FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Clay Buchholz allowed four runs in four innings, and Boston’s defense committed four of the game’s seven errors in an 11-3 loss by the Red Sox to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.
Buchholz gave up two earned runs and five hits, striking out six.
“He threw a couple of pitches up, which they were able to square up,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “That was kind of the story of the day. When we missed location they hit the ball hard. I thought Clay threw a number of good curveballs, a number of changeups.”
A throwing error by second baseman Dustin Pedroia led to a pair of unearned runs in the fourth.
“I don’t even know how hard I was throwing,” Buchholz said. “Velocity comes when you’re in a stadium with 45,000 people. I’m more worried about the ball ending up where I wanted it to go. Overall, three of four pitches today were good. Got to target the fastball command and take care of it.”
Mookie Betts was 2 for 3 and raised his batting average to .462.
“I got a couple of good pitches to hit and put good swings on them,” he said. “I came here early to spring training and got in plenty of work.”
Betts is competing with Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Rusney Castillo for playing time in center.
“It’s not a competition where you hate each other,” Betts said. “We all root for each other. We want each other to do well, no matter what. “
Christian Bethancourt had two doubles and scored two runs, and Eric Young Jr. hit a bases-loaded triple in the sixth as Atlanta built a 9-1 lead.
“We hit up and down the lineup,” Atlanta Manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “That’s a good sign. We haven’t done that in a while. So maybe this is the start of getting the offense going a little bit.”
Sabathia allows 2 runs in spring debut, Yankees lose to Jays
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — CC Sabathia gave up two runs and four hits over two innings in his first spring training start, a New York Yankees’ 4-2 loss Tuesday night to the Toronto Blue Jays.
The 34-year-old lefty was hobbled by a degenerative cartilage problem in his right knee last season and was done after having surgery in July.
After Sabathia had a perfect first inning, Dioner Navarro opened the second with a single just to the left of Alex Rodriguez that many third basemen would have fielded.
Rodriguez, who turns 40 in July, is returning from a one-year drug suspension and is mostly competing for time at DH.
Dayan Viciedo and Devon Travis had two-out run-scoring hits in the second off Sabathia.
Toronto’s Drew Hutchison allowed two runs and four hits, including Mark Teixeira’s solo homer, in four innings.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less