Postgame, Red Sox 14-5: Seemingly, the Red Sox have not had a pure run through the rotation without some sort of hiccup in two months.
The latest issue is Josh Beckett. He has been scratched from Tuesday’s start due to an illness. Terry Francona used the old “intestinal turmoil” line to describe the nature of the issue.
Alfredo Aceves will start in Beckett’s place.
We will be here to carry you through that suddenly less intriguing affair. First pitch is 7:10 p.m.
Final, Red Sox 14-5: Tommy Hottovy gives the Padres a parting gift in the form of a meaningless run. But that’s it.
Fourteen runs on 14 hits and a whole bunch of other stuff gives the Red Sox their 14th win in 16 games.
We are off to hear from the guys, including Andrew Miller. Remember him?
Back in a bit.
End 8th, Red Sox 14-4: The Red Sox have nearly scored as many runs on walks or hit batters with the bases loaded as the Padres have on everything else.
Jacoby Ellsbury picks up his first RBI of the game on a walk with the sacks full. Eight different Red Sox hitters have at least on RBI. A few fans do, too.
Tommy Hottovy will pitch the ninth.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 13-4: Amazingly, the Red Sox have just one more hit than the Padres. And only San Diego has left the yard. And only San Diego has a triple.
This is a weird game, this here baseball.
Michael Bowden allowed three hits and a run in the eighth, not nearly enough to spoil Sweet Caroline. I mean, nothing can make that any less enjoyable than it is.
Touching hands…..
The Yankees have already won tonight. The margin figures to remain 1 1/2 games. Magic number for the Sox is like 145.
End 7th, Red Sox 13-3: I’d personally like to thank David Ortiz for striking out to end the seventh and give me and my friends up here a slight chance of getting home by 2 a.m.
That was a joke. No other way to put it. These interleague matchups yield crap like this when power-laden AL teams just crush weak teams from the popcorn league.
There were only five hits in the inning. Four walks (one intentional) and two HBPs were mixed in.
There are a ton of changes for the Sox. Benches have been emptied.
10:10 p.m.: The Padres were in this one until moments ago, but you get the sense this could be an extremely ugly series.
It is much like a major league team playing a minor league one.
Since we last posted, the Red Sox got runs on a two-run single by Josh Reddick, a bases-loaded walk by Dustin Pedroia and a two-run single by Adrian Gonzalez. Oh, and Kevin Youkilis drove in Pedroia and Gonzalez with a double.
So that’s…1…3…carry the 6….um…..a 10-run inning. It is 13-3 and the fourth Padres pitcher of the game is coming in.
Boston has scored in double figures in six of its last 12 games. The 10-run frame is still seven shy of the team record for runs in an inning. However, the nine runs with two outs is two shy of that mark.
9:55 p.m.: In one of those now-I’ve-seen-everything moments, the Red Sox tack on two more when Ernest Frieri hits Marco Scutaro and Jason Varitek with pitches with the bases loaded.
Hard to imagine anything making San Diego manager Bud Black any angrier than he is right now. That’s just garbage relief right there.
Josh Reddick will be pinch hitting for Mike Cameron with the bases still loaded and a new pitcher on the mound. Some guy named Scribner. Evan Scribner.
9:40 p.m.: See what I do for you people?
Knowing that my jinx has not failed in about a year, I say the Sox won’t ever score against Cory Luebke.
Moments later, they do.
Dustin Pedroia reached on a fielder’s choice and scored all the way from first on a double off the Green Monster by Adrian Gonzalez (who else?).
Pedroia was off on the pitch. If it was a true hit-and-run, it’s the second time they’ve done that with Pedroia on base and Gonzalez at the plate. This time it works like a charm.
Gonzalez now has 65 RBIs in 72 games. That puts him on pace for 146.
Luebke is replaced by Ernesto Frieri (who else?) with one out in the seventh.
Mid 7th, 3-3: Get up and stretch! And make the most of it, because this one just has that extra inning kind of feel to it, doesn’t it?
As long as Cory Luebke is out there, the Sox certainly ain’t scorin’.
Luebke will face the top of the order in the bottom of the seventh. The Red Sox haven’t recorded a hit since Jason Varitek’s single with no outs in the fourth.
End 6th, 3-3: Cory Luebke struck out Marco Scutaro to begin the bottom of the sixth. That was Luebke’s fifth straight strikeout, which put him halfway to tying Tom Seaver’s record of 10 in a row back in 1970.
Seaver’s opponent in that game? Yep, San Diego.
Jason Varitek grounded to short to end the streak, but Luebke figured he would try to start another by fanning Mike Cameron to finish it.
That’s three scoreless innings for Luebke. Six of the nine outs have come on punchouts. He is up to 37 pitches, but has actually gone beyond that twice this year so the Red Sox may not be done with him. There is no action in the Padres pen.
If you are Bud Black, and a run could mean a win, stick with what’s working.
Mid 6th, 3-3: Matt Albers walks the first man he sees but gets leadoff hitter Chris Denorfia on a grounder to second to finish the sixth.
Cory Luebke remains in the game for the Padres. He already has two scoreless under his belt.
The book on Andrew Miller is closed. He gives up three runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out six and walking three.
It was solid. Not great, but solid. There is no mistaking the potential to dominate. I wonder if he will be able to against teams like the Yankees. It remains to be seen when Miller will pitch next as the Red Sox have two days off coming up and may skip some guys. If they stay on turn, he goes in Pittsburgh on Sunday.
9:04: I tried to tell you, but you didn’t want to listen. The Red Sox could pay dearly for missed scoring chances in this one.
That thought becomes amplified after Andrew Miller loses the lead in the sixth. A single and a walk put him in hot water, and an Orlando Hudson home run to left ties it. Just. Like. That.
Miller got the next man before Anthony Rizzo unloaded on an offering and put into the triangle in center. That was enough for Terry Francona. He comes to get Miller and hand the ball to Matt Albers.
End 5th, Red Sox 3-0: Cory Luebke has come on and faced six batters. He got a huge double play out of one of them and has now struck out four in a row.
Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz and Darnell McDonald were strikeout victims in the fifth.
San Diego has an excellent bullpen, and has for a couple of years now. A colleague of mine just pointed out, however, that Luebke is the only lefty out there. That bodes well for the rest of the series if he is burned up.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 3-0: Plenty from Andrew Miller to like tonight. The curveball seems to me to the best of the secondary offerings.
It was a curve that got Jason Bartlett to finish the fifth, the first 1-2-3 inning so far for Miller.
There is talk that any start against the woeful Padres lineup comes with an asterisk, but who cares. It would be a talking point if he was getting hit hard by them, but he’s not, so move on.
Also, if you want to prescribe to that kind of talk, then at least be thankful he gets to get his feet wet in a Red Sox uniform against a weak-hitting club. Can’t hurt to have a nice confidence boost right off the bat.
End 4th, Red Sox 3-0: It feels as if the Red Sox should be up six or so. They’ve left six on base and hit into one double play thus far.
The DP came off the bat of Jacoby Ellsbury in the fourth. It scored Marco Scutaro from third, but helped the Padres to limit the damage in the frame. Adrian Gonzalez struck out to end it.
8:31 p.m.: That’ll do it for Wade LeBlanc. He is the latest victim, for lack of a better word, against this potent Red Sox offense.
LeBlanc gave up two singles and a walk to open the fourth. Southpaw Cory Luebke inherits a bases-loaded, no-outs situation against the top of the order. Things are really looking up for the Padres!
Mid 4th, Red Sox 2-0: Holy cow, I can’t get the score right tonight. Keep me in line, folks. It is 2-0 Red Sox. I’ve double- and triple-checked.
One reason the Padres still have a goose egg up there is Andrew Miller’s escapability.
He stranded one runner in the first, two in the second, got an inning-ending double play in the third with two on and works around a leadoff triple in the fourth.
Jesus Guzman took Miller to the center field wall for the three-bagger. A pop to right, a strikeout of Cameron Maybin and a fly to left off the bat of Anthony Rizzo kept Guzman right there. The K of Maybin was very impressive. Miller set him up with a 95 mph fastball on the inside corner and then dropped in a beauty of a curve that Maybin swung right through.
Miller is at a reasonable 59 pitches through four.
End 3rd, Red Sox 2-0: The first encounter between Wade LeBlanc and David Ortiz resulted in a 14-pitch epic that Ortiz won with an RBI single to left.
Maybe LeBlanc didn’t want to go through the trouble the second time.
On the first pitch of their second meeting, the lefty threw a meaty offering that Ortiz lined into the corner in right. It scored Kevin Youkilis all the way from first, despite the pain that Youkilis is clearly in trying to run 270 feet at full speed.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: Another weak single and another walk gives the Padres a little threat in the third.
Andrew Miller gets a tailor-made 6-4-3 double play out of Ryan Ludwick and marches back to the dugout in great shape.
Miller has yet to be hit hard. Two of the three hits have been of the infield variety and the one by Chase Headley in the third sounded like it broke his bat.
End 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: You wonder if the Red Sox will pay for not getting more than the one run in during the first inning.
For Wade LeBlanc to throw 29 pitches, give up three hits, walk one man and escape down just a run is great news for San Diego. The fact that he had a 1-2-3 second is even better.
And yes, I’m aware I had the score wrong for an inning there. My bad.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: First bit of trouble for Andrew Miller in the second. The Padres get an infield hit from Orlando Hudson and a walk from Cameron Maybin.
In his first encounter with Anthony Rizzo, Miller wins it with a 94 mph fastball on the black. Miller then got Nick Hundley on a tapper down the first-base line.
On the hit by Maybin, Kevin Youkilis fielded near the mound and fired to first just a tad late. He then did what we’ve seen him do a lot lately — limp. It just seems like it will be a year-long issue with the hip for Youkilis. He has also had some ankle stuff lately since getting a cleat caught on the turf in Tampa. Just a bit banged up, but always seems to bounce back.
End 1st, Red Sox 1-0: About the best scenario for Andrew Miller would’ve been a scoreless top of the first and then some immediate run support.
So far, it’s been just about perfect.
The Red Sox entered with a .295 team average in the first inning this year and immediately go to work on lefty Wade LeBlanc.
A double by Dustin Pedroia and a single by Adrian Gonzalez put runners on the corners with one out. A walk to Kevin Youkilis loaded the bases, setting up a wonderful encounter between LeBlanc and David Ortiz.
The big slugger fouled off 10 pitches in a 14-pitch at-bat that resulted in a run-scoring single to left. He was fortunate to not be punched out on a curveball that was clearly a strike but ruled otherwise by Ed Rapuano. In any event, Ortiz drove in Pedroia with the knock to left and helped to wear out LeBlanc.
Although the soft-throwing southpaw got the next two men to escape the jam, his pitch count was run up to 39.
Remember, the Sox pushed Shaun Marcum to 45 pitches in the first inning on Friday and Yovani Gallardo to 47 on Sunday. They are doing all sorts of damage in the opening frame.
Mid 1st, 0-0: With a fastball reaching as high as 95 and effective sliders and changeups, Andrew Miller has few issues in the first.
After the strikeout of Chris Denorfia, he induced three straight groundouts. One resulted in an infield hit, but none were hit all that hard.
Most importantly, 12 of Miller’s 16 pitches were strikes. If he just stays in the zone, but not right in the middle of it, he’ll be just fine. The stuff is so good.
7:10 p.m.: Andrew Miller pumps in three straight strikes to start off with a strikeout of Wheaton College’s own Chris Denorfia. Great opening for the lefty.
6:24 p.m.: Andrew Miller will be trotting out there in a matter of 40 minutes or so to begin his Red Sox career in earnest.
Here is the lineup he will face, followed by a few numbers:
Chris Denorfia, RF
Jason Bartlett, SS
Chase Headley, 3B
Ryan Ludwick, LF
Jesus Guzman, DH
Orlando Hudson, 2B
Cameron Maybin, CF
Anthony Rizzo, 1B
Nick Hundley, C
Bartlett is 4-for-9 with two doubles against Miller. The group as a whole is 10-for-27 (.370) against him. Maybin was traded with Miller to Florida in 2007. Rizzo, of course, was traded to San Diego for Adrian Gonzalez. But you knew that.
More from Rizzo and Padres GM Jed Hoyer in a moment.
5:32 p.m.: A very, very busy day here. Just wanted to check back in.
We just met with most of the San Diego people and we will have some news up on their side of things. One great note — Dave Roberts received clear scans at Dana Farber today, so he was all smiles and great to talk to.
Met Dave in a Starbucks here last year when he was in town for treatment and he acted as if I was the first person he’d talked to in days. So friendly and so positive. Great to see him doing well.
Each of you will be doing a bit better yourselves if you check out our “Red Sox Showdown for the Ages,” which had a shocking first-round upset. Check it out and follow along throughout the tournament. Great stuff for fans who love to have these kinds of debates.
4:31 p.m.: We have to stop and remind ourselves that Andrew Miller is pitching tonight. It’s a busy afternoon at the park with all of these San Diego-Boston connections.
Here is a quick update on a few items before we go hear from the Padres contingent (Hoyer, Rizzo, Roberts, etc.).
Terry Francona basically will wait and see whether he uses Adrian Gonzalez in the outfield in the National League parks to make room for David Ortiz at first. The Sox have nine straight coming up in Pittsburgh, Philly and Houston.
Francona: “We’ll see. I’m glad he’s willing to do it…I don’t want David to sit nine straight games. That bothers me…That worries me.”
Gonzalez played one game in right field with Texas in 2005 and has played that position in winter ball. Francona cites the fact that there are some small right fields on the trip as one reason he might be able to stick Adrian out there.
Gonzalez on his willingness to do so: “I wouldn’t say willingness. It’s just that I’ve done it before. I’m not an outfielder, but if it mean getting Papi in games I would.”
In other news, Jed Lowrie is flying to LA to see Dr. Yocum, who has the MRI that was taken on Lowrie’s left shoulder.
“No reason for him not to go,” Francona said. “Have him examine him in person.”
Bobby Jenks threw from 200 feet today. He may actually get on a mound as early as tomorrow and is progressing well.
“Best day be far he has had,” Francona said.
OK, off to hear from SD side of things.
3:13 p.m.: We knew that Jason Varitek was going to draw the catching duties with Andrew Miller on the mound. Now we know that Varitek will hit eighth, behind Marco Scutaro and in front of Mike Cameron.
Here is the lineup against lefty Wade LeBlanc:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Darnell McDonald, LF
Marco Scutaro, SS
Jason Varitek, C
Mike Cameron, RF
Back in a bit with some pregame updates and the reaction from Gonzalez of seeing his former mates.
3:01 p.m.: Greetings from Fenway Park, where we are watching Bobby Jenks throw in right field, accompanied by pitching coach Curt Young and members of the training staff. Carl Crawford is also out there doing some light work.
In moments, we will hear from Adrian Gonzalez, who will be facing his former team for the first time. Also on the agenda is a sitdown with Anthony Rizzo, Gonzalez’s replacement in San Diego, as well as Red Sox favorite Dave Roberts, now the first base coach for the Padres.
And, as if that’s not enough for you starving for Boston-San Diego connections, former assistant GM Jed Hoyer, who helped engineer the Gonzalez trade this winter with Theo Epstein, is expected to meet with reporters at some point.
Back with lineups in a jiffy. Mmmmm…peanut butter.
8:45 a.m.: There will be reunions on several fronts when the San Diego Padres visit Fenway Park on Monday night.
Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who reached the 1,000-hit milestone Sunday in a win over Milwaukee, will be facing the team with which he spent five seasons.
The Padres’ likely long-term replacement for Gonzalez, former Boston prospect Anthony Rizzo, will likely man the position for the Padres. He has hit just .148 (4-for-27) since joining San Diego earlier this month.
The Fenway crowd will also happily welcome back Padres first base coach Dave Roberts.
Once all the hugs and handshakes are done with, all eyes will turn to Andrew Miller, who will be making his Red Sox debut. The lefty had a 2.47 ERA in 13 games with Pawtucket, and takes the roster spot of Clay Buchholz, who was placed on the disabled list Sunday.
Miller will be opposed by left-hander Wade LeBlanc.
First pitch is 7:10 p.m.
