The Red Sox bullpen has been maligned for much of April.
But during Saturday's 1-0 victory, the group earned redemption. Once starter Jon Lester exited after seven scoreless innings, the combination of Franklin Morales, Vicente Padilla and Alfredo Aceves protected the lead in remarkable fashion.
A week ago, the trio was among the relievers who had keyed the collapse against the Yankees. Now — with the exception of an Alexei Ramirez single and walk to Paul Konerko in the eighth — the bullpen retired the White Sox' batters with ease.
Despite walking Konerko to place the game-tying run on the bases, Padilla wasn't rattled. After tossing three pitches, he induced a groundout to second base from Alex Rios to emerge unscathed.
In the 2/3 innings of work, Morales lowered his ERA to 4.70 and continued to show growth in adjusting to his setup role. In addition to that success, the reliever didn't give up a run for the 21st straight appearance on the road.
Aceves' velocity in the ninth was also outstanding. As he mixed his changeup and four-seamer in the ninth, Aceves touched 97 mph on the radar gun en route to earning his fifth save of the season.
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