Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Alfredo Aceves' 1-2-3 ninth for his first save Monday night will hopefully take some of the pressure off Daniel Bard - or at least the pressure off Ben Cherington/Bobby Valentine to put Bard back in the bullpen.
Bard gets the start tonight in Toronto, and he may develop into a lights-out starter.
But this is Red Sox Nation, where the forest is ignored, where it is always considered a sprint and not a marathon, where crying over spilled milk is a tradition ... hmm, I think those cliches just about cover it.
In other words, don't pull a Joba Chamberlain on Bard, bouncing him in and out of the bullpen.
Aceves' performance also capped a fine pitching night for the Red Sox. Felix Doubront gave up four hits and two runs over five innings, striking out six. Hopefully, Doubront becomes more efficient as he goes along (3 walks and 101 pitches over 5 innings on Monday).
You want efficiency? Scott Atcheson relieved Doubront and needed 31 pitches - for three innings (1 H, 3 K).
The Sea Dogs have now gone through their rotation and are 0-5 for the first time. Starter Billy Buckner gave up four runs in the first inning, in the 8-3 loss at Trenton.
Andrew Miller made another rehab appearance for Greenville, pitching a 1-2-3 first (1 strikeout, 2 groundouts).
And former Sea Dogs first baseman Anthony Rizzo is off to another fine start, this time with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. Rizzo homered twice on Monday. He is now 9-for-19 (.479) with three homers.
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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
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