Series Down

Well, that wasn’t great either.  I seriously did not think that we would end up losing our first series at home, and to Baltimore no less.  Actually, we ended up losing our first series of the season.  I suppose it would have happened eventually.  But it’s always nice to clean up when you’re first at home.

Aceves was tapped to make the start today.  And he actually turned in a quality outing.  Seriously, it was quite good.  He pitched five innings and gave up two runs on six hits while walking three and striking out four.  He gave up a solo shot with one out in the second.  And he gave up a single, a groundout that moved the runner to third, and an RBI single in the fifth that tied the game at two.  In addition to the home run, Aceves gave up two doubles, so half of the hits he gave up were for extra bases, and half were singles.  All in all, not too shabby.

Mortensen pitched a one-two-three sixth and recorded the first two outs of the seventh before allowing a single.  He was then replaced by Miller, who issued a walk and was replaced by Uehara, who allowed the winning run thanks to a double.  Tazawa came on for the eighth and got through it just fine.  And Alex Wilson pitched the ninth.

Meanwhile, our hitters were busy making sure that we’d lose the series.  Ellsbury led off the first with a single, but we then went down in order.  We went down one-two-three in the second.  And we finally got on the board in the third.

Drew, fresh off the DL, walked on five pitches.  Bradley and Ellsbury provided two quick outs, but then Victorino, Pedroia, and Napoli combined for back-to-back-to-back singles, the latter two of the three plating our only two runs of the game.  Unfortunately, Middlebrooks killed the rally by grounding out.

Drew walked in the fourth, but to no avail.  We went down one-two-three in the fifth.  We had two on base thanks to two singles in the sixth, but it amounted to nothing.  Victorino singled in the seventh, but it also amounted to nothing.  We went down one-two-three yet again in the eighth, and despite Drew’s single, we ended up losing, 3-2.

In other news, the Bruins lost to the Isles, 2-1.

USA Today Staff/David Butler II

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Blown

Day two of baseball at home, and it did not go well.  I guess the forty-three-minute rain delay should have tipped us off.  Our hitters did alright; we can’t crush it every night, but five runs should be ample for a win.  This time, both literally and figuratively, it was the pitching staff that dropped the ball.

We went down in order in the first and almost did the same in the second.  With two out, Nava worked a four-pitch walk and scored on a double by Salty.  Bradley walked to lead off the third and scored on a triple by Ellsbury, who scored on a sac fly by Victorino.  Salty doubled again in the forth, but we didn’t score.  We went down in order in the fifth, and then we brought the power in the sixth.

The Orioles made a pitching change for the sixth.  Napoli and Middlebrooks both struck out swinging to start it off.  And then homered on the third pitch to the opposite field.  He sent it beyond the Monster.  He took a curveball for a ball, fouled off a cutter, and unleashed on a ninety-six mile-per-hour four-seam.  Then, it was double-take time.  Salty came up.  Four pitches.  A curveball for a called strike, and then four straight four-seams.  A ball, a swinging strike, and then a massive swing for a jack to right.  Boom.

And that was it.  We went down in order in the seventh, eighth, and ninth.  Baltimore’s relief corps was everything that ours wasn’t.

Let me point out that Dempster was not the problem.  His start lasted only five innings.  If he’d pitched longer, the relievers wouldn’t have had to come out so soon.  But it wasn’t even the entire corps’s fault.  And when a starter’s time is up, his time is up.  Dempster had thrown ninety-three pitches when he was pulled out.  He had allowed three hits and three runs, only one of them earned; Victorino and Bradley both committed fielding errors.  The one earned run was the result of a solo shot that opened the fourth.  So, technically, he only made one mistake, and he was solid overall.  He only issued two walks and racked up seven strikeouts.

Uehara, Tazawa, and Bailey each pitched a shutout frame.  But then Hanrahan happened.  Allow me to paint the picture.  Heading into the ninth, we were up by two.  This was a prime save opportunity.  Circumstances like this were designed specifically for closers because that’s what they do: they close the deal.  So Hanrahan goes out there.  His first three pitches are fouled off.  Then he throws a ball and then another pitch that was fouled off.  And then he gives up a solo shot.  If that had been it, we still would have won.  And it looked like that would be the case; Hanrahan picked up a strikeout and induced a popout.  And then he gave up a single that led to a steal of second.  And then he issued two back-to-back walks.  At that point, he could have buckled down and gotten his next batter out to end the game with the victory intact.

That did not occur.  Instead, he threw a wild pitch that brought the tying run home.  And then his next batter came up.  And Hanrahan threw a ball.  And then Hanrahan threw a mistake that resulted in a three-run home run that put Baltimore on top permanently.  That was when Miller came in and got the strikeout that ended the inning.

Hanrahan, quite simply, did not do his job.  He was supposed to sustain the win.  He was supposed to prevent damage.  He was supposed to come in, have a one-two-three inning, and get out.  And instead, he ended up with a well-deserved blown save and a well-deserved loss.  Because he blew it and lost it for us.  If it weren’t for Hanrahan’s terrible performance, we would have already been winners of the series.  The final score was 8-5.  And to top it all off, this was our first non-sold-out game since May 14, 2003.  Well, the brass warned us that the end of the streak was imminent.  Here’s to setting a new record and beating our old one.

In other news, the B’s beat the Devils, 5-4.

Boston Globe Staff/Bill Greene

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Wake Up

I have to admit that I was hoping for another crush.  It’s always fun to wipe the field with the opposition during the home opener.  But that didn’t happen yesterday.  It was a pitcher’s duel for most of it, but fortunately, with a little help from some timely production, Buchholz held his own.  We still walked away with the win, and it was still a great day.  There’s always something that feels so right when the home opener rolls around.  It’s like the whole ballpark wakes up after a long, cold hiatus.  Baseball is finally back in Boston!

Buchholz had himself yet another masterful start.  Like Lester, Buchholz also pitched a full seven shutout innings.  And he only allowed three hits, all singles.  He walked four and struck out eight.  His fastball and curveball were truly fantastic, and his cutter and changeup added some variety.  He kept the hitters guessing throughout his start; you could tell that they were never able to get too comfortable.

His fifth pitch of the game was hit for a single.  And he began the second inning by issuing a four-pitch walk but ended it with two four-pitch strikeouts.  He gave up two singles in the third but bookended those with called strikeouts.  He had a one-two-three third despite a seven-pitch walk.  He issued a strikeout and a walk in the sixth, and had a one-two-three seventh that ended with a called K.  He opened the seventh with a nine-pitch walk but racked up two strikeouts that inning.

He could have been more efficient; some of his walks and other at-bats really dragged on.  He threw 113 pitches; the third and seventh, during which he threw twenty-four and twenty-three pitches, respectively, were particularly arduous.  But his other innings were reasonable, and all in all I’d say that there is more to smile about than criticize.  From a pitching standpoint, we had a great home opener.  Bailey received a hold for his impeccable eighth.  Even Hanrahan, who gave up a solo shot in the ninth, picked up a save.  Allowing runs in the ninth inning is obviously a red flag, since his entire job basically consists of preventing that from happening.  We got lucky this time because we had enough of a lead to absorb it, but naturally there will be occasions when that isn’t the case and we won’t be able to offset late damage.  So it’s important that he not be as porous as this very often, or at all.

Anyway, as I said, the game was a pitcher’s duel, and through six and a half, it was anyone’s guess who would score first.  We went down one-two-three in the first, and Nava’s five-pitch walk was our only highlight of the second.  The third was particularly painful to watch; three went up and three went down, all on flyouts and after only eight pitches.

It looked like we might score in the fourth, which Victorino led off with a single.  But he was caught stealing.  Pedroia kept our hopes alive with a walk, but Napoli grounded into a double play to end the frame.  Nava singled in the fifth, but to no avail.  We went down one-two-three again in the sixth.

The whole game was decided in the seventh.  Pedroia led it off with a single on the third pitch of the frame.  Napoli followed that with a double.  Middlebrooks then struck out, and then it was Nava’s turn.  He received three four-seam fastballs, all within about one or two miles per hour of each other.  He took the first one for a ball.  He fouled off the second.  And the third ended up beyond the Monster for a homer! Specifically, the ball ended up in a garbage receptacle on Lansdowne Street, ironically enough.  It was Nava’s second homer in two days and our ninth straight home opener win.  Not even the shadows made a difference in the end.  One swing.  Three runs.  3-1.  Game over.  Welcome back.

In other news, the Bruins crushed the Canes, 6-2.

Reuters Photo

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Laser

What a game! I guess that, when we lose, we really like to take revenge afterwards.  As frustrating and unproductive as we were on Saturday, everybody really pulled out all the stops on Sunday.  If this team hadn’t set the stage by playing so well on the whole up to this point, I would have said that our performance last night was completely unbelievable.  Such a performance could never have happened last season.  It was so excellently awesome to watch it.  I mean, it’s nice to be dominant in every conceivable way.

Let’s start with Lester, whose performance was obviously an enormous highlight.  When I said after his last start that I wanted him to pitch longer and more efficiently and that I was sure that he’d get there eventually, I don’t think I meant that he’d get there in his very next start.  But he did, and with flying colors.  He pitched a full seven shutout innings.  He didn’t give up any walks, so if it weren’t for the five he allowed and the fact that he didn’t go the distance, he would have had a perfect game.  Minus the hits, he would at least have had seven perfect innings.  Whatever.  The bottom line is that Jon Lester was a shining example of everything that every Major League starting pitcher should ever hope to be.

Lester threw one hundred pitches exactly, sixty-seven of which were strikes.  And he had six strikeouts to his credit, which is almost one per inning on average.  His cut fastball was moving and dancing in just the right way.  There’s something really beautiful about a pitcher having complete and total control over the ball such that the ball does exactly what he wants it to every time.  And his cut fastball was on.  And he threw in some curveballs, changeups, and sinkers for variety that were potent in their own right as well.

He threw as few as eight pitches, in the first, and as many as twenty pitches, in the fifth.  His inning pitch counts were everything in between during the other frames.  He was efficient, cold, and calculating, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen his release point tighter or more consistent.

His first inning was one-two-three and featured his first strikeout, a quick, three-pitch affair ending with a swing through a curveball.  He gave up two singles in the second but bookended the inning with strikeouts, both swinging, the first three pitches ending with a cut fastball and the second four pitches ending with a cut fastball.  He gave up another single in the third, which he opened with a five-pitch called strike that ended with a cut fastball, or a cutter, depending on which way you look at it.  He racked up another three-pitch strikeout in the fourth that ended with a swing through a fastball before hitting a batter.  He gave up another single in the fifth, had a one-two-three sixth, and opened the seventh with his last strikeout, four pitches that ended with a swing through a sinker.  He gave up his last hit that inning as well.

As well as he pitched, only two of his seven innings were one-two-three.  But he never faced more than five batters.  And his other outs were the standard collection of groundouts, flyouts, lineouts, and such.  Don’t look now, but Lester’s ERA is 1.50.  That’s based on a small sample size, but we can still enjoy it.

Mortensen came in for the eighth and ninth and took some pages out of Lester’s book.  He gave up two hits and no walks, preserving the shutout.  That means that the Jays were held to seven hits but achieved nothing else all game long.  All seven were singles.  They left eight on base and had only two opportunities with runners in scoring position, of which they obviously did not take advantage.

Fortunately, the same can not even remotely be said for us.  When Ellsbury hit the second pitch of the game for a double, I knew that we were in for quite a pleasant ride.  Victorino followed that with a single, and then we undertook three straight scoring plays.  First, Pedroia brought Ellsbury home with a single.  Then, Napoli doubled in both Pedroia and Victorino.  Lastly, Middlebrooks laid on his first pitch of the game, a fastball slow at eighty-four miles per hour, for a home run to the opposite field in right.  It was his second jack in as many games and was by no means about to be his last.

Iglesias led off the second with a single, but we didn’t score that inning.  Napoli led off the third with a strikeout, but then Middlebrooks doubled, moved to third on a passed ball, and scored on a sac fly by Nava.  It was a textbook example of manufacturing a run while capitalizing on the opposition’s mistakes.  The fourth also began modestly with a groundout by Bradley.  Then Iglesias doubled and scored on a single by Ellsbury.

Middlebrooks led off the fifth and worked the count full; he took three straight pitches for balls and then encountered two fastballs that were almost identical: both were four-seams, and both traveled at eighty-two miles per hour.  He took the first one for a strike and swung through the second.  But he didn’t miss the third.  It was a little bit faster than the previous two, but he had its number the whole time and smashed it to left center for his second home run of the game.

Pedroia singled in the sixth, but we didn’t score.  But Middlebrooks issued a repeat performance to lead off the seventh inning. It was one of those moments where it takes you a second or two to realize that you aren’t watching a replay and that it’s actually happening.  Middlebrooks took his first three pitches for balls and an eighty-six mile-per-hour two seam for a strike.  Then, he got an eighty-six mile-per-hour four-seam that he just decimated and sent yet again to left center field.

Three home runs.  One game.  Will Middlebrooks, ladies and gentlemen!

And then there was occasion to do yet another double take, because Nava made it back-to-back jacks with a solo shot of his own on a two-seam clocked at eighty.  It was his second pitch of the at-bat, and it also ended up in left center field.

And then there was Ellsbury’s at-bat leading off the eighth.  The only reason why a third double take was hard to do was because Ellsbury was fighting hard in that at-bat.  It lasted for a grand total of nine pitches.  We’ve seen our hitters battle through longer ones, but his patience and eye were both still admirable.  He took a curve for a strike, fouled off a cutter, took a curve for a ball, fouled off a fastball and curveball and cutter, took two fastballs for balls, and finally, on the ninth pitch with a full count, he uncorked a massive swing on a fastball that put the ball beyond the right field fence for his first home run of the year!

And then Carp lined out, Pedroia walked on five pitches, and Napoli hit a textbook home run.  It was one of those classic Napoli ones that looks like it’s no big deal.  It was the third pitch of the at-bat, a fastball that he sent out to center.  I saw it with my own eyes, and I could not believe that it had actually happened.  I actually thought the eighth inning would see yet another homer; Middlebrooks’s at-bat resulted in a flyout because the ball was hauled in right in front of the wall, but off the bat it certainly looked like it had enough to make it out.

We probably used up everything we had at that point, because Bradley, Iglesias, and Ellsbury all went down in order in the ninth on a grand total of thirteen pitches.  All three struck out swinging.

All told, we had ourselves fifteen hits, six of which were jacks.  Bradley and Salty were the only starters who failed to get hits; Bradley walked, so Salty was the only starter who failed to get himself on base.  Iglesias and Napoli both went two for five, Pedroia went two for four, Ellsbury went three for six, and Middlebrooks, the offensive man of the hour, went four for five with four runs and four RBIs.  All four of his hits were for extra bases.  There were the three home runs of course, a baseball version of a hat trick if I’ve ever seen one, and a double.  It was his second multi-homer game and the first three-homer game of his career.  He’s our youngest to do it since Jim Rice did it in 1977 and the team’s first since Dustin Pedroia did it in 2010.  Ellsbury and Victorino both had stolen bases to their credit.  We left six on base and went five for seven with runners in scoring position.

And the best part of all: we won, thirteen-zip!

Be happy; we’re playing our home opener today! Baltimore is coming to town.  This should be fun.

AP Photo

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Continuing

The good signs continue.  We’re battling some soreness and whatnot, but the performance is good.  Victorino’s got some extra-base hits, and the pitchers continue to make a strong showing.  Drew left camp to see a concussion specialist; he resumed baseball activities, but the timetable for his full return is unclear.  Papi made his return to the batting cages.  Congratulations to the Dominican Republic; Team DR won the World Baseball Classic.  And last but most certainly not least, we and the Yanks have decided to dedicate Opening Day by honoring the community and memory of Newtown, Connecticut.  It’s going to be a beautiful ceremony, and the two teams are really doing the right thing.

We lost to the Pirates on Monday, 4-3.  Buchholz ruled the day; in five innings, he made one mistake in the form of a solo shot while walking two and striking out four.  Carpenter took the blown save and the loss; he gave up two runs.  Nava went two for three, and Victorino tripled.  On Tuesday, we lost to Baltimore, 8-7.  Dempster went five innings, giving up three runs on six hits.  Tazawa turned in a scoreless inning, and Bard gave up three runs on two hits.  Middlebrooks went two for three with a double, and Victorino doubled as well.  Unfortunately the Yanks shut us out on Wednesday; better in Spring Training than in the regular season.  Doubront pitched four and one-third innings and gave up four runs on seven hits.  Bailey finished the rest of the inning.  Hanrahan and Mortensen each pitched a scoreless frame.  We beat the Phillies yesterday, 6-1.  Lackey looked pretty sharp; he tossed five innings and gave up only one run on four hits while walking none and striking out one.  Bailey pitched a scoreless frame and picked up the win.  Pedroia went two for two with a double; Middlebrooks doubled, and Victorino tripled.

In other news, the B’s lost to the Jets and beat the Sens.

AP Photo

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