After being stifled offensively for 8 innings by the Tigers Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander, the Boston Red Sox tied the game in the 9th with 2 runs off of closer Jose Valverde. But there is a saying that the ball always finds you weakest spot & today that weak spot was the Boston bullpen.
After 7 excellent innings of 1-run ball by Jon Lester the pen gave up a big run in the 8th to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. And then they gave up the game winning run in the bottom of the 9th. Sox lose the opener 3-2. Poor outings for Vincente Padilla, Mark Melancon & Alfredo Aceves. Bobby V. will have to hope for more out of those 3 guys.
Some of my takeaways from attending this game:
- It was cold, really cold with a 10-15 mile an hour wind blowing in the stands the whole day. My body will need a few hours to thaw out.
- I thought that the Sox missed an early scoring chance with Ortiz on 2nd & no outs. Youk hit an easy ground out to short, as opposed to hitting a ball to the right side to advance Ortiz to 3rd. Maybe Verlander made a good pitch, but we could have had 3rd & 1 out.
- Verlander is a pretty beloved player in MoTown & not only for his on-the-field accomplishments. He owns a suite at Comerica Park & had returning veterans from Afghanistan as his guests today.
- Pedroia had quite an at-bat to start the 9th with a ringing double to right-center. Ryan Sweeney just missed a homer to right to drive in the tying run. Pedroia, Big Papi & Sweeney all hit the ball well today.
I think we have a better chance to comeback with wins in games 2 & 3. I like Beckett & Buccholz over Fister & Scherzer.
1 comment:
with our relief staff, it's deja vu all over again.
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