Final, Cardinals 8-6: Red Sox prospect Heiker Meneses was gunned down at third base to end the ballgame.
Meneses plated two runs with a ball into the right-center field gap. The Venezuelan infielder got a little too aggressive on the basepaths, though, and the Cardinals executed a perfect relay to nail him at third base.
Daniel Nava and Xander Bogaerts went deep for Boston in Wednesday’s 8-6 loss in Jupiter. Christian Vazquez led the way with two hits.
Chris Capuano made his Red Sox debut and gave up two earned runs on three hits while striking out one and walking one. Both runs came on Xavier Scruggs’ two-run blast in the second inning.
Anthony Ranaudo got knocked around in his second spring outing, surrendering five runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks.
End 8th, Cardinals 8-4: The eighth inning ended with a review.
Stephen Piscotty hit a chopper back to the mound with runners at first and third. Red Sox pitcher Noe Ramirez fielded it and tossed to second base to begin a 1-4-3 double play.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny either thought second baseman Heiker Meneses came off the bag or that Joey Butler slid in safely ahead of Ramirez’s throw. The St. Louis skipper went out to contest the call, which prompted a review that confirmed the ruling on the field.
Mid 8th, Cardinals, 8-4: The Red Sox got something going with two outs in the eighth inning before Sam Gaviglio shut the door on Boston’s rally.
Deven Marrero doubled and Ryan Lavarnway singled with two down in the eighth. Marrero took a wide turn around third base on Lavarnway’s single to left field but wisely threw on the brakes upon receiving a stop sign from Brian Butterfield.
Mike McCoy struck out to end the inning.
End 7th, Cardinals 8-4: Tommy Layne, who got the Red Sox out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning, worked a perfect seventh for Boston.
Layne capped the scoreless seventh by striking out Patrick Wisdom.
Dan Butler took over behind the plate for Christian Vazquez.
Mid 7th, Cardinals 8-4: Christian Vazquez has had a nice afternoon, collecting his second hit in the seventh inning.
The Red Sox couldn’t push across any runs, though. Sam Gaviglio retired Bryce Brentz, Garin Cecchini and Alex Hassan in the seventh.
End 6th, Cardinals 8-4: The Cardinals got one back in the sixth inning.
Kolten Wong reached with one out on an error by newly inserted second baseman Heiker Meneses. A passed ball enabled Wong to advance to second base.
Joey Butler knocked in Wong with a single into center field.
Stephen Piscotty singled and Ed Easley walked, loading the bases for Shane Robinson, who pinch hit for Matt Adams. The Red Sox called upon Tommy Layne to replace Dalier Hinojosa, and Layne escaped the bases-loaded threat.
Meneses (second base), Alex Hassan (left field), Mike McCoy (center field), Deven Marrero (shortstop), Travis Shaw (first base) and Garin Cecchini (third base) all have entered the game for Boston.
Mid 6th, Cardinals 7-4: Xander Bogaerts connected on his first home run of spring training in the sixth inning.
Jackie Bradley Jr. led off with a walk against Angel Castro. Bogaerts then crushed a two-run moon shot over the left field fence.
Bogaerts has looked good so far this spring. The 21-year-old squared up some balls in Tuesday’s loss while also flashing some leather at shortstop.
Mike Carp followed Bogaerts’ homer with a fly ball down the left field line. It landed beyond the reach of a diving Joey Butler and rolled away, allowing Carp to motor into third base with a triple.
Will Middlebrooks knocked in Carp with an RBI groundout.
End 5th, Cardinals 7-1: Bryce Brentz has made noise with his bat this spring, but the outfielder’s arm created some buzz in the fifth inning.
Jon Jay doubled with one out. Jay then attempted to tag up on Xavier Scruggs’ fly ball to right field, but Brentz wasn’t having any of it.
Brentz delivered a perfect strike to Will Middlebrooks at third base to complete the double play and end the inning.
Mid 5th, Cardinals 7-1: The Red Sox put two on in the fifth inning before Pat Neshek escaped trouble.
Bryce Brentz, who already has two homers this spring, walked, and Christian Vazquez singled with two outs.
Neshek avoided any damage by striking out Daniel Nava, who has reached base twice, to end the inning.
End 4th, Cardinals 7-1: Anthony Ranaudo’s struggles continued in the fourth inning.
Christian Vazquez gunned down Xavier Scruggs at second base on a failed hit-and-run attempt, but Daniel Descalso and Mark Ellis each singled before Jhonny Peralta drilled an RBI double. Matt Holliday then singled into center field to plate St. Louis’ sixth run and knock Ranaudo from the game.
Dalier Hinojosa took over for Ranaudo. The Cardinals posted their seventh run when Will Middlebrooks was unable to field Matt Adams’ ground ball cleanly. Middlebrooks has had a tough day at third base.
Ranaudo gave up five runs (three earned) in 1 1/3 innings. He walked two and didn’t strike out anyone.
Mid 4th, Cardinals 4-1: Xander Bogaerts’ one-out walk didn’t cause too much of a problem for the Cardinals.
Jackie Bradley Jr. struck out to begin the inning before Bogaerts worked a free pass. Randy Choate then retired Mike Carp on a forceout before handing the keys to Pat Neshek.
Neshek struck out Will Middlebrooks swinging.
End 3rd, Cardinals 4-1: Anthony Ranaudo, who was overpowering in his first spring outing, surrendered a couple of runs in the third inning.
Mark Ellis reached on an error to begin the inning. Will Middlebrooks simply didn’t get in front of what should have been a routine ground ball.
Ranaudo settled down to retire Jhonny Peralta and Matt Holliday, but Allen Craig singled and Yadier Molina walked to load the bases for Matt Adams.
Adams made it 4-1 with a two-run single into left field.
Mid 3rd, Cardinals 2-1: Daniel Nava, who homered in his first at-bat, walked with two outs in the third inning. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, pitcher Randy Choate caught him leaning at first base.
Shelby Miller struck out Bryce Brentz and Christian Vazquez before giving way to Choate. Brentz struck out swinging and Vazquez went down looking against Miller, who racked up five strikeouts in his 2 2/3 innings.
Choate caught Nava in no man’s land with Jackie Bradley Jr. batting. The lefty fired to first baseman Xavier Scruggs, who then tossed down to second base to nail Nava.
End 2nd, Cardinals 2-1: Xavier Scruggs showed off the power that makes him an intriguing prospect in the second inning.
Scruggs launched a two-run homer off Chris Capuano to put the Cardinals in front. Jon Jay paved the way for Scruggs’ two-run blast by working a two-out walk against the Boston lefty.
Capuano made quick work of Yadier Molina and Matt Adams to begin the inning. Each grounded out.
Capuano struck out Daniel Descalso to end the inning, marking the veteran’s first strikeout in a Red Sox uniform.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: Shelby Miller made very quick work of the Red Sox in the second inning.
Will Middlebrooks, Ryan Lavarnway and Jonathan Herrera went down in order. Middlebrooks lined out to third, Lavarnway flied out to center and Herrera struck out looking.
Chris Capuano will head out for another inning of work.
End 1st, Red Sox 1-0: Chris Capuano gave up two hits in the first inning but kept the Cardinals scoreless.
Mark Ellis reached on a ground ball to the left side. Capuano immediately minimized that threat, however, by inducing a comebacker that resulted in a 1-6-3 double play.
Matt Holliday dropped a two-out single into left field, but Capuano again rebounded, retiring Allen Craig on a lazy fly ball to center field.
Mid 1st, Red Sox 1-0: Daniel Nava looks comfortable doing this whole leadoff thing.
Nava, who led off Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Twins with a home run, went deep in the first inning to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead over the Cardinals.
To his credit, Shelby Miller bounced back to retire Jackie Bradley Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Mike Carp in order after Nava’s leadoff blast. Bogaerts and Carp both struck out looking.
1:08 p.m.: Daniel Nava takes his first pitch, and we’re underway.
11:45 a.m.: Several Red Sox players stayed back in Fort Myers on Wednesday.
Jon Lester was among those who didn’t make the trip to Jupiter. Instead, the left-hander threw 38 pitches as part of a simulated game at Fenway South.
Jake Peavy also tossed his first bullpen session since Saturday’s fishing knife accident. Peavy wore a glove during the bullpen but didn’t receive throws back from the catcher. The right-hander, who suffered a cut on his left index finger, said catching balls will be the biggest hurdle in getting game-ready, although he doesn’t see the injury being too much of an issue moving forward.
11:30 a.m. ET: The Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals will battle for the first time since last October’s World Series on Wednesday.
The Red Sox and Cardinals will continue their spring training slate of games with a clash in Jupiter, Fla. Chris Capuano will take the ball for Boston in his first start since being signed by the Red Sox earlier in camp.
Red Sox manager John Farrell indicated Tuesday that Capuano and Brandon Workman are the leading candidates to receive starts this season if/when something happens in Boston’s rotation. That increases the importance of these spring contests somewhat, although the Red Sox’s assessment of each pitcher will hinge on far more than just the box score.
Wednesday’s starting lineups are below.
Boston Red Sox
Daniel Nava, LF
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Mike Carp, 1B
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Ryan Lavarnway, DH
Jonathan Herrera, 2B
Bryce Brentz, RF
Christian Vazquez, C
Chris Capuano, LHP
St. Louis Cardinals
Mark Ellis, 2B
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Matt Holliday, LF
Allen Craig, RF
Yadier Molina, C
Matt Adams, DH
Jon Jay, CF
Xavier Scruggs, 1B
Daniel Descalso, 2B
Shelby Miller, RHP
