Rick Porchello

Red Sox – Nationals Recap

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The Red Sox came into their series with Washington after been dealt a crushing 14-4 defeat by the Yankees behind a pathetic outting by our ‘ace’ Clay Bucholz. There was really no positives to take from that game except learning that Clay could be hired at Olive Garden if his MLB day’s get cut short. (The dude can whip up some great meatballs). All jokes aside it became very clear that this rotation will be our Achilles heel this season but I’ll address that shortly. On to our recap:

Game 1 (Opening Day) Porchello (0-0) v. Zimmerman (1-0)

The Sox came out swinging for the Fenway Faithful for their Opening Day game. Rick Porchello looked just as strong the second time around going 8 innings and dealing 6 SO. The bats came alive as both Mookie Betts and Big Papi both hit 2 HRs. Betts was the standout star in this game having a great game behind the plate and out in center. The guy also stole 2 bases at once. The Sox handed Porchello his first W as a member of the organization and made the Nationals look like a Triple-A club. The scary rotation of Zimmerman, Strasburg, and Gonzalez was going to be a huge test for this line-up as the Nats are an early WS pick, but the Sox took the first one quite handedly.

For a more in-depth look at Opening Day, check out Beard’s blog here.

Game 2 Masterson (1-0) v. Strasburg (0-1)

Game 2 proved to be a bit more troublesome for the Sox.  We jumped out to a 5-1 lead by the 4th behind great offensive work by Betts and Pedroia but staggered in the 6th letting up 6 runs. But this is the game Sox fans wanted, the kind of game that tested the resiliency of this team. We’ll that’s exactly what we got (kinda). In the 7th, Hannigan grounded into a Fielder’s Choice which then turned into something bizarre.  Trying to field the ball, Blake Treinen (WSH) fumbled the ball, allowing Ramirez to score, and subsequently overthrew Wilson Ramos (WSH) which let Victorino come home to tie the game at 7. (If you couldn’t follow along with that I suggest you look it up, the video is kinda funny) Allen Craig would give the go ahead run off a ground out by Brock Holt. The Sox couldn’t give Masterson his second win of the season (Mujica got the W) but did manage to give Koji Uehara his first save in what was his first appearance on the mound this year. The Sox also improved to 6-2 which is our best start in 8 games since 2006.

Game 3: Miley (0-0) v. Gonzalez (0-1)

Remember when I said our pitching was going to be an issue? Here’s what I meant by that. After a dominant showcase by Porchello and after an iffy performance by Masterson, Wade Miley struggled big time against a Nations team that had been our punching bags for the past 2 days. Miley went 2.1 innings. TWO AND ONE THIRD INNINGS PITCHED. Oh, by the way he let up 7 runs. SEVEN. Miley was like Bucholz out on the mound. As a matter of fact, I’m convinced that Clay just went out on the mound wearing a Miley mask because there’s no way there’s another pitcher on our roster who could preform like this. For the 3rd time in 4 days the Sox had to go to their bullpen early. Despite a HR from Ramirez and what would be a great offensive day for any other team in the league. The Red Sox just couldn’t dig themselves from a 10-5 deficit and dropped game 3.

What to take from the series:

  1. We need game to game consistency from our rotation. We just can’t have the guy who’s supposed to be our ‘ace’ go out there and get rocked before the 4th is over. Then we can’t have our #2 (Porchello) have a stellar performance followed by #3 and #4 (Masterson/ Miley) having early outings. We need sustained outings and to be able to conserve our bullpen until late in games.That’s how we won the WS in 2013 and that’s how we will have to win it this year without a true ace to lead us.
  2. Mookie Betts is going to have a strong year. There’s really not much I can add about Betts that I haven’t in my previous Sox blog, the kid is on fire and taking the town by storm.
  3. Napoli has to find his swing or Holt needs to be put in the game. I love Napoli, don’t get me wrong, but we can’t have him batting .100 when we have Brock Holt who was our most consistent bat last year sitting in the dugout (Holt’s a probable starter elsewhere and could be a trade piece for an Ace). If I was Farrell I’d give Napoli the night on Friday and put in Holt as an experiment.

The Sox will host AL East opponent Baltimore in a four game series starting Friday a 7:10 PM EST.

The Daily Buzz – April 14th

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Here’s a recap of what went down yesterday.

  1. Red Sox beat Nationals 9-4
  2. Rick Porchello gets first W on new team.
    • Betts went 2-4 with 2 HR, 2 SB, and 4 RBI and looked fanastic in center robbing Bryce Harper of a HR early on.
    • Ortiz also went 2-4 with 2 HR and 2 RBI
  3. Brady nearly guarantees one for the thumb throwing out the first pitch wearing a ‘Number 5’ shirt.
  4. The Sox sign local hero Pete Frates (former BC baseball player battling ALS) to a major league contract.
  5. The Celtics clinch their first playoff berth under Brad Stevens.
  6. The Bruins announce they will not be signing veteran forwards Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille.

What to watch today:

  • The Celtics take on the Raptors tonight at home at 7:30 PM.
  • Justin Masterson (1-0, 3.00 ERA) and the Red Sox face Steven Strasburg (0-1, 5.06 ERA) and the Nats in the 2nd game of their series starting at 6:10 PM.
  • Day 6 of the Aaron Hernandez Murder trial begins today as jurors continue to deliberate.
  • Rusney Castillo is reportedly heading to the DL with discomfort in his shoulder. There will be an update on his condition later, but it seems that as of now surgery will not be needed.