Between the games Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, there were definitely some mixed reviews. Fridays game against the Pirates was plain ugly. The score was a 7-4 Pirates win, but the Sox play like the game was even that close. Buchholz, who was gave up 2 earned runs in three innings with three hits and one strikeout. The good news was he didn't walk anyone, and he seemed to be fully recovered from his back issues from last year. Vincente Padilla looked horrible, giving up four earned runs and five hits in two innings. It was plain painful to watch him pitch.
Offensively, the team was better. Ortiz and McDonald hit home runs, and McDonald also had a double, along with Kroeger. The team as a whole had twelve hits, and Ross and McDonald were the only ones with two hits. Four people (Aviles, Ross, Butler, and Ciriaco) had steals, which I find really interesting. Valentine is going to do a lot of unconventional (for the Red Sox anyway) things, and stealing looks like something the team is working on. Over the years, it seemed like Ellsbury was the only real, consistant steal threat. Looks like we have some things to watch this season.
Saturday night's game was much better, much cleaner, as the Red Sox shutout the Rays 5-0. Bard and Aceves both went three innings, giving up two hits a piece. Albers, Tazawa, and Mortenson each pitched an inning without giving up a run. Tazawa looked especially strong, not giving up a hit but still walking two.
Offensively, things seemed to click a little better for the Red Sox. McDonald (who is definitely giving a strong showing so far in Spring Training), Gonzalez, Youkilis, Anderson, Middlebrooks, and Kroeger each had a double. The Rays had Wade Davis pitching, who went 11-10 last season with a 4.45 ERA. Last night, he only went two and two thirds innings with a line of 3H, 4R, 4ER, 4BB, 2SO.
Today, the Red Sox seemed to be firing on all cylinders with a 6-1 win over the Orioles. Lester's line was 4.0IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 4BB, 2SO. Obviously, the walks are a bit alarming, but Lester was able to keep the damage to a minimum. Another notabled pitcher, Aaron Cook, made his Spring debut. He went 2 innings without giving up a hit but had 2 walks. Worth taking a closer look at in the fututre, in my opinion.
Offensively, the Sox had eleven hits, mostly singles as only Pedroia and Hee had doubles. What the Sox were good at this game was taking advantage of getting on base, whether by singles or the four walks they were given. They only went 5-for-14 with runner's in scoring position, but that's definitely a good sign as it's still early with younger players still plaiyng a prominent role in the games.
I'm sure I'll have more interesting thing to write about this week, but I wanted to give an update with what I've observed over the weekend from watching the Sox. Here's hoping for more good things coming out of Spring Training for the Sox!
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