by a two-run home run.  It was the first pitch of the at-bat: a fastball that missed.  He then gave up a double but then ended the inning, luckily.

He gave up two runs on five hits while walking only two and striking out three.  That home run was a sign of a bad pitch; it was one mistake.  Sure, he pitched only six innings, and we usually think of a stellar start as lasting at least seven.  But he only threw eighty-five pitches in total; at that rate, he could have easily tossed the seventh and perhaps even come out for the eighth.

As for us, we didn’t really have much in the way of opportunities until the seventh.  And that was when we had the opportunity.  Pedroia popped up to lead it off, but then Papi, Napoli, and Nava hit back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases.  But Middlebrooks and Drew provided the last two outs of the frame.

Wilson pitched the bottom of the seventh and held the fort.  We did manage to cut the deficit in half in the eighth; Salty walked, Ellsbury singled, Carp flied out, and a home run would have put us on top.  Instead, a wild pitch moved the runners along, and it was a fielding error that allowed Pedroia to reach and Salty scored.  (I particularly enjoyed the fact that the ball rolled through the shortstop’s legs.) Papi grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Wilson allowed the Other Sox to restore their earlier lead; with two out, he gave up a run via a single-double combination.  After issuing a walk, Miller came on and ended the inning.  We went down in the ninth and lost, 3-1.

In other news, the Bruins are now up three-zip on the series, having taken last night’s game, 3-1.

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Lame

I suppose that it was bound to happen eventually.  I would have preferred that it didn’t.  If Lester wanted to keep winning forever, that would have been fine with me.  But I guess the fact that he lost his first start of the year makes him human or something.  I don’t know; I just feel like I didn’t really need him to lose to prove that.

With two out in the first, he gave up a single, a walk, and a three-run home run.  With two out in the second, he gave up three consecutive doubles that resulted in another two runs.  He was fine in the third and fourth, but he was back at it in the fifth.  His first batter of the inning reached on a throwing error by Middlebrooks and stole second.  Lester then issued a walk and benefitted from a subsequent double play.  But then he issued another walk, and a run scored on a single.  He had a one-two-three sixth.

All told, he allowed six runs, five earned, on seven hits while walking three and striking out two.  He threw 109 pitches.  So he was inefficient.  He got himself into too many jams.  He couldn’t close the deal and got himself in trouble too often.  He had no command, no control, and no knowledge of the strike zone when it counted.  Worst of all, his cut fastball was just lame.  That’s the best adjective I can think of.  It was just lame.  They didn’t move or dance or do any of the things that they’re supposed to do.

Truth be told, six runs isn’t a horrendous start.  We’ve had games where we’ve scored more than double that.  Unfortunately for Lester, yesterday’s game wasn’t one of them.

Drew walked and Salty went yard for two runs in the third.  Papi and Napoli worked back-to-back walks to lead off the seventh, and Middlebrooks hit a bases-clearing double.  And that was it for us.  Mortensen pitched the seventh, and Breslow pitched the eighth.

So the final score was 6-4.  Our winning streak stopped at five.  All because Jon Lester couldn’t get the third out way too many times.

Boston Globe Staff

How Sweep It Is

When was the last time you experienced a three-hour rain delay? You could fit an entire baseball game into that period of time.  Wow.  That’s what I call a delay.  But it was a great game, and I’m glad we got to see it through to the end.  Not that we had anything to lose if we hadn’t been able to do so.  We won after nine, and we would have won after seven-plus.

Middlebrooks scored the game’s first run when he went yard in the second.  He got a slider and then three straight changeups; the last one ended up, like Saturday’s home runs, beyond the fence in right center field.  Quite the powerful and positive note to start on.

With one out in the next frame, Victorino walked, moved to third on a single by Gomes, and scored on a force attempt by Pedroia.  That was a gift.  That ball was a double play waiting to happen, but an exceptionally aberrant throw put it in the outfield.  With one out in the fifth, Pedroia, Papi, and Napoli hit back-to-back-to-back singles, scoring another run.  Nava actually made it back-to-back-to-back-to-back, but no further runs scored, and Middlebrooks and Salty provided two quick outs, Salty grounding out on only one pitch.

We scored the game’s last two runs in the ninth, the only inning during which we scored more than one run.  With one out, Gomes walked, and then Pedroia went yard on a fastball, the third one of that at-bat and the fourth pitch overall.  This time, the ball went beyond the fence in left field; I guess it’s good to have some variety.  Either way, it was two runs on one swing.

Lackey had himself a great start in the meantime.  His first four innings were literally perfect; he didn’t give up any hits or issue any walks.  But his third pitch of the fifth was hit for a double, and then he hit a batter, got a strikeout, and a run scored on a force out.  But at least we got an out out of it.  The inning then ended on a groundout.  He then threw a perfect sixth.  So it was just the fifth that was problematic, and even the fifth wasn’t that problematic, if you think about it.  He only allowed one run, and it wasn’t even earned, because the only reason why the runner advanced to first on the force out was because Ciriaco made a throwing error.  In the end, that double was his only hit.  And he pitched through six rather than five, so it was definitely a quality start, and I’d say it’s a start we can be proud of.

In total, Lackey threw eighty-four pitches and probably would have pitched even longer had it not been for the rain delay.  He ended up striking out five and, of course, didn’t walk anyone.

Miller pitched a perfect seventh, and Uehara gave up a double, a walk, and a single to load the bases with two out but pitched himself out of it, ending the eighth unscathed.  Tazawa pitched an almost-perfect ninth, giving up a single but no runs.

The final score was 5-1.  It turns out that none of our runs were scored with nobody out, but I’m glad we’ve shown that we can handle the pressure.  By the way, we just swept.

In other news, we find ourselves up in the series, two-zip; the B’s took the second game from the Rangers, 5-2!

Boston Herald Staff

Power Up

Confidence is the key.  Feeling confident and channeling that confidence into finding a groove is how to get out of a slump.  We’re not necessarily out of the woods yet, but we’re taking positive steps to get there.  We’ve had some nailbiter wins recently; it’s nice to to back to coming out on top and then staying on top.  It felt easy and effortless last night, like we started the season that way and never stopped.  Here’s to keeping that going.

Ellsbury singled on the game’s third; one out later, Pedroia walked, and Papi worked the count 2-2 thanks to two balls and two fouls.  He got a curveball he could hit, and he hit it.  He sent the ball beyond the fence in right center field for a three-run shot, just like that.

We went down in order in the second; Middlebrooks singled, but it didn’t matter thanks to Lavarnway’s double play.  Gomes walked in the third and scored on a single by Papi.  Middlebrooks’s walk was our only damage in the fourth.

Dempster gave up five runs on eight hits while walking six and striking out two over the course of four and two-thirds innings.  So, on average, he gave up more than one walk, one hit, and one run every inning.  That is not what I call a good start.

He issued two consecutive walks to lead off the second; both runners advanced on a groundout, and a force out was successfully converted at home.  But he gave up a single that scored his first run right after that.  He was able to pitch himself out of a bases-loaded situation in the third.  He gave up another run thanks to a double-single combination.

He ran into real trouble in the fifth.  He gave up a double that turned into a run two groundouts later.  He issued a walk that turned into a double thanks to a steal, and the runner scored on a single.  That first base-steal-single-run sequence then repeated itself.  And that was when Mortensen came in, gave up a single, and ended the inning.

Dempster was lucky that we scored three runs of our own in the top of the frame.  Gomes and Pedroia hit back-to-back doubles, scoring one run.  Papi grounded out, which moved Pedroia to third, and Napoli’s walk put runners at the corners.  Nava’s sac fly brought Pedroia home, Middlebrooks’s single moved Napoli to second, and he scored on a single by Lavarnway, who was thrown out at third.

So each team had scored three runs in the fifth inning alone.  Even if we hadn’t scored again for the rest of the game, and provided that the Twins didn’t either, we would have won.  Each team had scored in two other innings before the fifth; the Twins had scored two prior runs, but we had scored four, so we were already on top.  It stayed that way in the sixth; neither team scored, thanks in the bottom of the inning to the combined efforts of Mortensen and Breslow.

We blew the game wide open in the seventh.  Pedroia walked to lead it off, and after working the count 2-1, Papi had himself a multi-homer game! He hit the ball again beyond the fence in right center field, again with at least one man on base.  It was a fine piece of hitting.  And it was made even better when Nava went back-to-back.  The Twins made a pitching change that did no good; Nava hit a solo shot in the very next at-bat.  His ball also ended up beyond the fence in right center field.  I love back-to-back jacks; it’s so much fun reveling in the fact that, at first, you think it’s just a replay until you realize that we actually powered our way through.

So that was another four runs right there, and Breslow kept the lid on the Twins in the bottom of the inning.  We went down in order in the eighth, and Wilson did a fine job.  It looked like we might get yet another rally going in the ninth when Papi and Napoli worked back-to-back walks and Nava singled to load the bases with nobody out.  Middlebrooks struck out, and Papi did score on a sac fly by Lavarnway; I guess we weren’t finished quite yet.  The bottom of the inning was pretty uneventful.

So we ended up winning, 12-5.  It was a slugfest, all right, and we buried the Twins with our massive power.  Both teams had an almost equivalent number of hits and walks, but our hitters were better at taking advantage of our opportunities, and our pitchers were better at closing the deal; we’ve seen recently the effects that that can have first-hand.  That’s basically all there is to it.

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Humble Origins

We are recently masters of the difficult win.  We come from behind, we come back at the last minute, we barely eke it out.  But I’m proud of our slow-but-steady-and-successful showing of late; it’s the kind of confidence-building that we need to get ourselves back on track.  So this is a good sign; eventually we’ll be back to winning freely and easily.

Nava singled in the first and scored on a single by Papi.  We walked in each of the following three innings; in the fourth, the walk came after a single, but we didn’t capitalize on that opportunity.

Buchholz made a mistake in the third.  I suppose that he made two mistakes.  He gave up a double to lead off the inning and, one out later, he threw a bad curveball that missed.  How often this year have you seen Buchholz fire off a bad curveball and miss his spot? It’s a rare sight indeed.  I almost couldn’t believe it when I saw it.  But it was hit for a two-run home run.  He then issued two consecutive walks in the fourth but didn’t give up any runs; still, the sight of him issuing any walks, much less two in a row, was quite foreign.

As if that weren’t enough, he gave up two singles and a walk in the fifth, loading the bases with one out.  He pitched himself out of it thanks to a strikeout and a flyout.  But I can’t remember the last time he was in a bases-loaded situation.

Fortunately, it was smooth sailing after that, and Buchholz was back to his old self.  Also fortunately, we were able to tie the game at two in the seventh; Gomes walked, and when Ellsbury singled, it was deflected, and Gomes scored.

Drew doubled and Gomes walked in the eighth, but we didn’t score; Miller came in and held down the fort.  We went down in order in the ninth; Miller and Wilson combined to preserve the tie.

And then something wonderful happened.  For the third time in as many games, we were patient and resilient, and we came from behind.  And it was sweet.  We didn’t play well at all the last time we faced the Twins, but revenge is a dish best served cold, even in the month of May.  Pedroia singled, Papi walked, and Ciriaco came in to pinch-run for him.  Both runners advanced on Middlebrooks’s sac fly, and Drew loaded the bases thanks to an intentional walk.

The stage was set for another grand slam, or even another bases-clearing double.  But it seems like each come-from-behind win is more humble than the last.  Gomes was at the plate; he took a slider in the dirt and fouled off a fastball.  Then he got another slider, and he lofted it to center field.  It was obviously going to be an out.  But it was hit deep enough that Pedroia was able to come home.  One run on a sac fly in the tenth inning decided the game.

Uehara had a one-two-three tenth, and the final score was 3-2.  Buchholz’s final line featured seven innings, two runs on four hits, three walks, and nine K’s.  We totaled ten hits and walked a whopping seven times.  But Drew’s double was our only extra-base hit, and we went two for ten with runners in scoring position and left eleven on base.  In contrast, Minnesota was held to only four hits.  Throughout the game, we had one on base here, one or two on base there.  We just failed to close the deal and score; had we made good on all of our opportunities, we would have won the game long before the ninth inning rolled around.  Either way, though, we won; at least we’re getting on base again.

Boston Globe Staff

In Confidence

We played a great game on Wednesday.  It was a slugfest, no doubt about it.  It felt really good to swing and win so easily, and it was a nice reminder of how potent we are when we’re on our game.  Our slump has been awful, and slumps that bad can potentially end overnight, but more often than not, they take a little bit of time to get a groove going.  They certainly take a lot of nailbiters.  We were losing for most of last night’s contest.  Most of the game felt like many of our recent ones.  But we waited it out, and it paid off.  Basically, it’s all an issue of confidence.

We went down in order in the first, second, and third.  Victorino doubled and scored on a single by Papi in the fourth.  Middlebrooks walked in the fifth, Pedroia singled in the sixth, and Napoli walked to lead off the seventh. Before the first inning was even over, I could tell that it was going to be a long night for Doubront.  When the game was over and the final line was in, he’d walked six.  Six.  That’s a season high, but forget about that.  No pitcher should ever walk that many batters in a single game.  It’s like giving out free hits.

Anyway, Doubront allowed a single and two walks, loading the bases with two out.  Fortunately, he managed to end the inning with a strikeout.  But the rest of his outing was a real grind.  He threw a bad fastball in the second that was hit for a solo shot in the second.  He gave up a walk and a single in the third but again escaped the jam unscathed.  He had a one-two-three fourth, his best inning of the night, but walked two in the fifth, again escaping.  He walked the first batter he faced in the sixth on four pitches and was then replaced by Mortensen.

Mortensen induced a force out and issued two walks that loaded the bases.  Between the walks, Salty passed a ball.  And when Mortensen gave up a single, the runner who reached on the force out, scored.  He was lucky that he gave up just the one run.  Miller came on after that and gave up a single that scored another run.  So two runs scored in the inning; Doubront was credited with the first, and Mortensen was credited with the second.

Breslow came on for the seventh and made it look easy.  Both teams went down in order in the eighth.

And then there was one.  Inning, that is.  Pedroia and Papi walked back-to-back to lead off the ninth.  Drew struck out, and we were thinking that maybe we really were the same team we were before Wednesday’s game when we were losing left and right.  But then Nava walked to load the bases, and Middlebrooks did something awesome.  He was down 0-2 but the pitcher just couldn’t close the deal.  He took a one-hundred mile-per-hour fastball for a ball and then got a changeup.  He stayed patient and read it like a book.

He didn’t hit a grand slam.  He doubled to left, but it was enough.  It cleared the bases.  It was one swing.  It wasn’t a home run.  But it put us on top.  And then Salty walked and Ellsbury grounded out to end the inning.

Breslow gave up two singles in the bottom of the ninth, but he bounced back, knuckled down, and prevented further damage.

In the end, the night was ours.  4-3.  We had been down to our final strike.  Look who just won two in a row.

In other news, the Bruins started out on the right foot against the Rangers, picking up the first game, 3-2, in sudden death.

AP Photo