A Spark?

The Red Sox had their home opener today, and it had the makings to be a battle.  Beckett v. Price.  The team who missed the playoffs on game 162 of last year verse the team who made the playoffs on game 162 of last year.

Varitek and Wakefield were there to throw out the opening pitch.  After, they were greeted by the Red Sox players, most of whom played with Tek and Wake.  My only suggestion was that it would've been neat to see Wake pitch the ball to Tek.

The Red Sox won today 12-2.  It was a close game until the bottom of the 8th when the Sox scored 8 runs, most of them with no outs.  Beckett pitched really well (8 innings 5 hits 1 run 1 walk 1 strikeout), and everyone on the Red Sox roster had a hit except for Cody Ross have an RBI.

The game wasn't all rosy though.  Ellsbury left the game in the fourth inning with a right shoulder injury.  He was sliding into second when the Rays shortstop, Reid Brignac, fell on top of it.  Ellsbury immediately grabbed his shoulder and grimaced in pain and spewing a few choice words.  At this time, there hasn't been an update, just that he was having further evaluations.

As I mentioned, every player on the Sox had a hit besides Ross.  Shoppach arguably had the best game offensively, going 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, 3 runs, 2 RBIs and his first, career stolen base (and attempt in for that matter).  Ellsbury, Gonzalez, Youkilis, and Ortiz also had multiple hits for the day.

Besides Ellsbury's injury, I really only had two other concerns.  One, why is Valentine keeping Sweeney on the bench when he's swinging the hottest bat?  For the season, he's hitting .429, almost 100 points higher than Ortiz's second highest average of .333.  That's two games in a row that Sweeney's sat, with an off-day inbetween.  Is it because Ross cost more money to sign?  I don't get it.

The second concern remains with he bullpen.  I think Beckett could have finished the game, especially with a 12-1 lead heading into the 9th and throwing 94 pitches in the 8 innings.  If Beckett would've pitched a complete game, it would've saved our reserved the bullpen after a treacherous   Instead, Valentine put in Melancon, probably to boost his confidence and lower his 36.00 ERA.  While Melancon made it through the inning, he did give up a home run to Zobrist. 

Overall, I think this may have been a spark to kick the Red Sox offense into gear.  The pitching's coming around; we just need the bats to now.  Also, keep an eye out for a "not top 10 moment" from the game on ESPN.  I'm thinking the clip of the Rays players colliding, in foul territory, missing the ball, and landing in the stands will make it.