Red Sox Live Blog: Four More Home Runs Propel Rangers to Season-Opening Sweep of Red Sox
Postgame, Rangers 5-1: Monday is a day off before the Red Sox head to Cleveland for three straight. The time away from the field and a lesser opponent may help the Sox get some things going, although they will have to do it in some cold and potentially wet conditions.
Seems like a cloud is hanging over the club right now. Dustin Pedroia told reporters that Texas "kicked our ass." Clay Buchholz said that the team was "shocked."
Still, it's only 1.85 percent of the season. The remaining 98.15 percent ought to include a few nice moments. Sit tight, and hope for a few of those Tuesday when Josh Beckett gets the call against the Indians. First pitch is 7:05 p.m. and we will be following all the action for you right here.
Final, Rangers 5-1: That'll do it. The Red Sox are 0-3 for the first time in 15 years after getting outscored 26-11 in three games in Arlington.
Fortunately, Boston doesn't have to come back here until late-August, when it will be a comfortable 145 degrees at night. The question is, will the heat still be on the Sox at that time?
It is to a degree right now after the Rangers slug 11 home runs and get three solid starts to just obliterate Boston.
Back in a bit to sum this up.
End 8th, Rangers 5-1: Whether he is on or not, Jonathan Papelbon has that ability to grind games to a complete halt.
He was a little of both in a 58-minute bottom of the eighth that saw the Rangers score once.
A double to start the inning was just a hard grounder that ate up Adrian Gonzalez. Papelbon then plunked Ian Kinsler ("I was just trying to go inside," Papelbon said, or will say) and gave up an RBI double to Michael Young.
After an intentional walk to Josh Hamilton, Papelbon struck out Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz and David Murphy in succession. Rough beginning, impressive ending to Papelbon's first inning of the year.
Sox have three outs to salvage something of this messy weekend.
Mid 8th, Rangers 4-1: The Red Sox are down to their last three outs after they go very quietly in the eighth. Kevin Youkilis stared at a third strike to end it.
On a bright spot, if you are a Red Sox fan, the Blue Jays lost for the first time, the Yankees are about to and the Rays are about to fall to 0-3. Wait, are we already worried about the standings?
Jonathan Papelbon is making his 2011 debut. Needs some work, especially with a day off Monday.
End 7th, Rangers 4-1: What does it say about Red Sox pitching that after just one three-game series (which isn't even over) two Rangers hitters have three home runs and one has two.
The home run leaderboard is just littered with Texas bats.
OK, that's enough of that. You don't need any more Rangers home run stats to get the point across
Dennys Reyes works a scoreless seventh in his third straight day of action.
4:08 p.m.: In a tradeoff rather emblematic of this series for the Red Sox, they have to fight tooth and nail for one run in the top of the seventh, and it takes one pitch for Texas to get it right back.
Clay Buchholz's third pitch of the bottom of the seventh is a solo homer for Nelson Cruz, his third of the year. It's also the last of the afternoon for Buchholz, who gave up only five hits in 6 1/3 innings, but four of them were homers and the run support just wasn't there.
Dennys Reyes is on for the third straight game.
Mid 7th, Rangers 3-1: Two singles, two walks and a wild pitch and the Red Sox only get one run out of it. Matt Harrison, who probably should've been out of the inning earlier when a borderline 3-2 call on Darnell McDonald went against him, wins a battle with Jacoby Ellsbury to end it with the bases loaded.
Harrison got Ellsbury swinging on what looked like an outside slider. It was his 108th pitch of the game. Great effort by Harrison, who matched a career high with eight Ks.
End 6th, Rangers 3-0: We figured the wall could come a bit early for Clay Buchholz given the fact that he didn't go more than four innings during spring training.
He got himself into a little trouble when he walked Ian Kinsler (who else?) to start the sixth and then went 2-0 on Michael Young. Fortunately, Kinsler took off too soon on a steal attempt and was tagged out in a run down.
Young served up a single to right that likely would've put runners at the corners with no outs so it was a huge out. Josh Hamilton then grounded into a double play. A walk and a single and still Buchholz faces the minimum.
Clay is through six having thrown 82 pitches.
Mid 6th, Rangers 3-0: All the Red Sox have to show for their last 11 innings at the plate is a relatively meaningless two-run homer by Jacoby Ellsbury late in Saturday's blowout loss.
The pitching has been an incredible problem through most of the series. Now the offense is being shut down by Matt Harrison. Behind him is a quality, rested Rangers bullpen.
Harrison has thrown 81 pitches. He has not allowed a hit since Dustin Pedroia had an infield single with one out in the third. That was a very questionable safe call on Pedroia's hit. The other two hits for Boston were David Ortiz's single off the glove of Michael Young, which was essentially just a soft grounder into the shift, and Carl Crawford's cue shot single passed the third base bag. Absolutely nothing hard-hit for Boston.
End 5th, Rangers 3-0: Just trying to find that silver lining here. At least all of the blasts off Clay Buchholz have been of the solo variety.
Still, Buchholz has given up three homers for the first time since he surrendered five against Toronto on Sept. 29, 2009.
It was Mike Napoli who got the latest homer. He took a fastball out over the plate and put it in the seats over the wall in left-center.
Mid 5th, Rangers 2-0: Matt Harrison tried to help the Red Sox out with a throwing error of his own in the fifth. He then helps himself out by getting Darnell McDonald to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Harrison has allowed three singles, struck out seven and walked none. His pitch count is up to 70, so he has plenty left.
End 4th, Rangers 2-0: While we wait for Carl Crawford to become a big part of this offense, which he will, we at least get to see him make the first of what will be several solid defensive plays.
Crawford meandered a difficult route to catch a foul pop off the bat of Adrian Beltre down the line in left. It helps Clay Buchholz coast through the meat of the Rangers order. Included in the frame was Buchholz's second strikeout of Josh Hamilton.
Buchholz has thrown a tidy 53 pitches through four.
Mid 4th, Rangers 2-0: Matt Harrison has his second 1-2-3 inning of the game and gets to face the bottom of the order in the fifth. He has thrown an impressive 41-of-59 pitches for strikes.
Clay Buchholz gave up two home runs in a game just once all last year. We are seeing a lot of rarities from Red Sox pitching in this series (Jon Lester with no Ks, three home runs allowed; Daniel Bard tying career high in runs given up; John Lackey falling one run shy of doing the same; Tim Wakefield pitching on consecutive days for first time since 2000). The two solo shots off Buchholz is just another one.
End 3rd, Rangers 2-0: Ian Kinsler is now 4-for-10 with three home runs, a double and two walks against Red Sox pitching after absolutely hammering a poorly placed offspeed offering from Clay Buchholz in the second.
Buchholz has been pretty good, aside from the two home runs. At least they are solo shots. The Rangers already have a grand slam and two three-run homers in this series.
Seven home runs have already been hit in the Yankees-Tigers game and it's only in the middle innings. We've seen the Rangers hammer nine of those in just over two games. There has been no shortage of power around the league in other games. Seems as if the year after the year of the pitcher is off to a very hitter-friendly start.
Mid 3rd, Rangers 1-0: Matt Harrison hasn't received a lot of attention in the Rangers rotation, but if he looks like this all season (not saying he will, just making a point) the Rangers won't miss Cliff Lee that much.
Like Lee, Harrison is throwing strikes and working quick. He did give up an infield hit to Dustin Pedroia (anyone else think he was out at first?) but has six strikeouts through the first three frames, including his second of Adrian Gonzalez to end the third.
The Rangers enter the bottom of the third with 26 hits in the series. Sixteen of them have been for extra bases. That's a little something the kids like to call slugging.
End 2nd, Rangers 1-0: I was just about to type about how we might actually see a baseball game after the two softball games Friday and Saturday and that both pitchers look extremely sharp.
Just then, David Murphy took Clay Buchholz over the wall in right (slicing through a very strong wind) to give Texas a 1-0 lead and its eighth home run in 19 innings this series.
It was a slider that Murphy golfed out of here, perhaps not that bad of a pitch. Murphy, you will recall, poked a Daniel Bard pitch well out of the zone for a go-ahead two-run double in the opener. The former Red Sox outfielder is now 6-for-8 against Buchholz.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: A single by David Ortiz, his 1,208th hit in a Red Sox uniform, and one by Carl Crawford, his first, gives Boston some action in the second.
(Cue the "Keep Crawford in the seven-hole" comments).
But Matt Harrison froze Jarrod Saltalamacchia on an inside fastball for the third out of the inning. Harrison got Kevin Youkilis on a similar pitch earlier in the frame and has four Ks overall.
End 1st, 0-0: Clay Buchholz gets a mild victory by walking Ian Kinsler rather than giving up a solo homer.
It leads to a 6-4-3 double play for two quick outs and then Buchholz got a much more significant win when he struck out Josh Hamilton following a lengthy battle. Buchholz threw just one ball in the seven-pitch at-bat and finished off Hamilton with a fastball at the knees.
It was interesting to hear Jon Lester say he would rather give up a solo homer than walk a guy, a nod to his desire to make guys earn it. But Buchholz showed how a leadoff walk can be washed away. Solo homers cannot. They tend to stay on the scoreboard.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Since we are on the subject of pitch velocity (see previous note below), it's worth noting that Rangers starter Matt Harrison threw his fastball at an average of 92.2 mph in 2010.
Harrison got his fastball up into the mid-90s several times in the first, topping out at a 97 mph heater that struck out Dustin Pedroia.
He also fanned Adrian Gonzalez, this time on a beautiful changeup. Solid start for the Texas lefty.
2:00 p.m.: Moments from Clay Buchholz's debut in 2011.
What made Buchholz special last year was how he became much more of a pitcher, rather than a thrower. He learned to manage the running game, pitched to contact a bit more and never got rattled when things got hairy, which was an issue in his youth.
That said, Buchholz's bigger frame (he packed on about 15 pounds before the 2010 season began) may have been the biggest difference. It allowed him to get a sizable jump in velocity on all of his pitches.
His fastball speed increased from 93.6 mph to 94.1 mph and his slider, which he has thrown more and more every year as a pro, jumped from 86.2 to 90.0. That is a huge leap and made that a very trusted pitch, along with the heater and the changeup.
We've seen things get hairy for a handful of Red Sox pitchers in this series, and for them to struggle at limiting the damage. It will be interesting to see how Buchholz can keep down this powerful lineup.
1:27 p.m.: The lineup debates raged all winter and are only increasing with the massive amount of shuffling being done by Red Sox manager Terry Francona in this first series, albeit in large part because of the lefty-right-lefty situation.
One aspect of the movement that Red Sox fans should be pleased with is that Francona has such flexibility. Last year, Boston had the exact same lineup (both position and place in the order) for the first four games.
In fact, the only appearance by a bench player in that span was an at-bat off the bench by Jeremy Hermida in game No. 4.
The Red Sox actually felt that they had some good options last year in Hermida and Bill Hall and Jason Varitek and Mike Lowell, but there are many more permutations for Francona this year in terms of right-lefty matchups and the like.
1:03 p.m.: About an hour from first pitch. Here is the Rangers lineup vs. Clay Buchholz:
Ian Kinsler, DH
Michael Young, 2B
Josh Hamilton, CF
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Nelson Cruz, RF
David Murphy, LF
Mike Napoli, C
Mitch Moreland, 1B
Andres Blanco, SS
12:41 p.m.: A reminder that NESN's First Pitch begins at 1:00 p.m., where the fellas will begin breaking down Sunday's game, including the great lineup shuffle of April 2011.
At 1:30 p.m. Red Sox GameDay Live will carry you up to the first pitch at 2:05 p.m.
This game was originally scheduled for 3:05 p.m., but they made a change during the spring. Make note if you are planning your day here.
11:26 a.m.: For a look at some of the reasons behind Terry Fanncona's new-look lineup just click the link.
In addition to what's in there, here are a few other items to note.
Darnell McDonald drew the RF assignement over Mike Cameron (if indeed Francona is going to continue to sit Drew vs. righties) in part because he has one at-bat vs. Matt Harrison and it was a home run. His other plate appearance resulted in a walk. Not a huge sample, but enough to give Darnell a shot today.
Then again, Drew has a homer and five RBIs in limited appearances vs. Harrison. Seems Francona just wants to get everyone in there before the weekend, and then we'll see how much of a platoon develops in right.
The Sox will face all righties, in all likelihood, in Cleveland, so expect plenty of Drew at that time. The Yanks figure to throw two right-handers to being next weekend's series in Fenway, too. That makes five straight.
What will be interesting to see is where Carl Crawford is placed once those righties start to line up a little more. I've felt all along that he can serve a purpose in the three-hole (vs. righties, specifically), despite what others think, and that having the speed bunched at the top of the lineup can have the ability to make life miserable for opposing pitchers, when guys are getting on. The top three can feed off one another in that regard, and although Crawford is not a home run hitter, that might not matter too much — he gets his fair share of extra-base hits (62 a year ago), and Dustin Pedroia has enough pop to offset that a bit (he was on pace for nearly 30 home runs when he got hurt last year).
Some people might be down on Crawford because of seven at-bats, but the first time there is a first and third situation with he and Jacoby Ellsbury, the excitement will build back up. Crawford seemed to be pressing a tiny bit in spring training and that appears to be the case here. The drop in the order would have something to do with the lefty on the mound, but more to do with just allowing him to ease into things for a day. It can do wonders for a hitter, and worked in past years with Ellsbury and others, although that was for a more extended period of time.
According to Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald, Francona told reporters in Texas: "It's kind of obvious he's trying too hard. As soon as he gets on base and starts causing some havoc, the real Carl will come out. In the meantime, we'll take a little heat off him. I just want him to relax a little bit and play."
Don't think that this means the Sox are going to completely abandon Crawford as a No. 3 hitter. Against lefties, he might serve well in the five-hole from the time to time. With a stumble out of the gate, the decision to drop him to seventh is just an effort to get him started without a ton of pressure.
I don't know. So many ways you can analyze this, and that's what makes Terry Francona's job either more difficult, or easier, depending on how you look at it. One thing I do know is that the club will not abandon a preseason thought 1 percent of the way through the season.
They have not learned that Carl Crawford is not a No. 3 hitter because of eight plate appearances, contrary to what some out in the media will have you think. That's just absurd.
10:33 a.m.: When Clay Buchholz takes the mound in a few hours he will be trying to keep the Red Sox from their first three-game losing streak to start a season in 15 years.
Coincidentally, that 1996 team that opened 0-5 also began the season in Texas (Tim Wakefield also pitched in the series).
That team opened 2-12, but it never had the expectations that this one does. I'll go out on a limb and say that the Red Sox will not go 2-12. If they do, 10 push-ups for me.
The lineup has just been posted in Texas. Carl Crawford has been pushed all the way to seventh, a rather quick and deep drop for him after two games in which he didn't look all that good at the plate. Take a look:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Jed Lowrie, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Darnell McDonald, RF
On a completely unrelated note, Ryan Westmoreland just tweeted that an E:60 segment with Jeremy Schaap will air April 12 at 7 p.m. Should be a great piece on an amazing recovery.
8 a.m.: Clay Buchholz probably never figured he would face this much pressure in the third game of the season, but after his colleagues couldn't do a thing to hold down the Texas Rangers in games 1 and 2, he is needed in a big way as the Red Sox look to avoid a sweep Sunday afternoon.
John Lackey gave up nine runs in 3 2/3 innings in a 12-5 loss to the Rangers on Saturday. Jon Lester allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings in a setback in Friday's opener. Texas hammered seven home runs in the two victories.
Buchholz, a Texas native, is 1-2 with a 3.24 ERA in his career vs. the Rangers. Manager Terry Francona said that Jarrod Saltalamacchia will start behind the plate for the third straight game.
Boston, which is one of nine teams in baseball without a win in 2011, is now 1-9 in its last 10 games in Texas.
Lefty Matt Harrison starts for the Rangers. First pitch is 2:05 p.m.
