Postgame, Tampa Bay 11-9: Well, Boston's run the gauntlet here in Fort Myers and perhaps things will get a bit smoother over the next couple of days.
With back-to-back split-squad days (one game was rained out but players did make the trip) and some rough outings on the part of several pitchers, the Red Sox have blown through their reserves and can use a night game in nearby Hammond Stadium on Tuesday to get their feet back under them.
A few post-game tidbits:
- Starter Boof Bonser revealed to the staff after his outing that he had a slight groin issue. Manager Terry Francona said he will be looked at Tuesday and any further plans to use him will be made then.
- Reliever Alan Embree will throw a minor league game Wednesday. He had a successful bullpen session Tuesday, Francona said.
- Francona talked about some of the poor play during the busy stretch, particularly on the part of the pitchers: "I think we're going through a three or four-day stretch where everyone feels heavy. They're heavy-legged."
Clay Buchholz goes in the Twins game opposite Carl Pavano. Make sure to follow the action right here.
Rays 11-9, Final: Catcher Mark Wagner has an RBI triple in a three-run rally as the Sox nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback, but they finally fall to 0-4 this spring against the Rays in a game that goes 3 hours, 25 minutes.
Good to get those AL East losses out of the way early.
Coupled with a split-squad 13-8 loss in Jupiter, Boston is now 9-11 this spring. It was 8-3 at one point.
Clay Buchholz will attempt to end this horrible stretch of pitching when he starts at Hammond Stadium against Minnesota on Tuesday night. We also expect to see Jonathan Papelbon as well, two days after he allowed five earned runs in 1/3 inning while dealing with the effects of a migraine headache.
We will follow the action in that one right here so make sure you log in.
Mid 9th, Rays 11-6: Runs, runs and more runs for Red Sox opponents…just not here.
While Jorge Sosa manages to strand a runner at second base at City of Palms Park, the Cardinals erupted for seven runs in the other split-squad game in Jupiter and lead the Sox in that one 13-7. It is entering the ninth there as well.
For those of you too lazy to do the math, that means Boston opponents have a 24-13 advantage on the day.
End 8th, Rays 11-6: Infielder Derrik Gibson has a nice moment with a solid two-run single as the Sox continue to chip away. Both runs were unearned.
We are limping to the finish line here while across the state the rest of the Red Sox are in a barnburner. As of the last update they were trailing St. Louis in the eighth inning by a score of 8-7.
All seven Boston runs came against Brad Penny. Ah, the memories.
Mid 8th, Rays 11-4: Jorge Sosa hasn't been discussed much this spring as he attempts to catch on somewhere, but he has some history to look upon favorably.
Sosa was 13-3 with a 2.55 ERA with Atlanta in 2005. He has struggled since, so his star does not shine anymore, but he did toss a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, an extreme rarity on a day such as this.
End 7th, Rays 11-4: In the last three games in which they've given up a run (there was a 6-0 shutout of the Orioles mixed in), the Sox have given up 13 home runs. Again, that's 13 home runs in three games.
For those of you starving for some good news from the pitching staff, we do have this tidbit:
In an intrasquad scrimmage at the minor league complex, John Lackey allowed a run and three hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked none.
Oh yeah, infield prospect Ray Chang slugged a three-run homer in the seventh as the Sox' bats came to life.
Mid 7th, Rays 11-1: We have a Hank Blalock sighting.
The former Rangers slugger gets his first big blast of the spring when he takes Joe Nelson deep into the parking lot beyond right field.
It is the seventh home run of the game for the Rays.
Red Sox pitchers have given up 21 runs in the last 15 innings, not counting the affair in Jupiter today.
End 6th, Rays 10-1: We are back watching the action from the press box, with a few tidbits from Boof Bonser's session with the media.
Boof Bonser was extremely self-critical of his outing, calling it "junk" and "brutal" in a quick media session.
"One step forward, two steps backward. I think I got that two steps back today," Bonser said.
While keeping a good attitude, Bonser knows he did not help himself out much in a bid for a roster spot.
"I still gotta come in and prove that I'm healthy and when I go out and do something like that it gets me down," said Bonser, who is just over a year removed from shoulder surgery.
Bonser said he will sit down with pitching coach John Farrell tomorrow and discuss getting back out there as soon as possible in order to shake this one off. He threw 58 pitches, 35 for strikes.
The right hander tipped his cap to the Rays, but also seemed to suggest that things will be different down the road.
"Those boys are real comfortable at the plate," he said. "I don't want to say it, but they need to get uncomfortable real quick."
2:50 p.m.: Stepping away to hear from Boof Bonser. Back in a moment.
Mid 5th, Rays 10-1: Evan Longoria and Kelly Shoppach are in a tight home run battle, tied at two apiece for the game. Yes, for the game. They might soon have company the way this one is going.
The Rays hammered three home runs in the fifth off Junichi Tazawa, who has given up five long balls in seven Grapefruit League innings. They have six in the game.
Longoria has homered on the first pitch he has seen each of the last two at-bats. His drive off of Tazawa actually hit directly off his name which was on display on top of the scoreboard. Not sure what he wins for that. Maybe a free suit.
Our friend Ben Zobrist got into the home run derby himself with a line drive into the right field bleachers for a two-run shot. Zobrist is 6-for-10 with two home runs, four RBI and four runs scored against the Sox this spring.
The third blast came off the bat of Sean Rodriguez. He has six home runs this spring.
End 4th, Rays 6-1: James Shields rolls through the heart of the Red Sox lineup in the fourth.
Junichi Tazawa is on in relief for Boston. Manager Terry Francona discussed him this morning, saying the team is still trying to figure out where to slot him, whether as a potential bullpen arm or someone who can provide depth in the system in case injuries hit the starting five.
Mid 4th, Rays 6-1: All this talk today about the Red Sox and the catching position with the Joe Mauer signing and its a former Boston backstop lighting things up.
Kelly Shoppach has two homers in as many at-bats, this second one a blast off the scoreboard in left-center.
End 3rd, Rays 5-1: The Sox get one back when Mike Cameron doubles, moves to third on a ground out and then trots home on Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly to right.
Mid 3rd, Rays 5-0: Boof Bonser and Scott Atchison are in a lot of ways in competition for a bullpen spot. After Bonser gives up five runs in two-plus innings, Atchison comes on to get three outs in a span of seconds.
A 6-4-3 double play and a pop to short do the trick for Atchison, who has given up one earned run in 7 2/3 innings during Grapefruit League play.
2:01 p.m.: If Boof Bonser had designs on a smooth third inning to put the shaky second behind him, Evan Longoria changed all that.
On the first pitch of the third, Longoria smacked his first home run of the spring, a no-doubter over the wall in left.
Two more walks spelled an early exit for Bonser, who did himself few favors today. Scott Atchison is on.
End 2nd, Rays 4-0: J.D. Drew singles with one out but is picked off first base by James Shields to end the frame. Mike Cameron will lead off the third.
Boof Bonser is out there again after throwing 31 pitches in the second inning. He's been reached for eight runs in seven innings.
Mid 2nd, Rays 4-0: Ben Zobrist has been a real thorn in the Red Sox' side and Sean Rodriguez has hammered just about everyone this spring. Boof Bonser just learned this the hard way. He also might remember Kelly Shoppach's name going forward.
With one out, Zobrist singled hard up the middle to start the rally. He is now 5-for-9 with a home run and two RBI against Boston in Grapefruit League play.
Hank Blalock added a single with two outs before Rodriguez delivered a hard smash to left to plate Zobrist.
Rodriguez is now batting .421 (16-for-38) with 13 RBI in 16 games.
Then, with a strong wind blowing in from left, Kelly Shoppach slugged a three-run bomb down the line and against the gusts.
Another hard hit by Jason Bartlett preceded a drive into the gap that Mike Cameron was able to track down for the last out.
End 1st, 0-0: After James Shields gets two quick outs, he and Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez got locked into a fantastic duel.
Martinez, who early in the at-bat had swung and missed so hard that the bat flew out of his hands toward the Rays dugout, worked a full count and fouled off several pitches before drawing a walk.
After all that drama, Kevin Youkilis grounded to first on a check swing. Inning over.
Mid 1st, 0-0: A quality opening for Boof Bonser here as he sets down the Rays in order, with a little help from Jacoby Ellsbury.
Ellsbury showed a nice read on a liner right at him off the bat of Jason Bartlett and made a diving catch. Carl Crawford then grounded out and Evan Longoria swung through a pretty off-speed pitch by Bonser.
1:01 p.m.: The little kids have yelled "Play Ball" and we are just about set to go, much earlier than expected a few hours ago.
12:48 p.m.: As much as we had fun at the expense of the grounds crew earlier on (read below), they've done a real nice job getting the field ready after yesterday's deluge. We may actually get going much earlier than 2:00. Will keep you posted.
12:28 p.m.: It has turned into a pretty nice day and things are back to normal now that the flags in right-center are stiff as a board. It wouldn't be a spring training game without wind strong enough to knock over a small child.
The Rays are taking batting practice right now. I haven't heard anything official but I believe we are still on track to start around 2:00.
As we wait, here are a few notes from this morning, in addition to Terry Francona's take on the Joe Mauer signing.
Francona discussed the guys in camp who are in the mix to provide pitching depth, at either the major league level or in the minors. Included in that group are today's starters, Boof Bonser and Michael Bowden.
"Boof's an interesting guy," Francona said before discussing the overarching issue of determining where to place such guys. "We're gonna take a lot of time not only to figure out how our team starts out the season but how we best look going forward for the future. That's probably the harder thing. We can pick a team, but we're trying to figure out … we want to make good decisions not just for guys for opening day."
Francona indicated that some of those decisions have been put on hold the past couple of days due to the business of back-to-back split-squad days and plenty of action at the minor league complex.
Felix Doubront, who was optioned the other day, impressed.
"He came in, he followed last year's camp with another strong camp," Francona said. "Young left-hander that has an ability to throw a fastball and get major league hitters out. It's pretty exciting. Again, he's kinda moving up on the radar and…we're excited to watch his progress."
The beginning of the week has created some difficult days for guys in camp.
"It's actually a lot of anxiety just because…we get in such a routine coming out to the ballpark. It's fun coming, but there's a lot of guys, this is how they make a living."
Francona and pitching coach John Farrell called reliever Brian Shouse into the office today and Shouse was expecting the worst after the club signed Alan Embree the other day. But they were just seeing how Shouse was feeling, both physically and mentally.
"I've probably been through it more than most," Francona said. "I know how they feel…we just want to make everyone understand what's going on."
Mike Lowell will continue to get playing time at both first and third base going forward as Francona just wants him to get his legs going at both spots.
Also, with back-to-back left-handers in the lineup in David Ortiz and J.D. Drew, Francona was asked if that would be a regular thing.
"I don't know, we'll see," Francona said. "That's the one thing we have to figure out. We want teams to always feel like they have to pitch to David. J.D. hitting behind him is a good option. Obviously we would be hitting lefties back to back. Then I have to sit back and think, OK am I guarding against some guy coming out of the bullpen and not putting the best lineup out there?"
10:33 a.m.: The sun has poked out here in Fort Myers but there is a lot of work being done on the field still and this one may be delayed until about 2:00 p.m. or so.
Usually, the Red Sox are well into batting and fielding practice at this point in time, but all that we see are a few guys manicuring the soaked infield.
Manager Terry Francona said he didn't see everything that went down with the tarp not getting on the field yesterday. But when a clap of thunder and bolt of lightning hit at the same time seemingly right inside the park, he saw some movement out there.
"I've never seen [third base coach Tim Bogar] move so fast," Francona said. "I look up and Bogie was from the third base coaching box to the locker room in about four seconds."
As a manager in Single-A back in the day, Francona had to help with a tarp once when the crew had decided to take in a few refreshments rather than do its job.
"A guy, I was getting on him. They had to call across the street to the bar to get the guys to come help the tarp. I was like 'Let's go!' He was like, 'Unless you pull this thing these guys are going to finish their beer and then come over.'"
Alas, the crew did take its time and the game was eventually called, Francona said.
Right now there are crates upon crates of speedy dry being used. Several bags are lined up along the first base line and the Sox, who are normally flooding the field at this time, are nowhere to be found.
9:20 a.m.: The rain that enveloped the area yesterday afternoon continued off and on into the morning and the grounds crew is busy to get the field at City of Palms Park ready.
If you followed along yesterday, the crew had all sorts of issues getting the tarp on the field as a powerful rain fell. They eventually gave up and it was left well into right field until the rain began to let up a bit.
There are bags and bags of the speedy dry absorbent being used and the field should be OK for this afternoon's game. The skies are gray and the wind is unusually quiet.
The lineups for the games Monday look like this:
Red Sox vs. Rays
Jacoby Ellsbury, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Victor Martinez, C
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Mike Cameron, CF
Marco Scutaro, SS
Rays
Jason Bartlett, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Evan Longoria, 3B
Carlos Pena, 1B
Ben Zobrist, CF
Pat Burrell, RF
Hank Blalock, DH
Sean Rodriguez, 2B
Kelly Shoppach, C
The following crew will start Boston's other game in Jupiter against St. Louis:
Bill Hall, SS
Josh Reddick, CF
Jeremy Hermida, LF
Tug Hulett, 2B
Anthony Rizzo, DH
Dusty Brown, C
Aaron Bates, 1B
Angel Sanchez, 3B
Pete Hissey, RF
We are still waiting for the Cardinals' lineup for that one.
8:02 a.m.: The Red Sox couldn't get in the two scheduled games Sunday. In fact, they barely got in one of them.
Monday offers another opportunity for a double dip as Boston again splits into two halves for games at home against Tampa Bay and on the road against St. Louis.
We will follow the Rays game right here. First pitch is 1:05 p.m.
While John Lackey gets in a start at the Red Sox player development complex, Boof Bonser will be on the mound to open the Tampa Bay game. Bonser, a candidate for a bullpen spot, is in need of a few good innings. He has allowed four runs in five frames this spring.
Scott Atchison and Junichi Tazawa are also expected to get some action against James Shields and a host of Tampa Bay pitchers.
Boston had one of its split-squad games rained out Sunday. The other, a 10-7 loss to Houston at home, was called in the middle of the eighth inning due to rain.
