AP Photo
Welcome to the Red Sox, John Lackey. Lackey made his official Spring Training debut yesterday by pitching two perfect innings in the Sox 9-3 victory over their in-town rival Minnesota Twins. Lackey struck out the first batter he faced and then cruised to 5 more outs before his day was over. Lackey was supported offensively by a huge pinch-hit, 3-run HR by the young 2B Ted Hulett, a hit that put the Sox ahead for good.
While taking game 3 against the Minnesota Twins and a 2-1 lead in the Mayor’s Cup, the other half of the Sox squad was in Port Charlotte taking on the Tampa Bay Rays in a nail-biter. After the Sox put 2 on the board in the first inning, P Adam Mills for the Sox gave up 4 runs on 5 hits in the 3rd and 4th innings to give the Rays the lead. After the Red Sox tied the game at 4 in the 7th inning, it wasn’t until the bottom of the 9th that the game slipped away and the Rays won 6-4.
Overall, we saw some great performances from 2 new additions this off-season, Ted Hulett and John Lackey. Against the Rays, we saw the entire starting infield for the Sox start the game together and they appear to be bonding extrememly well. Dustin Pedroia said during the game, “You read things and you hear things but when you see in person, you realize how hard they work at it. I think this infield has a chance to be a very good one.” That’s a great sign for the Red Sox this early in Spring Training.
Today, the entire Red Sox team comes back together to take on the Baltimore Orioles in their new Sarasota home at 1:05pm on the MLB Network. We get to see the first Spring Training start for Clay Buchholz as he continues his quest to be in the Sox starting rotation. Jacoby Ellsbury will return to his familiar leadoff spot and will play CF.
Today’s Lineups – 1:05pm at Baltimore Orioles (lineups courtesy of Boston.com)
Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
J.D. Drew RF
Victor Martinez C
David Ortiz DH
Jeremy Hermida LF
Jed Lowrie 3B
Tug Hulett 2B
Yamaico Navarro SS
Aaron Bates 1B
Pitching: RHP Clay Buchholz followed by RHP BBoof Bonser, RHP Daniel Bard, RHP Scott Atchison, RHP Casey Kelly and RHP Robert Manuel.
Orioles
Adam Jones CF
Ty Wigginton DH
Nick Markakis RF
Miguel Tejada 3B
Matt Wieters C
Luke Scott LF
Garrett Atkins 1B
Miguel Abreu 2B
Cesar Izturis SS
Pitching: Jeremy Guthrie followed by Mark Hendrickson, Kam Mickolio, David Hernandez and Will Ohman.
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