Tough night in the Bronx as Clay
Buchholz puts in a solid outing but the bats and defense can’t help him out
any.
The Red Sox dropped the first
game of a 4 game set to the Yankees last night 4-1 as a big error in the 4th
led to 2 runs and the Sox bats were silenced by Michael Pineda, who looks to be
back to form after a couple years off.
Back in 2011, Michael Pineda
exploded on the scene as a rookie with the Seattle Mariners with a 3.74 ERA, 173
strikeouts and some electric stuff. He
was traded the following winter to the Yankees and promptly injured his shoulder
and hasn’t pitched since. After
witnessing his 2nd start of the season, I think the Yanks have a
healthy Pineda and that just may be dangerous.
Pineda silenced the Sox bats for
6 innings, allowing only 1 run on 4 hits while walking 1 and striking out
7. He allowed a solo homer to Daniel
Nava but other than that looked dominant.
His slider away to right handers is just a nasty pitch. If he can stay healthy for the entire season,
the Yanks may actually be in the hunt this year.
The Sox hand no luck with Pineda
came out of the game as they went hitless in the last 3 innings with 5
strikeouts. In total, they struck out 12
times on the night and were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position with 5 men
left on base.
David Ortiz went 1 for 4 with a
double, Nava went 1 for 4 with a homer and Xander Bogaerts went 2 for 4. Mike Napoli had a walk, as did Jackie Bradley
Jr., who stole his first base of the season.
Other than that it was a frustrating night at the dish for the Sox who
couldn’t get anything going against the Yankees.
Early on, defense has been an
issue for the Red Sox. They have played
very sloppy in the field and last night was no different as in the 4th
inning with the game tied a 0 apiece, former Red Sox, Jacoby Ellsbury hit an
easy grounder to third that Jonathan Herrera could bobbled and allowed Ellsbury
to reach.
Carlos Beltran then singled to
right and all of a sudden, runners were on 1st and 2nd
with no outs. Brian McCann then singled
to right to score Ellsbury and move Beltran to 3rd. Buchholz was able to get Soriano to ground
into a 6-4-3 double play but Beltran scored to make it 2-0. Clay struck out Kelly Johnson to end the
inning but the damage had been done and with the way Pineda was pitching, it
was basically game over.
Buchholz would allow 2 more runs
in the bottom of the 5th, but overall looked much better in this
start than his first of the year.
Overall he went 6 innings, allowed 4 runs, only 2 earned on 7 hits while
striking out 6 and walking none. His
curveball looked great and his 2-seam fastball caught a lot of Yankee hitters
looking with nice late movement.
Craig Breslow saw his first
action of 2014 pitching a perfect 7th inning and Chris Capuano also
pitched a perfect 8th to continue his strong start. If Doubront falters again, you may see
Capuano take over his spot in the rotation.
Early in the game, there was a
bit of controversy as Michael Pineda had a substance on his right hand that
looked a lot like pine tar. Pineda
stated after the game it was just sweat and he covered it up with dirt but I don’t
know because he kept going to it in between pitches. The Sox never questioned it so they obviously
didn’t care so I’m not going to make a big deal about it.
They’ll go back at it tonight,
weather permitting (chance of rain tonight), as the Sox will send Jon Lester
(0-2, 2.51) to the mound opposite C.C. Sabathia (1-1, 7.50). Lester has pitched well in both starts this
season but has gotten very little run support.
Sabathia has not pitched well this year and hopefully that will continue
tonight.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
No one really deserves this. Daniel Nava had a homer but also struck out 3
times. I’m going to give it to Xander
Bogaerts who went 2 for 4 with 2 singles.
He’s the only player to get 2 hits on the night.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Jonathan Herrera. Herrera went 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts and
made a huge error in the 4th.
I like Herrera but not if he’s starting everyday. I’m starting to see why he’s a bench guy.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Herrera’s 4th inning
blunder that led to 2 Yankee runs in the 4th inning.
NEXT
Friday, April 11th in New York, vs. the Yankees.
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