Daniel Bard took the mound for the Sox and instead of taking a step forward in his quest to be a quality starter, he clearly took a step back. Maybe 2 steps back. To say Bard was wild would be an understatement.
Bard took the mound and allowed 3 runs to score before he was able to record an out. Bard walked the first two batters he saw and then gave up a HR to Jose Bautista. Sox 0-3. It didn’t get better in the 2nd inning either. Bard issued two more walks and then miraculously got two Jays to strike out. With 2 outs, Bard hit Escobar with a pitch. The bases were loaded and Bard walked Bautista to score their 4th run. Sox 0-4. Bard then hit Encarnacion square on the hand to bring in another run. Sox 0-5. Bard was the wildest I have ever seen from a pitcher in a long time. Bard was pulled and replaced by Franklin Morales. Bard’s line for the day was 55 pitches, 1.2 IP, 1 H, 5 R, 6 BB, 2 Ks, 2 HBP. It was just dreadful. I am among the increasingly growing group of people that would like to see Dice-K ready sooner rather than later and Bard making his way back to the pen. I think he’d be better there and better for the team.
Photo Credit: Canadian Press, Aaron Vincent Elkaim
There wasn’t a lot of positives in this game, however one of them was Franklin Morales coming out in relief. He was just spectacular. Morales came out in the 2nd inning and pitched through the 6th inning while not allowing a run. Morales only allowed two hits and got 4 Ks. Morales was also followed by a scoreless inning from both Rich Hill and Scott Atchison.
The Sox didn’t have a lot going on in terms of offense. The Sox were against rookie Hutchison. To me, it seems like when the Sox are facing someone they have never seen before, they tend to struggle. I’d say that was the case in this game. The only damage against Hutchison was a solo HR from Kelly Shoppach in the 5th inning. Sox 1-5.
There were some Sox players hit by a pitch as well. Kelly Shoppach was hit in the 3rd inning. I don’t think that pitch was retaliation at all. Shoppach has no problem leaning into a pitch and it seems like it is what he did there. Then it got a little more dicey in the the 6th when Youkilis was hit by the pitch right up by the shoulder. Youk felt they were head hunting and yelled in at the pitcher and pointing down to his hip. It didn’t seem like Youk had an issue with him being intentionally hit, however he felt that it should be down. In the 8th with Oliver pitching, a pitch also went up near Youk’s head however it did not hit him. There was no benching clearing incident, but it definitely was getting a wee bit testy.
Red Sox 1 Blue Jays 5 BOXSCORE
WP: Hutchison (5-2) LP: Bard (5-6)
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