Terry Francona’s Double-Duty Day Ends With Yet Another Shutout Loss

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Mar 16, 2010

Terry Francona's Double-Duty Day Ends With Yet Another Shutout Loss In three decades in the game of baseball, Red Sox manager Terry Francona has never had a day like this. So far as he can recall.

"Yeah, that was a lot of baseball," Francona said Tuesday night after managing two games in two cities about 160 miles apart, both resulting in shutout losses for the Sox. "Not a lot of runs but a lot of baseball."

Francona and Sox pitching coach John Farrell did double duty together, leaving bright and early from Fort Myers to make a 1:05 p.m. game in Kissimmee against Houston and their old buddy Brad Mills, now the Astros manager.

Houston won 3-0 in an affair which finished in a tidy 2 hours, 5 minutes. That was about the only easy aspect of the entire day.

"It was a struggle," Francona said. "We couldn't get out of the ballpark [in Kissimmee] and we couldn't get into the ballpark [in Port Charlotte]. We pulled in here at 10 to seven, so it's been a good full day."

Boston lost to Tampa Bay 7-0 in the nightcap.

The miles on the road would have treated the skipper a bit better if he had some help. But navigating the frantic Florida highways was all on his shoulders.

"John Farrell never once offered to drive," Francona said.

There was even an emergency pit stop for a bathroom break along the way, all part of a wild day which had Francona visit three cities, lose two games and finish one long road trip.

When it was over and the clubhouse at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte had emptied, Francona finally found some comfort. He wanted, and received, a piece of pizza.

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