On day three of the regular season, we picked up right where we left off. I know it’s only been two games, but what a great start we’re off to! And against the Yankees in New York, no less! There’s definitely something palpably different about this time. You can feel it and see it when the game starts. It’s so nice to remember what it feels like to look forward to something.
Buchholz was on the mound and delivered everything he had. It was a truly masterful start, in some ways even better than Lester’s. Buchholz pitched a full seven innings and gave up one run on six hits while walking two and striking out four. The one run was the result of a solo shot hit in the third on the first pitch of the at-bat, obviously a big mistake of a ninety-two mile-per-hour fastball. Fortunately, that was Buchholz’s only major mistake.
Other than that, it was mostly smooth sailing. Three of his seven innings were one-two-three; all but one of the others saw four batters come up. He faced five in the seventh. And he rolled out the full extent of his arsenal. Both fastballs made an appearance, his fastest reaching ninety-four miles per hour. Naturally, he included plenty of off-speeds: changeups, curveballs, cutters, and splitters. His splitter and four-seam, the favorite pitch of the night, were particularly effective. As far as inning pitch counts are concerned, he ranged from only seven in the second to twenty in the seventh and everything in between for a grand total of ninety-four.
Unfortunately, the relief corps was not as solid. Miller and Aceves combined to pitch the eighth but gave up three runs. Aceves inherited a runner and put one of his own on base before allowing a home run. Hanrahan then pitched the ninth and picked up his first save of the season and of his time with us.
The offense was getting pretty busy in the meantime. Yesterday’s lineup had Ellsbury leading off, Nava batting second, Pedroia batting third, Napoli batting cleanup, Salty batting fifth, Middlebrooks sixth, Victorino seventh, Bradley eighth, and Iglesias ninth. Some changes, some constants.
Of the nine innings we played, we scored in four. In the first, Salty singled with two out and two on to bring our first run in. A single, a hit batsman, and a walk on four pitches by Ellsbury loaded the bases with one out in the second; when Nava got it, Bradley scored. Salty singled in the third, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by Victorino, who stole second base and scored on a single by Bradley, who moved to third on a double by Iglesias. Both of them scored on a single by Ellsbury to complete a four-run third. We went down in order in the fourth and fifth and scored our final run in the sixth; Iglesias led it off with a single and was out in a force out by Ellsbury, who moved to third on a double by Nava and scored on a groundout by Pedroia.
Just to give you an idea of how monumental this 7-4 win was, consider the fact that we haven’t opened any season since 1999 with back-to-back wins. We are officially on our way!
In other news, the Bruins beat the Sens, 4-3.
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