Red Sox Live Blog: David Ortiz, Josh Reddick, Andrew Miller Star as Red Sox Defeat Twins

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Feb 28, 2011

Red Sox Live Blog: David Ortiz, Josh Reddick, Andrew Miller Star as Red Sox Defeat Twins

Postgame, Red Sox 7-6: The quick update on Josh Beckett is that he did have a headache (the mild concussion symptoms) but was hanging around the dugout and doing just fine for two innings before Terry Francona sent him home.

Beckett will be checked up tonight (nothing medical, just a visit from someone on the team) and then evaluated at the park Tuesday.

Francona is unsure as to whether this will impact Beckett’s scheduled start Thursday.

Look for more on the incident, as well as notes on the first day in a Red Sox uniform for Carl Crawford and Andrew Miller. As for the live blog, it’s going bye-bye for now but we’ll carry you through Tuesday’s action when the Sox head back to Hammond Stadium for a third straight meeting with Minnesota.

Final, Red Sox 7-6: The Twins had runners at second and third and two outs against Matt Albers.

Rene Tosoni lined a bullet to shortstop that Jose Iglesias extended for and nabbed for the final out.

Off to the clubhouse to get reaction. Back soon.

End 8th, Red Sox 7-6: The Mayor’s Cup will be tied at a game apiece if Matt Albers can do his job.

Albers is on to try to get the last three outs of this one.

Mid 8th, Red Sox 7-6: Jason Rice is a pretty intriguing guy. He’s a short, stocky right-hander who throws hard and could wind his way into the bullpen if some guys go down.

Rice worked around a single in the eighth to put up a zero in his first action of the year.

End 7th, Red Sox 7-6: Josh Reddick hasn’t received as much attention this spring after what Ryan Kalish did last year and with the bolstered Red Sox outfield leaving few spots for anyone to get playing time.

Still, Reddick is just barely 24 and a guy that could make a big leap at the Triple-A level this year. He ended 2010 on fire for Triple-A Pawtucket.

Reddick, arguably the best hitter on the Red Sox last spring down here, just gave them their first lead in Grapefruit League play with an opposite-field two-run shot to left-center.

Jason Rice is on to protect the lead.

Mid 7th, Twins 6-5: Michael Bowden works around a double in the top of the seventh. We are stretching here in Fort Myers.

End 6th, Twins 6-5: A difficult day for Brent Dlugach ends on a nice note. He doubled with two outs and a runner on first, setting up Drew Sutton’s two-run single.

Yamaico Navarro followed with another base hit and Che-Hsuan Lin worked a 78-pitch walk (or so it seemed) to load the bases.

Oscar Tejeda stepped up with a chance to put the Sox on top but watched strike three go by.

Michael Bowden will pitch the seventh for the Red Sox.

Mid 6th, Twins 6-3: Terry Francona said recently that when the ball comes out of Andrew Miller’s hands the right way, it’s “pretty.”

It was coming out of his hand the right way in the sixth. Miller struck out the first two men he faced in a Red Sox uniform and then got the third out on a weak grounder to short.

Miller will be fun to watch if he can harness things here.

End 5th, Twins 6-3: We are all in spring training form here.

Jacoby Ellsbury just jogged to first with a walk, Dustin Pedroia stepped in and public address announcer Carl Beane announced Pedroia’s name.

Problem is, the count was 3-2 on Ellsbury. He had not walked, had to run back to the plate and put on his shin guard. Ellsbury hit the next pitch to short and almost beat out an infield hit.

We are about to get our first look at Andrew Miller. Many other changes for the Sox. Carl Crawford, Ellsbury and Pedroia are all done.

Mid 5th, Twins 6-3: Daniel Bard was knocked around a bit in the fifth, but might’ve avoided any major issues if Jacoby Ellsbury had come up with a ball in the gap.

After Trevor Plouffe led off against Bard with a sharp single to left, Jason Kubel sent one into the gap between Ellsbury and Carl Crawford.

Ellsbury went into a slide/dive that looked a bit awkward (he may have caught a spike as turf sprayed up) and missed it.

A soft single to right by Luke Hughes brought in the first run and, after a walk and a fly to left, Minnesota got one more on a sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Matt Tolbert.

Bard battled back to strike out Rene Rivera for the final out.

End 4th, Twins 4-3: Brent Dlugach has two errors and two GIDPs so far.

Jason Varitek, who is 2-for-2, was erased on both double plays.

Daniel Bard is the new pitcher. Luis Exposito is the new catcher. Same live-blogger here.

Tim Wakefield was charged with three unearned runs in two innings. He struck out two and walked one.

Mid 4th, Twins 4-3: I have word that Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia were on base when David Ortiz went deep in the bottom of the third.

While we were away and missing all that action, Daisuke Matsuzaka seemed to spice up a rather non-existent debate on his spot in the rotation.

“At this stage there is no promise to be in the rotation,” he said.

More on Matsuzaka in a bit.

Update on Josh Beckett, who is in the rotation. He was sent home with “mild concussion symptoms” after getting hit in the head with a ball during batting practice. Update expected tomorrow.

2:03 p.m.: While we were hearing from Daisuke Matsuzaka, David Ortiz launched a three-run shot off Kevin Slowey. Must’ve looked pretty good.

1:46 p.m.: Daisuke Matsuzaka will now meet with the media. Back in a moment.

Mid 3rd, Twins 4-0: Brent Dlugach is in camp trying to make a name for himself as a potential reserve infielder. The first impression is not a good one.

Dlugach had a throwing error in the first and booted a grounder in the third. In his defense, the ball was knuckling off the bat (Tim Wakefield effect) and took a funny hop into Dlugach’s body.

Jason Repko, who reached on the error, broke for second a pitch later and Dlugach seemed ill-prepared for the throw. It almost hit him in the stomach before he reacted late. Perhaps a miscommunication as to who was going to cover the bag, him or Dustin Pedroia.

The Twins used a bunt and a sacrifice fly to bring in Repko with the second run. A single and a home run just added on to the rough inning for Wakefield and the Red Sox.

Wakefield fanned Jeff Bailey to end it.

End 2nd, Twins 1-0: Jason Varitek singled in his first at-bat of the spring.

He is erased on a very pretty 6-4-3 double play.

Daisuke Matsuzaka’s day is done. Time for Tim Wakefield to make his debut.

Mid 2nd, Twins 1-0: A four-pitch walk to former Red Sox Jeff Bailey started things off for Daisuke Matsuzaka.

A throwing error by Brent Dlugach, playing shortstop, put a runner in scoring position with one out, but Matsuzaka got out of the mess.

A pop to shallow left and a hard one-hopper to Dustin Pedroia did the trick.

End 1st, Twins 1-0: Carl Crawford missed an extra-base hit by a few feet, fouling one down the line in right before popping to left.

J.D. Drew also almost had a hit but was robbed when second baseman Matt Tolbert made a diving catch of Drew’s soft liner to right.

Before all of that occurred, Jacoby Ellsbury grounded to short, as did Dustin Pedroia, but he reached when Trevor Plouffe’s throw was in the dirt.

David Ortiz singled with two outs before Drew made the last out.

Mid 1st, Twins 1-0: Daisuke Matsuzaka was a pitch away from getting through the first inning unscathed. Jason Kubel wouldn’t let it happen.

Kubel hammered a Matsuzaka offering well over the wall in center. Jacoby Ellsbury could only watch.

Matsuzaka threw 19 pitches (I think) in the frame. He struck out Trevor Plouffe and got a nice play by first baseman Drew Sutton for another out.

12:44 p.m.: Carl Crawford gets a nice hand as he jogs out to do some jogging down the line in left.

Crawford is the big attraction for this one as he gets his first action in a Red Sox uniform.

Terry Francona reflected on Crawford a bit this morning. The manager said Crawford has been a “model” player in camp, arriving early, staying late and working hard.

The two have known one another since they were paired on a Team USA squad back in Nov. 2001. Crawford had just finished his third year in Tampa Bay’s system.

“Raw, really raw,” Francona said of Crawford back then. “You could see the talent, but pretty young.”

Playing in a tournament in Taiwan, the team lost in the finals to Cuba.

Crawford and David Ortiz just had a pretty tight race out in left field. My guess is one of them wasn’t giving his all.

12:22 a.m.: One of the lowlights of Sunday night’s loss to Minnesota was the rough inning by Hideki Okajima, who gave up four runs in the fifth.

Terry Francona was asked if Okajima, coming off a difficult year, is actually competing for a job.

“I think he’s competing with himself,” Francona said. “We need Okie to be a good pitcher. He’s kind of competing with himself. We’ve all seen what he can do when he’s right and how he can help that bullpen.”

Because other guys in the mix for bullpen spots have more roster flexibility and can be sent back and forth to the minors, they will probably lose out to Okajima, regardless of what happens this spring. A few guys competing for jobs — Andrew Miller, Matt Albers and Matt Fox — are slated to pitch Monday.

Saw a comment earlier asking if the Twins have ever won the coveted Mayor’s Cup. Yes, 10 times to Boston’s eight, but not since 2006.

The teams play five times this year. The cup currently rests on a table in the Red Sox clubhouse, but a loss in this one would put a five-peat in great jeopardy.

11:51 a.m.: Bobby Jenks just completed a 26-pitch session to hitters and is now set to pitch Thursday at home against Philadelphia.

Jenks said he felt better than when he faced hitters the other day. His changeup, a critical offering for him, is coming together.

“As long as the changeup is there, I can work something off my fastball, give hitters another look,” Jenks said.

The righty said this is about the most he has thrown in a spring training before getting into a game, a plan put forth by pitching coach Curt Young. Jenks has always taken his time getting ready in spring, but Young wanted to extend it a bit.

“He just wanted to get a better look, better feel off the mound before we jump into things,” Jenks added.

In other news, you may have seen a Tweet or two out there that Josh Beckett was hit in the head by a ball during batting practice. I was in the concourse at the time but heard in the clubhouse that he is OK. Let’s hope so. He was talking just last night about the importance of getting through a spring training without any physical issues, such as he had in 2008 and 2010.

The Twins have left their big guns back at their camp. Here is their lineup against Daisuke Matsuzaka:

Ben Revere, LF
Trevor Plouffe, SS
Jason Kubel, DH
Luke Hughes, 3B
Jeff Bailey, 1B
Brian Dinkelman, RF
Matt Tolbert, 2B
Rene Rivera, C
Jason Repko, CF

10:29 a.m.: As David Ortiz takes batting practice below, here are a few tidbits from Terry Francona, who met with reporters moments ago.

Putting Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Carl Crawford atop the lineup, Francona fielded some questions as to whether that will be a typical look in the regular season.

“I don’t know. That’s today’s lineup,” Francona said before joking about trying to get a much needed-win in the series with the Twins. “We’re just tyring to win the Mayor’s Cup. We frontloaded it today for obvious reasons, panic setting in.

“[That order] is an obvious possibility. Who knows? We’re just trying to get ready for the season.”

How would Jacoby Ellsbury’s progression factor into that?

“It’s been interrupted because of his health,” Francona said of Ellsbury growing into the leadoff role. “He was starting to grow into it…At times we would hit him lower in the order to protect him a little bit but I think we’ve always said that when he’s leading off and hitting well, that’s our best lineup.

“I don’t think I ever disagree with it. There were times when maybe he wasn’t ready to be there, so it didn’t seem like it made sense.”

As it stands, Ellsbury and Francona have both said that the center fielder is ahead of where they thought he would be at this point, an excellent sign for him to return to form.

In other news and notes, Bobby Jenks is going to throw to hitters in a few minutes. Dennys Reyes will do so Tuesday. Jenks had a notable first session with hitters the other day, plunking Brent Dlugach one pitch after Dlugach ripped his first offering of the day.

Adrian Gonzalez took 25 cuts off the tee and 35 more swings at soft tosses this morning. Francona said there is no specific timeline for him to get to that next stage of swinging at live pitching, but Gonzalez is progressing just fine.

“He’ll continue to build up. There will probably be a day where he sits down maybe to regen. It’s going well,” Francona said.

More in a moment.

9:11 a.m.: We will hear from Terry Francona in a moment on a very warm morning in Fort Myers. Temperatures are expected to soar into the mid- to upper-80s.

Francona joked after losing the opener of five games to the Twins on Sunday night that if he lost again Monday he would have to bring back Josh Beckett on short rest Tuesday to try to save the Mayor’s Cup.

Indeed, if the Red Sox lose Monday, Tuesday’s meeting in Hammond Stadium will be a must-win scenario if they want to hold onto the cherished trophy for a fifth straight year.

Francona was joking, of course. Daisuke Matsuzaka will pitch Monday, Jon Lester on Tuesday and John Lackey on Wednesday when Atlanta comes to town. Beckett is scheduled to throw three innings Thursday against Philadelphia and Clay Buchholz will start Friday night at Tampa against the Yankees.

Francona has provided a lineup for the matchup with the Twins. As expected, Carl Crawford and J.D. Drew are going to see their first action:

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Brent Dlugach, SS
Drew Sutton, 1B
Yamaico Navarro, 3B

8 a.m.: The Red Sox play their first Grapefruit League game at home Monday afternoon when they host the Minnesota Twins in the second of three straight meetings between the cross-town foes.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

Daisuke Matsuzaka will get the start for Boston, which lost 8-4 to Minnesota at Hammond Stadium on Sunday night.

Tim Wakefield, Andrew Miller and Daniel Bard are slated to follow Matsuzaka at some point, giving the Twins some rather varied arsenals with which to contend. Nick Blackburn and six others are scheduled to pitch for Minnesota.

We will have all the pre- and post-game news and notes, as well as all the in-game action, right here.

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