Red Sox Live Blog: Roy Halladay Outduels Jon Lester as Red Sox Drop Fifth Straight

Postgame, Phillies 4-1: Look for more on the site regarding the day for Jon Lester, which was largely positive despite the one rocky inning.

The one news note to pass on is in regards to Darnell McDonald. He was feeling some soreness in the part of his right thumb that was surgically repaired this offseason, but Terry Francona did not seem too concerned.

“Took that one swing, his thumb just popped up on him a little bit,” Francona said. “I just didn’t want to undo a really good spring. Give him tomorrow, we have a day off [Wednesday]. He’s fine.”

We should see McDonald tomorrow at City of Palms Park, at which point we’ll try to get an update for you.

That should come in advance of the next game on the docket, a 7:05 p.m. start vs. Tampa Bay. Check back early and often for all the updates on that one, and thanks for following all the action here in Clearwater.

Final, Phillies 4-1: That’s it from Clearwater, as Ryan Madson recorded the final four outs to give the Phillies a 4-1 win.

Ryan Khoury was the only Red Sox player to reach base, as his seeing-eye single snuck between shortstop and third base. Drew Sutton and Nate Spears, however, followed that up with a flyout and a pop-out, ending the game.

Check back a little later for reaction from Lester and Francona.

Middle 8th, Phillies 4-1: Roy Halladay turned in quite the performance.

The ace of the Phillies’ staff pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on five hits and three walks.

3:14 p.m.: Off to hear from Jon Lester. Roy Halladay is done two outs into the eighth.

End 7th, Phillies 4-1: Matt Albers was not a guarantee to make this team after he signed this winter, but he’s done plenty to make a strong case as a few other bullpen candidates have struggled in recent days.

Albers has allowed two runs in his 10 innings of work this spring and one was on a solo homer to Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera. He has struck out 11 and walked none in that span.

Roy Halladay is out to begin his eighth inning of work.

Mid 7th, Phillies 4-1: While Jon Lester hit the wall, Roy Halladay looks as strong as ever. He wasn’t facing any big boppers or anything, but Halladay just worked a quick 1-2-3 seventh.

As for Lester, he threw 98 pitches, 56 for strikes. He’ll scale back a tiny bit his next time out and then be ready for the opener April 1.

End 6th, Phillies 4-1: The final line on Jon Lester has him giving up four runs — three earned — on five hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings.

The walks are an issue. His walk rate soared last season amid an otherwise spectacular campaign and he has professed a strong desire to cut down in that category.

Aside from that, Lester had some real nice moments in this one. He struck out six.

Matt Albers, meanwhile, came on to strike out two straight to end the inning. Albers has 10 Ks in nine innings this spring.

2:49 p.m.: After getting his sixth strikeout of the game to open the sixth, it all came apart for Jon Lester.

Two walks and four singles lead to three runs and the Phillies are still batting with runners on the corners and one out.

Matt Albers is in to clean up the mess.

Shane Victorino left with a left eye contusion and a sore left jaw.

Mid 6th, 1-1: The Red Sox loaded the bases in the sixth against Roy Halladay on two singles and a walk.

Ryan Khoury, who had a nice at-bat in the prior inning, then lined one to left but well within the range of Raul Ibanez.

Jon Lester is out for his sixth inning of work. He still has only allowed one hit.

End 5th, 1-1: This is a weird game. While the two aces look fantastic, there are all sorts of things going on around them, or to them.

We have already had two outfielders leave the game, one for each team. Then, Roy Halladay bounces a foul off of his helmet one pitch before he lines the first hit off of Jon Lester into center field.

Here is the update from Fort Myers on the Red Sox pitchers who were throwing at the minor league complex.

Bobby Jenks threw 17 pitches in a one-inning simulation. Felix Doubront threw 30 in a two-inning simulation.

Daniel Bard gave up a run on four hits while striking out one in one inning of a minor league game. Jonathan Papelbon, who was scheduled to work two innings, walked two and gave up one hit in just 1 1/3 innings. He threw just half of his 28 pitches for strikes.

Not the best sign for a guy coming off his second really rough outing of the spring.

Mid 5th, 1-1: All kinds of action in the fifth, some you like to see and some you don’t.

Jed Lowrie led it off with a double and moved to third when Ryan Khoury did his job and got a grounder to the right side. A sacrifice fly to right scored Lowrie, but only after the ball kicked free at home plate following a fantastic throw by Ben Francisco.

Moments later, Nate Spears lifted a lazy fly that caused center fielder Shane Victorino and left fielder Raul Ibanez to collide. Victorino was down for some time and was bleeding quite a bit. He was able to jog off under his own power.

End 4th, Phillies 1-0: Jon Lester flies through the fourth after scuffling a bit in the third.

Still no word on Darnell McDonald. Don’t see him in the dugout right now so whatever is ailing him is likely being worked on. All I can recall is him racing in to catch a Ryan Howard liner to left in the second. Perhaps something was tweaked during that dash.

Mid 4th, Phillies 1-0: The way Roy Halladay looks, the Red Sox will have to file the top of the fourth inning under the heading “progress.”

David Ortiz singled to center for Boston’s first hit of the game and a pair of outs came on line drives to first and third. Still, 15 scoreless innings in the book for Roy Halladay this spring.

End 3rd, Phillies 1-0: Some command issues and his own throwing error dog Jon Lester in the third.

After walking the light-hitting Brian Schneider to start the inning, Lester pulled Jed Lowrie off the second base bag on a bunt by Roy Halladay.

A successful sac bunt by Shane Victorino put two runners in scoring position and a sac fly pushed in an unearned run.

Red Sox left fielder Darnell McDonald left this game after only one at-bat (liner to second) and one chance in the field. Unsure as to his status right now but will update you when we do.

Mid 3rd, 0-0: Roy Halladay now has 14 scoreless innings this spring after striking out two of the three Red Sox hitters he faced in the third.

Halladay blew away Jacoby Ellsbury with some hard cheese for the final out. I think it was manchego.

End 2nd, 0-0: Jon Lester has discussed his desire to cut down on two-out walks/hits after a season that saw him often get the first two men in an inning but then allow a runner or two.

Such was the case in the second, when Ben Francisco drew a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch that Lester thought he had.

In case you don’t recall, the last time the Red Sox faced Roy Halladay they reached him for seven runs in 5 2/3 innings. However, that wasn’t the big news of the day. Tim Wakefield got the start for Boston that day in Philadelphia and threw eight scoreless innings, far and away his best outing of the year.

Mid 2nd, 0-0: Even while mixing in a walk Roy Halladay gets through the second inning in a matter of a couple of minutes.

The Red Sox have already helped a few places set attendance records this spring (Pittsburgh and Lakeland come to mind) and this play is overflowing, with thousands of Sox fans in attendance, seemingly.

End 1st, 0-0: Jon Lester looks very strong in the first inning as he gets the Phils 1-2-3. He ended it by pulling the string on Jimmy Rollins for a third strike.

Lester’s off-speed stuff has looked tremendous this spring, for what it’s worth.

Although we have several innings before we see any relievers in this one, Terry Francona did discuss those bullpen battles a bit this morning.

Francona said they have not made any decisions without telling us and that there is plenty of time left for them to evaluate a few guys. Still, he hinted at the need for some stability up and down the roster as a whole.

“When we make our decisions, if you’re looking at it the last week of spring training, you’re setting yourself up to make mistakes,” Francona said.

Mid 1st, 0-0: A scary moment just two pitches into this one as Roy Halladay saws off Jacoby Ellsbury and the bat goes flying into the Red Sox dugout.

The bulk of what broke off caught a clubhouse attendant in the face. He seems to be OK, but not what you want to see.

Halladay got Ellsbury to ground to the mound on that swing. Dustin Pedroia then looped a lazy liner to second and David Ortiz was a strikeout victim.

12:52 p.m.: As the “Rocky” theme (naturally) blares here at Bright House Field, we are moments away from the start of this stellar pitching matchup.

Among the intriguing items is the fact that Roy Halladay will be hitting against Jon Lester, while David Ortiz will serve as the Red Sox DH against Halladay. Obviously, something you would only see in spring training.

For what it’s worth, Ortiz is 27-for-99 (.273) with six home runs off Halladay. Aside from that, there are some ugly numbers against the Phillies ace. Dustin Pedroia is 8-for-41 (.195), Mike Cameron is 1-for-12 (.083), Jed Lowrie is 0-for-9 and Jarrod Saltalamacchia is 1-for-6. Carl Crawford is a .345 (29-for-84) career hitter vs. Halladay, but he isn’t here so it doesn’t matter.

In place of Crawford, we have substituted the presence of my brother, Michael, and his son, Christian, who are six rows behind the Red Sox on-deck circle. The clan is strong today, my friends. The clan is strong.

12:04 p.m.: Since some are literally calling this a preview of Game One of the World Series (on March 21), I cannot withhold the Phillies lineup any further. Here it is:

Shane Victorino, CF
Michael Martinez, 2B
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Ryan Howard, 1B
Raul Ibanez, LF
Ben Francisco, RF
Josh Barfield, 3B
Brian Schneider, C
Roy Halladay, SP

Chase Utley was in the cage for the Phils earlier and has been taking grounders as he tries to work his way back from a knee issue. Utley has yet to play in a game this spring and Philadelphia signed former New York Met Luis Castillo to a minor league deal today as insurance.

11:50 a.m.: Greetings from lovely Bright House Field in Clearwater, where we have heard from Terry Francona and have a few updates to pass along.

Jon Lester will throw between 85-95 pitches this afternoon against Roy Halladay. After that, Lester will scale back a bit in his final spring appearance before the opener April 1.

Francona discussed how some guys are reaching the point in spring that they are “getting a little antsy.” It’s become a balancing act with making sure everyone gets that increase in workload while not working too hard. For instance, Dustin Pedroia begged onto this trip because he wants to get a stretch in which he plays four games in five days.

We are getting word from the minor league camp that Bobby Jenks threw 17 pitches in a game there and will pitch again Tuesday night in order to get his first set of consecutive work days in. Felix Doubront threw 30 pitches in a simulated session. Francona said “Yeah” when asked if Doubront would get into a game before the end of the spring.

Jonathan Papelbon is expected to get two innings today and Daniel Bard will end an inning and then work another. All part of the process.