Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby Valentine’s words. Each game day, we will select the best Valentine quote that sums up the day for the Red Sox.
There are some closers who are strictly limited to a single inning, unable to help quell a fire in the eighth inning. Then there are other closers — Mariano Rivera, for instance — who are able to go more than just one frame, and help provide some extra insurance should the setup crew fail to get the job done.
In theory, Alfredo Aceves should well be able to handle getting a couple outs, given that he came up with the New York Yankees in 2008 as a starting pitcher. However, on Saturday night Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine turned to his closer to get six outs after Andrew Miller, serving as the setup man for the evening, was plagued by wildness. Aceves responded in that eighth inning, yielding just a single run after Miller left with the bases loaded and no outs.
However, the ninth inning clearly did not go so well, as Aceves eventually allowed a game-winning, three-run home run to Minnesota Twins star Joe Mauer, comdemning the Red Sox to their fourth loss in a row — immediately on the heels of a four-game winning streak — and some serious soul searching.
Immediately after the game, the second-guessing was loud, with many speculating — albeit with the advantage of 20/20 hindsight — that Valentine ought to have brought newcomer lefty Craig Breslow in to face Mauer with two outs and the game on the line. Well, it's easy to say "what if" when you know the outcome, but bringing in Breslow not only would have been the wrong call, it would have been fundamentally undermining the confidence a manager is supposed to show in a closer.
On Sunday, Valentine had the opportunity to reinforce that confidence, and Aceves rewarded him.
"[I was] very impressed with Aceves coming in, two run game, facing the same guys he faced yesterday," said Valentine after the Sox' 6-4 victory over Minnesota. "He got a 1-2-3 inning."
On the season thus far, Aceves has been asked to pitch more than an inning on nine ocassions, and yielded runs in just three of them. In his two appearances prior to Sunday he had allowed a total of six earned runs in 2 2/3 innings, but before that hadn't given up a score in 10 1/3 innings over nine games. Valentine went back to him on Sunday, and he got the good version of Aceves, right on cue.
Either way — and even with Andrew Bailey inching closer to Boston — Aceves seems pretty entrenched as Boston's closer, a role which he has the perfect attitude. The 29-year-old right-hander has shown an uncanny ability to simply let the bad outings go and not take them home with him off the field, maintaining an keel even while performing in baseball's most pressure-packed spot.
"Whatever game is done is done," Aceves said after Saturday's devastating loss. "I’m healthy. I’m not going to frustrate myself. For what? Nothing about that, buddy. I’m not frustrated. I have health. I have my parents. They’re really cool."
Who knows if Aceves learned his ability to focus and block out everything else from his parents, but it's a skill that, for instance, allows a man to give up a tragic game-winning home run on Saturday night, and then come back Sunday afternoon to seal a desperately needed win with with a 1-2-3 frame.
