Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Kevin Thomas covers baseball and basketball for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He wisely moved to Maine in 1994 after working for the St. Petersburg Times. He is married to Nancy and they have nine children.
Follow his thoughts on the Boston Red Sox and Portland Sea Dogs on Clearing the Bases
Follow his thoughts on the Boston Celtics and Maine Red Claws on Holding Court
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MANCHESTER, N.H. — Daniel Bard shagged balls during the Portland Sea Dogs batting practice. He talked to teammates. He did not look like a pitcher struggling to find his way.
“I’m not letting this beat me up too much,” Bard said before the Sea Dogs games Thursday night .
Bard is trying to re-claim his role in the Boston bullpen, but his efforts with the Sea Dogs have been discouraging. Those struggles may have peaked Wednesday night here. He faced eight batters, walking five and allowing a single. He threw 30 pitches, but only eight strikes.
“It hasn’t looked good. I’m not immune to that,” Bard said. “But it’s a process.
In 2008, Daniel Bard eventually got a promotion to the Portland Sea Dogs, as his pitching career seemed finally on track. He was in the majors the next season.
In 2008, Chris Martin quit baseball.
Five years later, Bard is back in Portland, his pitching out of control (literally).
Martin was recently promoted from Portland and continues his scoreless streak in Pawtucket.
Not many hits for some of the Red Sox teams Tuesday night. Both Boston and Portland totaled three hits apiece, and lost.
Pawtucket won 5-3 and totaled nine hits. Winning pitcher Allen Webster (2-0, 2.52) came back from his rough start for Boston and pitched five innings (3 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 1 HBP, 5 K) ... Bryce Brentz (.275) is getting his average to climb. He went 2-for-4. His OPS is .827.
Drake Britton (3-3, 4.35) did not have his command with Portland and was hit hard at times, especially by right-handed batters (who are hitting .301 against him this year). He grinded through 5 innings: 6 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 5 K. 95 pitches/53 strikes.
Salem recorded only six hits, but won 2-1 behind the pitching of Mike Augliera (4-0, 3.12). Augliera, a fifth-round draft pick last year out of America East member Binghamton, pitched six innings: 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K.
"Son, why don't you let your sister have the remote, and go to bed," I told Aidan after the Boston Bruins trailed 4-1 in the third period Monday night. He stayed. I went to bed.
Woke up this morning to a note: "Glad I watched the whole game!"
So the Bruins won. It brought me back to 2004 when the Red Sox trailed the Yankees 3 games to zero in the American League Championship Series.
Got to love comeback stories.
The Red Sox are 2-8 in the last 10 games. In those 10 games, they have scored 33 runs (19 of them in three games).
The pitching and fielding have not been great, but scoring 2-3 runs a game ...
Boston could use a slugger like Anthony Rizzo, the first baseman they traded to San Diego after the 2010 season (a season he finished with the Portland Sea Dogs).
Easy to say now that the Red Sox should not have let Rizzo go. But the Padres also dealt him, sending him to the Cubs for a reliever (Andrew Cashner).
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