Jonathan Papelbon certainly isn’t an issue. He has been fantastic for Boston since an uneven debut way back in that Texas series. Papelbon showed absolutely no wear and tear from the three straight days of work and slams the door shut after a one-out single in the ninth.
It was a 96 mph fastball for strike two to Howie Kendrick and then a 95 mph heater for strike three to end it.
Daisuke Matsuzaka will try to keep this thing going when he takes the mound Saturday night opposite Ervin Santana. Yours truly will be stepping away for a few days, but you will be in good hands with Ricky Doyle on Saturday.
Thanks for following along tonight.
Mid 9th, Red Sox 4-3: Again, Jonathan Papelbon threw 25 pitches two days ago in a four-out save in Oakland, and 18 more last night here in Anaheim.
He has been very good so far this year. He’ll need to dig deep right here. Erick Aybar, Jeff Mathis and Peter Bourjos are due up, so at least he avoids the big guns. Until somebody gets on, that is.
End 8th, Red Sox 4-3: Bobby Jenks got the Sox into a mess in the eighth, but the struggles for Jarrod Saltalamacchia are becoming painful to watch.
Bobby Abreu singled in one run to make it 4-2 and then went to second on a wild pitch on which Saltalamacchia made a very weak stab.
Then, a fastball from Jenks that was just about right down the middle goes off Salty’s glove and to the backstop. He can’t find it as Abreu comes all the way from second to score. Two bases on a passed ball, the third of the season for Saltalamacchia.
Just ugly stuff right there, and six runs allowed in the last 3 1/3 innings for Jenks. Makes it that much more difficult for Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth, unless Boston can get some insurance.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 4-1: It’s amazing how much less people are talking about Carl Crawford now that the wins have begun to pile up.
But he’s now down to .135 after another out in the eighth. He is 0-for-7 in the series. Just nothing going for him right now.
Bobby Jenks will pitch the eighth. That lets us know that Jonathan Papelbon is available. The Sox closer threw 43 total pitches the last two days.
End 7th, Red Sox 4-1: Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s throwing issues help the Angels get on the board, if only because they kept them from being too passive with a four-run deficit.
Erick Aybar stole second on the Red Sox catcher, whose throw again sailed to the right side of the bag. That’s how many of his wayward tosses have ended up.
Aybar scored on a bloop single by Jeff Mathis. May seem small at the time, but with a limited pen it could loom large.
Many teams might not want to run into an out down four in the seventh. When the opposing catcher is so off-target, why not push the issue.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 4-0: Jon Lester is done. He has a 1.38 ERA over his last four starts. Red Sox starters have a 1.19 mark over their last seven.
It’s called pitching! (Bruins joke).
By the way, I mentioned a few times the lean bullpen tonight. Although this is Matt Albers’ first appearance since coming off the DL, he is a guy that can throw two innings. That will certainly help the cause.
End 6th, Red Sox 4-0: Now it gets interesting. The Red Sox, if they do indeed remove Jon Lester from this game right now, will have to piece together the last nine outs with Matt Albers, Dan Wheeler, Bobby Jenks, Hideki Okajima and, potentially, a closer who has recorded seven outs the last two days.
Jon Lester is at a season-high 111 pitches after flying through the sixth. He might get a chance to go back out there for a hitter or two or three. Remember, Josh Beckett worked past 120 pitches last night. Otherwise it will be Albers.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see how Terry Francona handles it all.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 4-0: Jed Lowrie was just 1-for-5 yesterday, but still found a way to be heavily involved in the offense. He scored one run and knocked in another in the 4-2 win.
He’s right in the middle of it all again. A leadoff double (error in left allows him to go to third) by Lowrie leads to another run for Boston. J.D. Drew gets the RBI with a single.
That was Lowrie’s first extra-base hit off a right-hander. Those are the matchups you need to watch to know how far he has come as a hitter — he’s always crushed lefties.
End 5th, Red Sox 3-0: When asked about Jon Lester after his last outing Sunday at Fenway Park, Terry Francona uttered these words: “He always has somewhere to go.”
What he meant was that even when Lester is consistently behind in the count, always working out of the stretch and having issues with a pitch or two, he always has another he can turn to, and a place to put it. That’s what it means to have dominant stuff.
We saw more of it in the fifth. Lester gives up a leadoff hit to Erick Aybar that immediately has him working a bit harder. He then goes to 3-1 on No. 9 hitter Jeff Mathis before striking him out, fans Peter Bourjos and battles through another 3-1 count to Howie Kendrick to get an inning-ending grounder to short.
Lester will be the first to tell you he was not completely on his game. But you look up and see no runs and seven strikeouts through five. The mark of a great pitcher.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 3-0: I have had dozens of readers (critics?) ask or comment in stories about the Red Sox’ need to play more small ball. It seems a natural response after teams lose low-scoring games, which was happening quite often early on.
Some of their recent attempts to do so have been foiled or not executed, but there has been a noticeable increase in bunts, hit-and-runs and other methods of manufacturing.
Against a guy like Dan Haren, it makes sense. One more run at this point could be huge, especially with the bullpen rather limited tonight. Alas, Dustin Pedroia’s bunt attempt with one out and runners on first and second results in a foul, and he soon strikes out. The Sox end up leaving both runners on, but they are at least listening to you guys!
End 4th, Red Sox 3-0: This is the definition of a battle for Jon Lester, but he’s winning at every turn.
Lester has allowed five men to reach in the last three innings, has uncorked a wild pitch, has had numerous three-ball counts and is now up to 82 pitches. Still, nothing to show for it on the board.
A leadoff hit for the Angels in the fourth goes nowhere. Mark Trumbo is Lester’s fifth strikeout victim.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 3-0: Dan Haren has been the better pitcher overall, but his defense is killing him.
Torii Hunter dropped a fly ball that led to a run in the third. Now it’s Peter Bourjos, who drops a bloop to shallow center that should’ve been the third out, but instead allows both Jed Lowrie and J.D. Drew to scamper home.
Nobody took charge on that ball, and Haren is the ultimate victim.
The Hunter miscue went into the books as as double. Bourjos gets an error, so both runs are unearned.
On a completely unrelated note, the Yankees were rained out a third time tonight. They have played 16 games. No team in all of baseball has played as few as 17. At some point, the Yanks are going to need to play a bunch of makeup games, which could make the second half of their schedule a bit more jammed. Something to think about.
OK, coffee time.
End 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: Remember that three-run homer that Jon Lester gave up to Mike Napoli in his season debut in Texas? It had everyone uttering the “here we go again” line about Lester and the month of April. It was the third homer of the game and part of the Rangers’ season-opening 9-5 win over Boston.
Since that blast, Lester has allowed four runs in 24 1/3 innings, including no home runs. That’s good for a 1.48 ERA.
Lester did have to strand two runners in scoring position in the third and his pitch count is already up to 65 in this one, but you get the point. April has been a pretty solid month since that blast by Napoli.
As for this game, he won’t last much longer than five at this rate. The Angels are working deep counts on a consistent basis. Daniel Bard has thrown the last two nights, as has Jonathan Papelbon. That doesn’t bode well for Boston. Can you say “Hideki Okajima save opportunity?”
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: When Torii Hunter drops a fly ball, you have to take advantage. The Red Sox did, in somewhat awkward fashion.
It was Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s deep fly to right that Hunter lost somehow. Saltalamacchia had designs on his first triple since 2007, but appeared to hurt something rounding second and got back to the bag.
He was fine after a visit from the trainer and even went to third on Marco Scutaro’s fly to right, even though it looked as if he might be out. Mike Scioscia argued, to no avail.
Saltalamacchia then scored on Jacoby Ellsbury’s double down the line. Ellsbury is hitting just .197 but has had some big hits. His two-run single yesterday started the scoring and the double in this one does the same.
End 2nd, 0-0: Four strikeouts in four batters to start the game for Jon Lester. He then ran into a bit of a situation.
When that’s the case, just get a grounder to Dustin Pedroia, and it will all be taken care of.
With runners on first and second off with the pitch, Pedroia still manages to get a double play on a ball that wasn’t hit that hard. He tagged Alberto Callaspo sliding in at second before firing to first to complete it.
Pedroia doing everything for this team right now.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: Three strikeouts for Dan Haren through two. Three for Jon Lester through one.
These guys are fantastic, but it looks as if they may also get the benefit of a pretty sizable strike zone from home plate umpire Larry Vanover.
If that’s the case, it’ll be a long night for the hitters.
End 1st, 0-0: Strap yourselves in, folks. You might be in for a wonderful duel on the mound, if the first inning is any indication.
Jon Lester just struck out the side in the bottom of the first, freezing Bobby Abreu with a breaking ball to end it. Lester and Haren have fanned four of the first six men. Just one ball was hit out of the infield in the first.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Dan Haren doesn’t throw hard, but you can see how so little of what he offers up is hittable. Just flirts around the periphery of the zone, mixes things up and then occasionally drops in that dangerous splitter.
Jacoby Ellsbury was a strikeout victim on that pitch (or maybe it was a changeup) to start the game. Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez were relatively easy outs.
10:06 p.m.: Angels sporting the classic look from the 70s and 80s with the halo over the “A” in the team name, and on the hat. Sox in their road blues with grey pants.
10:00 p.m.: There’s always a few Terry Francona bashers in the comments section. Take it easy on the guy tonight. He’s celebrating his 52nd birthday.
The Red Sox are 4-4 on Francona’s birthday, in case you are keeping track of such things.
9:34 p.m.: Guess my jinx is alive and well. No sooner had I even mentioned Anibal Sanchez’ no-hit bid and he lost it. Nice effort, though. There has been some great pitching efforts the past few nights. We may see two more in Anaheim in a bit.
9:22 p.m.: Dan Haren is off to a phenomenal start, to put it lightly. It’s only a continuation of how he ended things in 2010, however.
Including his stretch run last year, Haren is 8-0 with a 1.50 ERA in his last 13 games (12 starts).
If you recall, right before that stretch began, Haren made his Angels debut against the Red Sox in this stadium last July. He was trailing 2-1 in the fifth when Kevin Youkilis smacked a line drive off Haren’s right arm.
That was it for him. But Haren did make his next start and soon began the run that sees him on top of many statistical categories three weeks into the season. In fact, Haren has not missed a start since he became a full-time starter in 2005, a span of 207 overall. Pretty reliable guy who is firmly nestled in his prime.
Haren has always done OK against the Red Sox, but even better when he gets to face them away from Fenway Park (Youkilis line drives notwithstanding). He owns a 2.33 ERA against Boston in other parks.
If you are interested in history from another starter, turn to MLB Network to watch Anibel Sanchez aim for a no-hitter for Florida. It’s his first start since being dropped from my fantasy team, so this was to be expected.
8:23 p.m.: Ryan Kalish, who left yesterday’s game for Pawtucket with what was termed a “left arm” injury, was diagnosed with a significant shoulder sprain, according to MLB.com’s Ian Browne .
Kalish was hurt making a diving catch. He will rehab for two weeks and then be re-evaluated.
You never want to see injuries to anyone, but it always stings a bit when a young player gets sidetracked by something. Hopefully Kalish rebounds OK.
7:29 p.m.: Word from Terry Francona is that Kevin Youkilis may be able to pinch hit tonight, and should be in the starting lineup Saturday.
Undoubtedly, many of you were holding your breath on that one, considering the similarities with Dustin Pedroia’s broken foot last year. Looks like the Sox have dodged a bullet and will have their cleanup hitter back soon enough.
7:23 p.m.: We have the Angels lineup for you. Torii Hunter is one guy to watch. He is 3-for-6 with two doubles against Jon Lester.
Here it is:
Peter Bourjos, CF
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Bobby Abreu, DH
Torii Hunter, RF
Vernon Wells, LF
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Mark Trumbo, 1B
Erick Aybar, SS
Jeff Mathis, C
6:10 p.m.: Kevin Youkilis will sit a day after fouling a ball off his left shin. The absence causes the latest look for Terry Francona’s ever-shifting lineup.
Have a look:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Jed Lowrie, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Marco Scutaro, SS
11 a.m.: A marquee pitching matchup is on the docket in Anaheim on Friday night, as Red Sox lefty Jon Lester opposes Angels right-hander Dan Haren in the second of four straight between the two teams.
Lester, known for having slow starts, is enjoying the best April of his career. He picked up his first win of the season Sunday against Toronto in a game that saw his ERA drop to a tidy 3.20.
The southpaw, who owns a 5.86 ERA in five career starts against Anaheim, will try to keep alive an extremely impressive stretch for Red Sox starters. Including Josh Beckett’s eight-inning effort in a 4-2 win Thursday, the rotation’s ERA over the past six starts now sits at 1.37.
Haren, however, is one guy who can top that mark. He is 4-0 with a 1.16 ERA through five appearances and has yet to allow a run in 10 innings at home this year. The former Oakland Athletic has a 3.21 mark in eight career starts against Boston.
The Red Sox have won 10 of the last 11 regular season meetings between the teams.
First pitch is scheduled for 10:05 p.m.
