Doubront bounces back; Red Sox defeat Twins 4-0

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Red Sox defeated the Minnesota Twins by a score of 4-0 today in Fort Myers, Florida. Fort Myers, home of JetBlue Park, also hosts Hammond Stadium, the Twins spring training facility, and that is where the clash was held. Boston picked up their third consecutive victory against their spring foes. They now lead the Chairman’s Cup 3-2 with one game left.

Felix Doubront took the hill for the Red Sox and Boston fan favorite, ex-Yankee Phil Hughes, took the ball for the Twins. Doubront pitched very well, which is relieving to see after two starts where he got rocked. He lowered his spring ERA, which once sat at 0.00, to 7.21. In five innings of work, the southpaw allowed seven hits, zero runs, two walks, and punched out seven.

Mike Napoli hit his fourth home run of the spring, pulling the ball over the left field fence. Mike Carp had a nice day at the plate, churning two base knocks. Jonathan Herrera, Shane Victorino, Xander Bogaerts, Will Middlebrooks, A.J. Pierzynski, Ryan Dent, Jonathan Roof, and Derrik Gibson all had hits, too.

The bullpen finished the game strongly, supplying Doubront with the win. Drake Britton, Brandon Workman, Burke Badenhop, and Shunsuke Watanabe all pitched a scoreless frame in this one.

Boston is back at JetBlue tomorrow at 1 p.m. taking on the Twins. However, this is no normal spring training game. Oh no, stakes are much higher in this one and if Boston wins they will win the highly coveted Chairman’s Cup. Jake Peavy has a lot of pressure on him squaring off against the “best” pep talker the world has ever seen in pitcher Mike Pelfrey.