Welcome back to Fenway Park. The Red Sox crushed the Rays with a huge eighth inning to seal the win in their home opener. Josh Beckett pitched an absolute allowing just one run on five hits in eight innings of work. He probably would have come back out for the complete game had the Sox not added eight insurance runs in the bottom half of the eighth. Yet, there was still bad news to come from the win in the home opener. The Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, is out indefinetly with what sounds like a dislocated shoulder. He left the game in the fifth inning after being landed on by the Rays shortstop in an attempt to break up a double play.
An outfield that was set to be Crawford, Ellsbury and a combination of Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney has now become Ross, Sweeney and good ol’ Darnell McDonald. That is a big hit to the Sox lineup and now Bobby V is going to have to decide who will take over as the leadoff man. Dustin Pedroia has has had success at the top of the order, but I am not sure if that is who Valentine will slide up there. My vote would be Ryan Sweeney. He is red hot with the bat and you don’t disrupt any of the veterans spots in the lineup. Then when Carl Crawford gets back have him take over.
The game was still a huge win despite the loss of Ellsbury. Josh Beckett rebounded with a great start, proving that is thumb is fine. The Red Sox went 10-17 as a team with runners in scoring position while the Rays were 0-5. I have said this before, but that eighth inning could be what gets this Sox team going. Every run they put across just builds their confidence. It will be interesting to see how this team responds after losing Ellsbury. It is still unclear exactly how much time he will miss. The intial report is a dislocated elbow which would put him out 6-8 weeks. Then once it is healed they would have to evaluate him for surgery which would mean the end of his season.
Kelly Shoppach caught Beckett and that may be something we see every time Beckett takes the hill. Beckett has a bad history with Salty and he pitched very well with Shoppach. Shoppach also performed very well at the plate, going 3-4 with three runs and two runs batted in, along with one of the ugliest stolen bases I have ever seen. It appears he will be the guy sharing the work load behind the plate with Salty.
The Sox need to keep this momentum going tomorrow when Buchholz and Hellickson face off. Hellickson shut down the Yankees in his first start, going 8.2 innings without allowing a run. Buchholz had a rough first outing, but many forget how good he can be. Two years ago he finished with a top five ERA in the American League and was pitching well last year until his back injury. The Sox need him to return to form against the Rays tomorrow.
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