That was the game the Red Sox needed. It was a confidence booster for everyone on the team. Bobby V gets his first win as the new Red Sox manager. Alfredo Aceves gets a clean save under his belt. Felix Dubrount pitched well in his first start. The Sox finally mounted a successful comeback of their own. Similar to the ninth inning rally against Jose Valverde on opening day, Pedroia got it all started with a double. Scott Atchinson provided three scoreless innings of relief to keep the game close. Not only did his performance help the Sox stay in the game he gave the bullpen a much needed a rest on a day when Dubrount could only go five innings.
Regardless of how Daniel Bard does in his first start in the Majors you can’t expect him to go deep in the ball game. Most pitchers early in the season are held to reasonable pitch counts and you can expect Bard who is used to pitching no more than two innings in a game to be monitored very closely tonight. I know I said I think Bard will eventually be the closer this season for the sox, but I really would rather that not happen. Because if that doesn’t happen it means whoever the closer is they are doing a fine job and it means Bard is having some success as a starter. I am very worried that he just isn’t built to start, but the Sox need him to do well. They need a strong fifth man. Also I really do like Aceves, I want him to do well, hopefully last night will give him the confidence he needs. So many times closers say it is all about stepping onto the mound in the ninth and believing you are going to shut the other team down. It is a lot like golf, where people say you have to forget what happened on your last shot and just focus on your next. Aceves needed to forget what happened in Detroit and focus on shutting down Toronto and he did. Not many people can do that, but he is going to have to if he wants to keep his role as closer.
Last night the Sox avoided what would have been the first time in their history that they started he season 0-4 in consecutive seasons. Both teams have their fifth starters going tonight so expect a higher scoring game than last night. Toronto has a stronger lineup than most people realize and the Sox hitters are going to have to give Bard some run support tonight. It is never easy to go into a division rivals ball park and sweep them, especially in their home opening series, but if the Sox can get a win tonight I like there chances with Lester going against Romero on Wednesday.
I was truly impressed with Felix Dubrount last night. He did work extremely slow, but he had good stuff last night. To be honest, I was surprised to see him as the fourth guy in the rotation to start the season, but I think he has got some real potential. He struggled last season coming out of the pen, posting an ERA over six, but he looked like a different guy last night. His fastball isn’t overpowering but his breaking ball is nasty. He was dominate against the lefties last night and he kept Jose Bautista off the bases. I think walks could be his downfall, he found himself in to many full counts last night. However, if he can keep his control I think he could be effective as the fourth guy in the rotation.
The Sox aren’t looking for him to go out and win twenty games, instead they just want him to go out and there and try and get through the sixth inning and hope the Sox bats back him up. That is why his control is going to be key, they need him to consistently get the Sox into the sixth and seventh inning. When Dice-K used to be the fourth guy he would throw a hundred pitches just to get a couple guys out in the fifth, that wears down a bullpen as the season progresses. Hopefully Bard does well tonight and the Red Sox don’t have to worry about the starting rotation just yet.
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