Sports of Boston » Daniel Bard

Sox Rebound in Rubber Match after 4-1 Loss to O’s

Nick Bohlen — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:56:58 +0000

Finally back at .500, the Boston Red Sox squandered their first opportunity at a winning record this season, falling 4-1 Tuesday night to the Baltimore Orioles.

Felix Doubront pitched a solid six innings, striking out nine and giving up just four hits, allowing his only runs on a Steve Tolleson two-run home run in the second inning. Matt Albers gave up another two-run blast to Wilson Betemit in the bottom of the eighth, all but putting the game out of reach with the way the Red Sox were swinging the bats.

The Red Sox bats were silent all game, scoring just one run on a Kevin Youkilis solo shot in his first game back from the disabled list. The only other hit the Red Sox mustered was an Adrian Gonzalez single off Orioles starter Brian Matusz, barely a blip among the 9 Boston batters Matusz sat down with strikeouts. The Red Sox lineup had even worse luck against the suddenly vaunted Baltimore bullpen. Baltimore relievers combined to shut the door for 2.2 hitless innings, including a 1-2-3 top of the ninth on just eight pitches from Orioles closer Jim Johnson.

Thankfully, nearly everything about Wednesday’s game was the polar opposite of the night before, from the Red Sox starter “earning” the win despite a poor performance, to the Red Sox lineup awakening from its slumber to crank out 13 hits. The end result was a 6-5 Red Sox win to rebound from Tuesday night’s disappointing loss and take the rubber match of the three-game series from the first-place Orioles. The Red Sox are now back at .500 with another chance to get on the right side of winning.

Just Good Enough

While neither starting pitcher was sharp enough to make it out of the sixth inning, Daniel Bard managed to (barely) outpitch the Orioles’ Jake Arrieta. Bard only gave up two runs on five hits, but continued his wildness by walking four Orioles batters in just 5.1 innings. He has now walked 19 batters in his five starts during the month of May. Luckily, Arrieta was even worse, surrendering four runs on eight hits and three walks in 5.2 innings. Both starters coughed up a home run.

Same Bullpen, Different Result

Similarly, the Red Sox bullpen managed to simply outlast their Oriole counterparts with one run to spare. The Red Sox finally managed to break through against the Baltimore for a couple of much-needed insurance runs, giving the Boston bullpen a little breathing room for their usual adventurous visits to the mound in the late-innings. Lefty Andrew Miller was tagged for two runs on a Nick Johnson home run (the same Nick Johnson who was out of baseball for a year, and a left-handed hitter, no less), and Padilla gave up a sacrifice fly to Betemit in the eighth inning.

On the brighter side, Rich Hill struck out the only two batters he faced in relief of Miller (at least one lefty specialist was effective), and Alfredo Aceves shut the door with a perfect four-out save, his eleventh of the season.

A Sleeping Lineup Awakened

Thanks to the dearth of healthy outfielders in the Red Sox clubhouse, Gonzalez shifted to right field the past two games to make room at first base for the returning Youkilis, with Will Middlebrooks staying at third base (for the time being, anyway). Even with Youkilis, the Red Sox lineup struggled to score runs yesterday with Ryan Sweeney and Cody Ross on the disabled list.

On Wednesday, the difference on offense came from key contributions from their AAA replacements. With the way Daniel Nava has been hitting since his call-up ((his line now sits at a blistering .350/.491/.600), his home run to put the Red Sox on top 3-2 comes as no surprise.

But the real hero – and the real surprise – was Scott Podsednik. The 36-year-old outfielder was recently acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies and signed to a minor league deal, then brought up from Pawtucket with the injuries to Ross and Sweeney. After pinch-hitting last night for Marlon Byrd (he grounded out), Podsednik got his first start since 2010 on Wednesday and quickly made the most of it. With the Red Sox up 5-4, Podsednik cranked a solo shot over the wall in right that proved to be the winning run. It was just the 42nd home run of his career.

Next Up

After going 5-3 on their road trip, the Red Sox now travel back home to start a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Jon Lester (3-3) will face Alex Cobb (1-0) Friday night at Fenway. First pitch is at 7:10pm.

Red Sox Home Runs Not Enough in 6-4 Loss in Philadelphia

Matthew Bond — Sat, 19 May 2012 04:10:13 +0000

The adventures of Daniel Bard as a starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in 2012 continues. On Friday night, the erratic pitcher continued to miss the strike zone early against the Philadelphia Phillies in what ended up a 6-4 Red Sox loss. The Phillies’ offense walked all over Bard in the first, and from there, three Red Sox home runs weren’t enough as former Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon shut the door.

Bard’s Wild First

Bard allowed four runs in an awful first inning where his command was completely off. He allowed a leadoff walk to Jimmy Rollins, and then consecutive one out walks to Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence. With the bases loaded, Carlos Ruiz singled to center, scoring two runs and giving the Phillies an early 2-0 lead.

A sacrifice fly from Ty Wigginton made it 3-0, and an RBI double by John Mayberry Jr. smoked down the left field line scored the fourth run. Bard threw 32 pitches in the inning, the most he had thrown in any inning all season long.

The Red Sox tried to claw their way back into the game against Cole Hamels, who entered the day 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA. Mike Aviles got the Sox offense started with a solo home run deep to left by the foul pole. It was his sixth home run of the season and it cut the Philadelphia lead to 4-1.

After a sacrifice fly by Daniel Nava in the fourth, Philadelphia responded in the fifth as Hunter Pence went deep off of Bard for the tenth time this season. Later in the inning, things got scary on a hit-by-pitch to Wigginton. A fastball in by Bard hit the batter and ricocheted off of the side of Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia‘s head. He went to the ground for a few minutes before leaving the game with what the team described as a laceration of his left ear.

One of the most disliked players in Philadelphia for his success in the 2010 NLCS, Cody Ross homered in the sixth off of Hamels to cut the lead again, as the Sox then trailed 5-3. In the eighth, Adrian Gonzalez came a day late on his guaranteed home run as he obliterated a ball deep to right field. Unfortunately, the Phillies regained their insurance run in the bottom half of the inning when Freddy Galvis also homered, setting the stage for Papelbon to attempt to close out his former team with a two-run lead.

Fireworks in Papelbon’s Save

The Red Sox are no strangers to dramatic ninth inning saves from Papelbon, and Friday was no different. A lead off line drive infield single to third allowed Kelly Shoppach, who came into the game for Saltalamacchia, to reach to begin the inning. A groundout moved him to second, with Marlon Byrd coming to the plate. Byrd hit a ground ball up the middle, but a ranging Rollins at shortstop scurried to the ball and fired to first, just barely getting Byrd.

Bobby Valentine immediately challenged the call, as it appeared the first baseman Wigginton may have come off the bag as Byrd raced past the bag. Valentine screamed and jumped up and down to first base umpire Gary Darling, earning an unquestionable ejection. The call however was debatable upon television replays showed Wigginton may indeed have stepped off of first.

With two outs an Shoppach now on third, Papelbon struck out Nick Punto on three pitches to end the game. He improves to 12-12 in saves this season for Philadelphia while Boston falls to 18-21.

On Saturday afternoon, the Sox send Jon Lester to the mound against Joe Blanton in the middle game of the interleague series.

Pink Bats Explode for Red Sox in Dominant Mother’s Day Blowout

Matthew Bond — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:59:50 +0000

Mother’s Day has a good ring to it at Fenway Park. The most memorable game the Sox played was the “Mother’s Day miracle”, when they scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles in 2007 for a dramatic win. Sunday’s game between Boston and the Cleveland Indians might not enter that realm of fame, but it was exactly what the home crowd needed: a blowout victory. The Sox opened scored often early and late, all part of a 12-1 win.

Masterson Pummeled

The offense rode the pink bats early on against former Sox pitcher Justin Masterson. After David Ortiz earned a two out walk, Adrian Gonzalez doubled on a line to left, putting runners on the corners. Will Middlebrooks delivered with a base hit to left, scoring the first run of the game. Then Daniel Nava doubled off the Green Monster to drive in Gonzalez, making it 2-0 Boston. Cody Ross was drilled by a pitch by Masterson on the ninth pitch of his at bat, loading the bases. The first pitch thrown to catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia was promptly ripped into right field beyond a Cleveland defensive shift, scoring two more runs.

The Red Sox sent nine batters to the plate in the four run inning, forcing Masterson to throw 31 pitches. The quick start was ideal with Daniel Bard on the mound, as again he struggled with his command on Sunday. After two effective innings, he became erratic in the third. The former reliever walked Jack Hannahan with one down, and then issued another free pass to Johnny Damon on four pitches. Jason Kipnis delivered a base hit to load the bases, followed by a run-scoring four pitch walk to Asdrubal Cabrera. Luckily for Bard, a lengthy at bat by Travis Hafner ended in a soft ground ball to second which Dustin Pedroia turned into an inning ending double play. Bard threw 29 pitches in the frame, only 15 for strikes.

Middlebrooks continued his hot hitting with a solo home run in the third inning. The ball carried just to the top of the Monster, falling back into the field of play as the 23-year old. It was his fourth home run of the season as he continues to find success at the plate in the big leagues. Middlebrooks is batting .310 this year, impressing as Kevin Youkilis remains on the disabled list.The Sox tacked on another run in the sixth, when Saltalamacchia lined an RBI base hit to left field which Damon was unable to come up with.

Bard pitched six shaky innings, but he managed to escape jams and limit the Cleveland offense. He allowed just the one run, struck out two, and walked four. He left with a 6-1 lead but any doubts of a win were quickly erased as the Sox went to bat in the seventh. The offense unloaded on reliever Dan Wheeler, touching him for six earned runs as the game got out of hand.

Sox Score Six in the 7th

Pedroia got things started with a double. Ortiz drove him in with a base hit. Gonzalez doubled as well to put two runners in scoring position for Middlebrooks. He walked on a wild pitch, advancing the base runners and giving the Sox an 8-1 lead. Then Nava reached base for the fourth time with a 2 RBI double. After a ground out, Saltalamacchia launched his fifth home run of the season deep to center field, giving Boston a 12-1 lead which they would hold on to for the win.

All in all the Sox are still in last place and need all the wins they can get. But this win was great as the team wrapped up their four game series with the first place Indians, coming back from losing the first game to win the series. The Sox are now on a three-game winning streak and will play again tomorrow night as they welcome the Seattle Mariners to town.

Doubront Shines in 4-1 Victory, Pedroia Keeps Streaking

Matthew Bond — Sun, 13 May 2012 05:13:44 +0000

The Red Sox aren’t accustomed to winning games at Fenway Park this season. In fact, Boston won consecutive games at their home park for the first time all year on Friday night. The 4-1 win over Cleveland was highlighted by a terrific outing by southpaw Felix Doubront, who held the Indians lineup to just three hits over his six innings of work. The offense contributed enough support for him, and the bullpen was sharp to close out the win.

Doubront was opposed by Zach McAllister, filling in for original starter Josh Tomlin who was sent to the disabled list with a sore wrist before the game. McAllister was surprisingly solid, keeping Cleveland in the game despite the potent Boston lineup.

A big part of that stellar offense as of late has been Dustin Pedroia, who extending his hitting streak to 13 games with a single to center in the first inning. He drove in the first Boston run in the third with an RBI double high off the Green Monster to left. After leaving Friday night’s game with a heel injury, David Ortiz followed Pedroia’s lead with an RBI double of his own, giving the Sox a 2-0 lead.

From there Doubront and the bullpen gave the team everything they could ask on the mound. He allowed just one run in his six innings of work, walking two and striking out five. From there Boston got a perfect inning of work from three different relievers to close out the game. Andrew Miller and Vicente Padilla each earned holds for pitching the seventh and eight respectfully. In five innings of work this season, Miller has not allowed a run and has held opposing hitters to a .125 average.

Closer Alfredo Aceves earned his seventh save of the year after a shaky start, striking out Indians catcher Carlos Santana to end the game. Boston improves to 14-19 on the year, earning their first winning streak since April 28th.

Sunday in the series finale, former Red Sox reliever Justin Masterson will start against his old team. He was traded to Cleveland in the deal that brought former Sox catcher Victor Martinez to town. He will be opposed by Daniel Bard, who takes aim for his third win of the season.

Dice-K: Was it Worth the Hype and Money?

Bobby Doherty — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:00:34 +0000

Daisuke Matsuzaka cost the Boston Red Sox over $100 million, with $51.1 million allotted for the posting fee and another $52 million for the six-year contract. With only 49 wins in 105 starts to go along with a 4.25 earned run average, the $100 million seems like a little bit too much for that production.

Let’s take a deeper look at his personal situation and all of the hype that came with him from Japan. Not many players can live up to the media and fan driven hype that comes with being an international superstar.

Matsuzaka became an overnight household name during the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 after he won the MVP award with three wins and no losses. MLB teams gained serious interest in him after his performance, leading to the bidding war eventually won by the Red Sox.

The sports culture of Boston might not have been the ideal landing spot for a shy 26-year-old Japanese pitching phenom landing his first major league gig. Matsuzaka knows enough English to interact with teammates, but only gives post-game conferences and interviews in his native tongue with a translator – that is not that big of a deal, but it was something that had to take some getting used to for him.

During games where Matsuzaka is not pitching, he would be seen often only with his translator and not so much with teammates. With the poisonous clubhouse issues becoming public knowledge last fall, one has to wonder what effect the actual team had on Matsuzaka. There was a lot he had to deal with: the already extremely tough transition of changing continents, learning a new language, adjusting his throwing habits, worrying about facing major league hitters on a nightly basis, and now throw in an unstable unhealthy locker room that at the time was basically a secret to the fans. Talk about stress.

I’m not making excuses for him not performing to the level that many expected, but looking closely at his situation, I don’t see how he could have come to Boston and performed at that level.

Josh Beckett, being the leader of this pitching staff, could have been the perfect mentor to Matsuzaka on his arrival, but Beckett is one of the main culprits of the clubhouse issues. Now, do we know what the clubhouse was like in 2007? No, but the problems that we now know of didn’t happen overnight.

Matsuzaka Can Still Help

Fresh off of Tommy John surgery, Matsuzaka has made two rehab starts and is on track for a late May return to the big club. The first rehab start wasn’t so good, but he bounced back in the second, with 74 pitches and allowing only one earned run while striking out seven and issuing two free passes.

With him most likely returning to the Red Sox rotation, he can help out in the fourth or fifth slot. Doing so would bump Felix Doubront or Daniel Bard to the bullpen. Hopefully Bard will be the guy bumped, as Bobby Valentine could use a reliable arm in late inning situations. With only nine wins from starters thus far in the early season and a team earned run average of 5.52, the Red Sox could use some help from the $100 million man.

It’s worth saying that this is the final year of the six-year, $52 million contract Scott Boras got for his client. Matsuzaka could pitch his way into a new deal with the Red Sox or earn a job with a new team next season. His first six years as a pro will be looked at as being an overpaid average starter, but in the big picture, Boston might not have been the best place for him to be the player that we once hoped he would be.

Ross Homers Twice in Red Sox Victory Over Twins

Matt Goisman — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:59:19 +0000

Cody Ross must be quite the social animal. Through his first four home runs this season, at least one teammate had always been on base, waiting at the plate to celebrate with him.

But sometimes, even Ross has to go it alone.

Ross homered twice – one two-run, one solo – tying and then giving the Boston Red Sox a 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins Monday at Target Field. Daniel Bard picked up his first win in relief, and Alfredo Aceves recorded his third save.

Ross’ Homers Huge in Victory

The Red Sox entered the seventh inning down 5-3, still facing Twins starter Jason Marquis. Marquis had already thrown over 100 pitches when Jarrod Saltalamacchia – whose two-run golf shot in the second put the Red Sox up 3-0 – singled with one out, but Twins manager Ron Gardenhire opted to stick with him.

Ross made Gardenhire pay for his error just one pitch later, crushing a shot to left field to tie the game 5-5.

The tie held up until the top of the ninth, when Gardenhire went with closer Matt Capps. Ross came up with two down in the ninth, fouled one off, then deposited a knee-high pitch just over the right field wall for the 6-5 lead.

Ross finished the game 2-4, part of a 12-hit night for the Red Sox. Saltalamacchia, Ryan Sweeney, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz all also went 2-4.

Adrian Gonzalez went 0-3, but his first-inning sacrifice fly put the Red Sox up 1-0.

Bard Slams the Door, Aceves Keeps it Shut

After seven innings from Jon Lester, Franklin Morales started the eighth. Shortstop Jamey Carroll singled down the right field line with none out, advancing all the way to third when Sweeney bobbled the ball. Morales retired Joe Mauer (2-for-3) without allowing Carroll to score, then Bobby Valentine went to Bard.

Bard was only available in the bullpen because his start had been rained out, but he got Josh Willingham to line to third for the second out. Following an intentional walk to Justin Morneau, Bard stranded Carroll by inducing a popup to short.

Whether Bard is better than Aceves or not, Aceves is the closer, and he came out to pinch the ninth. His third save didn’t come easily, giving up a one-out single and a heart-stopping flyout to deep left, but with two down he cleanly fielded a Denard Span grounder back to the mound and underhanded it to Gonzalez for the final out.

“One Bad Inning” Costs Lester First Victory

Four starts into the season, Lester still doesn’t have a victory. He looked poised to do so Monday, starting the game with three scoreless innings, but the phrase “one bad inning” has hung around Lester’s neck his entire MLB career.

His bizarre tendency to lose it all in one inning showed up again against the Twins with one out in the fourth, when Lester gave up a walk and a single to put two men on for the first time. Lester got to two strikes and two outs on right fielder Ryan Doumit, but he left a curveball up and Doumit plated two with a double down the left field line.

Lester came within a strike of getting out of the fourth with the lead, but he left a fastball this time up in the zone, and third baseman Danny Valencia drilled it to center to put the Twins up 4-3. Minnesota went up 5-3 on a run-scoring double play in the fifth.

Despite the weak fourth inning, Lester came back to retire his final seven batters. He finished giving up five earned runs on six hits, four walks and four strikeouts in seven innings. He showed good command of all of his pitches, throwing strikes with his fastball, cutter and curveball. He threw first-pitch strikes to 75 percent of the batters he faced.

Defense Strong for Both Teams

Boston and Minnesota combined for five 6-4-3 double plays Monday night. Though the Red Sox turned three of them, the Twins turned perhaps the prettiest.

Down 5-3 in the sixth, the first two Red Sox reached. Following a fielder’s choice that put men at the corners, Ortiz hit one sharply up the middle. Carroll dove behind the second base bag to field it, then flipped to second baseman Trevor Plouffe while still on the ground.

Plouffe caught the ball barehanded, spun around as he tagged the bag and just beat Ortiz with the throw to first to retire the side and preserve the lead.

Bobby Valentine is the Red Sox Manager, So Let Him Manage!

Bobby Doherty — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:15:40 +0000

Owner John Henry said this in October of 2011: “Larry Lucchino runs the Red Sox.’’

That was made clear when new general manager Ben Cherington was sent on a hunt for a new manager of the Red Sox soon after Terry Francona was fired. Cherington soon found out that Lucchino was making the decision on who the new manager was, and he chose Bobby Valentine, who hadn’t managed a baseball team since 2009 in Japan and spent a couple of years working for the four-letter network (ESPN). He had been out of the majors since 2002.

Valentine, between the lines, was a pretty good baseball mind and knew the game pretty well. The problem with Valentine is his off-field antics. The guy loves the camera. There’s no doubting that. I mean, we’re only 12 games into this major league season and NESN already has the Bobby Valentine Show. That kind of thing is exactly what makes fans upset and gets radio personalities talking – “if he just worried about winning games, there would be no problems.”

Back to the owners…

They knew what they were signing up for with Valentine, so the question is why get this type of manager on a team with some serious problems?

I think Valentine was hired to be purely a smoke screen. If you turn on a radio or television, all you hear about is Bobby Valentine did this and said that. The Red Sox are sitting at 4-8 to open the year and it’s pretty clear that the organization is more invested in the money-making side of things and promoting the 100th year anniversary of Fenway Park.

With all of the clubhouse problems that became public last September, the baseball ops department found a way to remove zero players from the situation. Zero. They traded away the starting shortstop to save a few million dollars,Jonathan Papelbon walked and they got a closer who has missed 100 games in the past two seasons. They filled the void of the fifth starter with the best bullpen arm they had… for no apparent reason.

There has been a need for a right handed bat in the lineup since Manny Ramirez was traded, and the two biggest players they have landed are Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, both left-handed hitters. Baseball ops hasn’t made a good move to help this team after being embarrassed last fall.

Valentine, during spring training, wanted Daniel Bard in the bullpen, and he was leaning towards Jose Iglesias as his shortstop. He was overruled on both. Valentine has been questioned for leaving Bard in against Tampa Bay, he had to leave him in because that’s what the owners want.

Valentine has been questioned about his bullpen decisions in the first 12 games this season. Take a look at who he has out there to throw in a game. Justin Thomas, Junichi Tazawa, Vicente Padilla, Franklin Morales, Scott Atchison, Matt Albers, and closer Alfredo Aceves. It’s not Valentine’s fault that the bullpen lacks a good arm, so he is going to get his starters into trouble leaving them in too long and not showing confidence in these guys.

Valentine stands no chance in Boston. The owners are not focused on winning games and the players still have a serious attitude problem.

Dustin Pedroia‘s comments on what Valentine had to say about Kevin Youkilis, which wasnt even a bad comment, said a lot about the clubhouse. Pedroia is somewhat of a leader on this “team” and had this to say about the Valentine comments on Youk:

“I don’t really understand what Bobby’s trying to do. But that’s really not the way we go about our stuff here. I’m sure he’ll figure that out soon. We’ve got Youk’s back. He’s played his [butt] off for us for a long time …”

The team is under the impression that they run things, and that is a bad thing. If you like it or not, he is the manager and the way you go about your stuff failed in front of everyone. The Red Sox need to figure it out soon that they are the problem and not the manager, whoever that may be.

If the Red Sox stay under .500 approaching summer, the Valentine era could be over sooner that people thought, and much to their delight. I just can’t agree with Valentine being the problem when his team is split down the middle because the pitchers and position players don’t like each other. Watch a game on NESN and all the starters sit together at one end of the dugout while the position players sit on the other side.

Valentine signed up to manage this team and it looks like he is going down as the fall guy. There isn’t a good thing happening in this organization around him, but he is taking the bulk of the blame somehow, in only a few months of being here. This team has the raw talent to be a good team, but if they don’t act or conduct themselves as a team, Red Sox nation is in for another disappointing season.

Red Sox Lose 1-0 on Bases Loaded Walk, Blown Strike Calls

Nick Bohlen — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:16 +0000

Cody Ross slammed his helmet down in frustration before sharing a few choice words with home plate umpire Larry Vanover after making the final out on a called third strike. And for good reason.

With the tying run on second and the go-ahead run on first, Ross stood helplessly at the plate as Vanover rung him up on a ball in the left-hand batter’s box to hand the Boston Red Sox a 1-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Patriots Day. That wasn’t the only source of frustration on the day for the Red Sox, though, who gave up the only run on a bases-loaded walk and mustered only four hits against James Shields.

Bard Solid, but Wild

Daniel Bard’s solid start was only marred by his inability to throw strikes with two outs in the seventh inning. After allowing only three hits through 6.2 innings, Bard walked the light hitting shortstop Sean Rodriguez on a full count, gave up a single to Desmond Jennings, then threw eight straight balls to Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria to walk in what turned out to be the game-winning run. Bard ended the day having given up one run on four hits, racking up seven strikeouts offset by seven walks, none more costly than the last two.

In fairness, Bard was clearly tired and struggling with his command when manager Bobby Valentine decided to leave him in the game with the bases loaded after having thrown 107 pitches. After the game, Valentine admitted this was a mistake, saying, “It was the wrong decision, obviously. I wanted to let him know right there that I thought he could get himself out of a jam.”

Apparently it was Valentine who wasn’t so “physically or emotionally into the game” this Patriots Day.

Shields Dominates the Red Sox Lineup

Shields pitched into the ninth inning without giving up any runs, limiting the Red Sox to just four hits — all singles — in 8.1 innings with five K’s and just two walks. He recorded 15 outs via the ground ball while only giving up four fly balls. Unlike Valentine, Rays manager Joe Maddon knew when to lift his starter, taking Shields out in favor of closer Fernando Rodney after he walked Dustin Pedroia with one down in the bottom of the ninth. Rodney recorded his fourth save in four chances.

Umpire Kills Rally

Despite being confounded all day by Shields, the Red Sox still found themselves with a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Pedroia represented the tying run after drawing a walk from Shields, advancing to second when he was running on a 3-2 pitch that Adrian Gonzalez grounded out to first against Rodney for the second out. David Ortiz was then issued an intentional walk to put the winning run on first, leaving it up to Ross to tie the game with a two-out hit.

As it turned out, though, it was never really up to Ross. Instead, Vanover, the home plate umpire, decided to take the bat out of his hands entirely. The Red Sox centerfielder (with Jacoby Ellsbury on the disabled list) stood with the bat on his shoulder and took three called strikes that never seemed to cross the plate, stranding the tying and winning runs.

Unsurprisingly, the Red Sox took to the media after the game to pick their bone with Vanover. Ross deemed it “unacceptable,” wondering how umpires “can make bad calls all day and they aren’t going to be held accountable for it.”

Gonzalez was slightly more specific, saying, “Those pitches that were called on Cody, that’s just not right. They’re in the left-handed hitter’s box and the way I see it, we missed the playoffs by one game last year, and if he walks there how he should have, Sweeney gets a hit and we wind up winning, it could make a difference… You look at the video, the over-the-top view and those pitches are in the left-handed batter’s box, and they’re not even close. They don’t start close and they don’t end close so, it’s unfortunate for Cody to have to end the game like that.”

Up Next

The Red Sox will now host the Texas Rangers for two games at Fenway Park before playing the New York Yankees. Jon Lester and Josh Beckett will be on the mound to face the hot-hitting Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton.

Daniel Bard Loses First Major League Start

KC Downey — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 05:03:56 +0000

Despite the fact he had not thrown a pitch all season until Tuesday night, Daniel Bard was definitely among the most-discussed players during the team’s 1-3 start this season. Should he start? Should he close? Well, for now, he’ll be starting, and that’s what he did for the first time in his major league career on Tuesday (after 192 career relief appearances).

In all, Bard was not great, but he was not bad (like Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz before him). He was charged with five runs on eight hits and a walk in 5+ innings, allowing two of his runs in the 6th as the Jays began to pull away before winning by a final of 7-3. Bard also added a career-best six strikeouts.

”He pitched good enough to win if we scored some runs,” Bobby Valentine said after the game. ”Not quite the results we were looking for and I know he’s a little disappointed but you take that 30 times a year, you’re going to get a lot of wins out of it. I’d bet anything on that.”

The Blue Jays clubbed seven singles (out of the eight hits) off Bard, who allowed a single run in the first and two more in the third. In the sixth, Bard allowed a walk and single before being pulled in favor of lefty Justin Thomas. Thomas walked Eric Thames to load the bases, and then gave up a two-run single to J.P Arencibia.

After the game, Valentine was kicking himself for not putting Matt Albers in to face Arencibia (and hopefully induce a ground ball double play). Instead, he left Thomas out on the mound.

”Just a dumb move,” Valentine said. ”I don’t like being dumb. I like doing what I’m supposed to do.”

On the other side, Kyle Drabek, the prized acquisition in the Roy Halladay deal, pitched extremely well. He allowed just one run on three hits and three walks in 5.1 innings pitched, picking up his first win since last June despite past difficulties against the Red Sox lineup.

The Red Sox were held scoreless until the sixth inning, when the team nabbed a run on an Adrian Gonzalez sac fly. They grabbed their final two in the 9th when Gonzalez doubled home two more.

Kevin Youkilis, who started the season 0-12, finished 2-4.

Jon Lester will oppose Ricky Romero in the rubber game of the series on Wednesday afternoon.

With Bailey Out, Aceves Named Sox Closer

Nick Bohlen — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:06:33 +0000

In a surprising move, manager Bobby Valentine has named Alfredo Aceves the replacement closer for the Boston Red Sox.

With expected closer Andrew Bailey out for 3-4 months after surgery on his injured thumb, Aceves takes over the closer role despite very little experience closing games. For his career, Aceves has just four saves under his belt, which includes the two he had last year with the Red Sox. Valentine cited his competitive nature, his performance during spring training, and his familiarity with the AL East as the primary reasons Aceves would be the closer.

Valentine named Aceves over set-up man Mark Melancon, who closed for the Houston Astros before the Red Sox acquired him for Jed Lowrie. With 20 saves in 24 save chances last season, Melancon seemed to be the more natural option to fill in until Bailey’s return with his experience closing. Instead, Melancon will get opportunities to close games when Aceves is not available.

While Valentine did list his reasons for crowning Aceves as the closer, part of me remains skeptical that this decision makes the most baseball sense or was made based purely for baseball reasons. Red Sox fans will recall how invaluable Aceves was last year in saving the starters by pitching lights out as a stopper in relief and keeping the Sox in close games. This was especially true with runners on base.

So, rather than limiting Aceves to coming in for the final inning with the Red Sox ahead, Valentine could have used Aceves in high leverage situations, no matter the inning and for longer appearances. (Valentine did say he would be open to using Aceves to get more than three outs.) Melancon closing would seem to allow Valentine to use Aceves in a more flexible role much like last year. In fact, the lack of flexibility in the bullpen seems to have forced Valentine to open the season with 13 pitchers on the roster.

Instead, perhaps the move was mostly made to appease Aceves after he was denied the opportunity to start. Aceves came into spring training to compete for one of the spots open in the Red Sox starting rotation, and he was extremely disappointed and upset when Daniel Bard and Felix Doubront became the fourth and fifth starters while he was relegated to the bullpen. After all, being named the closer — with your own entrance music, a brighter spotlight, and a chance at a heftier paycheck in the future — is a pretty satisfactory alternative to taking the ball every fifth day.

Whether surprising, conspiring, or none of the above, hopefully the move benefits the team as much as it does Aceves.