Thursday, June 20, 2013
BOSTON - After the Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox lost 10-8 Friday night, Bobby Valentine said, "I liked everything about how we played." He said it looked like a blowout, but then Boston made it a game.
And Boston lost.
If this had been a minor league gane, we would have talked about all the positives. How the team did not give up. How Josh Beckett showed poise in rebounding from a five-run first inning.
But, because of Beckett, Valentine said it felt like "we were climbing uphill the whole game." In the first inning, "I'd never seen him like that."
It was a nice effort for the Red Sox to comeback and, at one time, take the lead.
We could talk about some other positives, like Adrian Gonzalez (3-for-5) hitting the ball well his first four at-bats (only to ground out in his fifth at-bat, with 2 runners on in the 8th).
And reliever Mark Melancon (2 IP, 1 H, 2 K) looked strong, although the damage to the bullpen had already been done.
The team shows hope and the team disappoints. See TODAY'S COLUMN for more.
In the minors, Pawtucket is coming back to town today. It will be interesting if reliever Junichi Tazawa will hop over to Boston, since the Red Sox could use arms for today's doubleheader.
(Update: The Sox have called up Clayton Mortensen).
Carl Crawford plans to join the PawSox, his rehab time with the Sea Dogs over.
It was thought that Jacoby Ellsbury would also go to Pawtucket, but he may actually stay with the Sea Dogs - although I doubt he took the overnight bus from New Hampshire to Trenton.N.J.
Ellsbury went 1-for-4 Friday. Fellow rehab outfielder, Ryan Sweeney, was 0-for-3.
The big hit came from catcher Matt Springs - a ninth-inning 3-run homer for a 4-2 win.
Good pitching by the Sea Dogs, highlighted by Drake Britton: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K ... Caleb Clay pitched 2 scoreless innings (1 H, 2 BB, 3 K) ... Josh Fields (1 IP, 2 K) had his eighth straight scoreless outing.
Fields, who turns 27 in August, could find himself in Triple-A before the end of the season.
Salem's Travis Shaw (.315) had two hits, as did Brandon Jacobs (.284), including his 7th HR ... Xander Bogaerts (.286) was 3-for-5.
Greenville lefty Henry Owens, two weeks shy of his 20th birthday, pitched 5 scoreless innings (2 H, 7 K). He how has 63 strikeouts and 17 walks in 49 innings. Owens is 9-2 with a 5.09 ERA in his first pro season.
That is all. On my way to Fenway for the afternoon game.
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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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