In the first game of a day-night
double-header, Alfredo Aceves continued to show that he has restored himself
into the pitcher the Red Sox can count on.
For the third time in a row, Aceves pitched great in a spot start. It was the 3rd time in a span of
just 22 days. The Red Sox have won all 3
games he has started for them in a pinch.
Afredo went 5 innings giving up just 1 run on 3 hits while walking 3 and striking out 2. He most likely would have gone longer but the game was delayed by rain for 2 hours and 59 minutes. With just 75 pitches, I think he was a lock for another inning or two if it weren’t for the rain.
In these three spot starts,
Aceves has gone 17 innings and has only allowed 3 runs. The biggest change I’ve seen since his
demotion to Triple-A and these 3 starts is that he doesn’t shake off the
catcher (Saltalamacchia) anymore. He’s
throwing what the catcher tells him to do and staying a lot more focused on the
mound. It’s great for the Sox that
Aceves has figured it out again as it provides some much needed rotation depth
going forward.
Due to the rain delay, the
bullpen had to finish off the last 4 innings and they did a fantastic job. Junichi Tazawa was the first out and he had a
perfect inning striking out 2. Next was
Andrew Miller who went 1 inning giving up 1 hit and striking out 2. Koji Uehara was next and he was barely able
to get out of a tough inning. He worked
around a lead-off double and a one out walk.
With 2 on he finally struck out James Loney on a 9 pitch at bat to
escape unscathed. Craig Breslow finished
off the game giving up 1 hit in his inning pitched.
All in all, the bullpen was
fantastic going 4 innings with no runs and only 3 hits. They struck out 5 and walked only 1. The rain delay forced the Sox to use more
arms than I’m sure they wanted so they’ll be looking for a good start from
Doubront in game 2 to give the bullpen a little rest.
Offensively, Jacoby Ellsbury was
the catalyst and table setter. He went 3
for 5 with a double and a triple and 3 runs scored. His triple came in the bottom of the sixth
and was followed by a triple from Shane Victorino. It was the first time Boston
Big Papi went 2 for 4 driving in
3 of the 5 Red Sox runs as he continues to be an RBI machine. He’s up to 52 now on the year. Shane Victorino went 2 for 4 with 2 runs, an
RBI and a stolen base. Mike Napoli, who
returned from missing a couple days due to an illness, went 1 for 3 with a
walk. Dustin Pedroia went 0 for 2 but
walked once and had a sacrifice fly.
The bottom of the order didn’t do much of anything. Daniel Nava went 0 for 2 with 2 walks and Will Middlebrooks went 0 for 3 with one walk. Salty went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts and Stephen Drew went 0 for 4 with 1 strikeout. As a team the Sox struck out 10 times and left 8 men on base. They were 3 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
It was nice to get a win after such a long delay and another game to play later in the night. The Sox taxed their bullpen pretty bad and with Felix Doubront starting that makes me a bit uneasy. Doubront rarely goes past 5 innings and the Sox will need him to really be on point in the night cap to get the sweep.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury was the table setter as he was on
base 3 times from the leadoff spot and scored 3 runs. He finished a home run shy of the cycle and
is hitting the ball really well.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 0 for 4
on the day and he struck out 3 times in the ballgame. Not a good outing for Salty who’s been hot as
of late.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Top of the 2nd inning
after the Rays had scored their first run to tie the ball game, Aceves walked
Jose Molina to load the bases with only one out. Aceves got Yunel Escobar to ground into a
6-4-3 double-play to end the inning and the threat. It would be the last threat of the game for
the Rays.
NEXT
The night-cap vs. the Rays.
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