GAME 1: Red Sox 2, Rays 1
This game had pitchers duel written all over it as reigning AL Cy Young winner David Price squared up against the new look Jon Lester. Lester had another great game pitching 7 strong innings, allowing just one run on 5 hits and a walk. Lester hit a little trouble in the third when he allowed a leadoff single followed by a double to score the runner. He then advanced the runner to third on a wild pitch. I feel like this is the point last year where he would've just collapsed staring down Evan Longoria, having given up a run with another run standing 90 feet away. Instead, he showed some resolve and struck out Longoria and recorded the remaining two outs stranding that runner at third. It's great to see that even when things aren't going his way he can dig deep and get those tough outs. It's a shame Lester didn't pick up the win here, because he certainly deserved it.
STARTING PITCHING GRADE: A
Andrew Bailey came in for the 8th and delivered a clean inning of work with a strikeout. Joel Hanrahan came in to close in the 9th, his first appearance since his 5 run blown save against Baltimore on Wednesday. He issued two walks and recorded no outs before being pulled. He seems to have really gone off the rails recently. Hanrahan has since been reported to have a hamstring injury and may head to the DL for a while. It would be nice to blame his recent struggles on an injury. Koji Uehara came in to clean up Hanrahan's mess with two on and nobody out. He immediately struck out a batter and recorded the next two outs to preserve the tie. Have I mentioned that I really like Uehara? With the Red Sox unable to produce a run in the bottom half of the 9th the game went into extra innings. Junichi Tazawa came on in the 10th and immediately surrendered a leadoff double. A very tough situation to be in for such a close game. Tazawa came up big and got the next three outs to strand the runner at second. The Red Sox came through in the bottom of the 10th to give Tazawa the win. At the time, this tied Tazawa with Jon Lester for most wins on the pitching staff.
BULLPEN GRADE: B+
The Red Sox bats were quiet this game. It literally took them 10 innings to put across two runs. Part of this is because David Price is just an excellent pitcher, but two runs in 10 innings isn't a great day at the plate no matter how you slice it. Fortunately Lester and the bullpen pitched well enough that 2 runs in 10 innings was good enough. The only starter who never manged to get on base was Stephen Drew going 0 for 4. I wonder how long Drew will have to struggle before Iglesias will be brought back up? David Ross hit a 2-out solo home run in the 5th inning for the Red Sox only run off of David Price. In the bottom of the 10th Ellsbury hit a one out single and then stole second and reached third on the throwing error by the catcher. Shane Victorino delivered the walkoff on the very next pitch with the single to score Ellsbury from third.
HITTING GRADE: D+
GAME 2: Red Sox 5, Rays 0
The story of this game was Clay Buchholz, who pitched 7 no-hit innings and eventually pitched 8 scoreless innings. It was a real gem and Buchholz collected a very well deserved third win. As good as Lester has looked this season, I think Buchholz looks better. In 3 starts this season he's 3-0 with 3 quality starts, 22 IP and one run.
STARTING PITCHING GRADE: A+
Buchholz handed Andrew Miller the ball in the 9th with a 5-run lead. He allowed a leadoff single to Evan Longoria, but the next batter hit into a double play to clear the bases and end any threat of a rally. Miller wrapped up the game on a strikeout and preserve the shutout.
BULLPEN GRADE: B+
This was the only game of the three where the Red Sox were able to come up with a good amount of runs. The only complete no-show on offense was Jackie Bradley Jr. going 0 for 3 with two strikeouts. He hasn't really made any case for why he should stay with the big club and it will be an easy demotion once David Ortiz is back to full strength. Stephen Drew also went 0 for 3, but managed to work a walk and was credited for an RBI on a fielder's choice where a throwing error put across another run. Dustin Pedroia had a good day going 3 for 4 with a double, two singles and a steal. Not a bad day on the whole for the Red Sox bats.
HITTING GRADE: B+
GAME 3: Red Sox 3, Rays 2
I'm still trying to figure out Ryan Dempster. I know very little about him because he has played his entire career in the National League prior to coming to the Red Sox. He's pitched well enough to keep the Red Sox in games, but hasn't really gotten past the 5th inning in his first two starts. His start on Monday was easily his best game of the season thus far going 7 innings while giving up only two hits, two walks and one run while striking out 10 batters. That puts him up to 25 strikeouts in just 17 innings pitched, which is really impressive. The one smear on his day was the solo homer by Evan Longoria in the 4th to tie the game at 1-1. It's unfortunate that the lack of run support and a blown save by Bailey robbed him of his first win in a Red Sox uniform as he certainly deserved one here.
STARTING PITCHING GRADE: A
Dempster handed off the ball to Koji Uehara in the 8th with a slim 1-run lead to protect. Uehara pitched another clean inning recording a strikeout in the process. This guy is just a beast. He's had one bad appearance where he gave up a hit and a walk in the loss to Baltimore on Thursday, but otherwise he's been lights out and still hasn't recorded an earned run. With Hanrahan nursing a hamstring injury, Bailey was the obvious choice to come in and close in the 9th of a tight 1-run game. Unfortunately, Bailey stumbled for the first time this season and blew the save. He gave up a leadoff single, then a steal, then a single to score the run from second. This was the first run Bailey had been charged with this season. With Evan Longoria at the plate, Ben Zobrist sitting at second having advanced on the throw and having just blown a save this looked bad for Bailey. It was nice to see him show some grit and strike out Longoria and Joyce and collected the third out to preserve the tie. The Red Sox came through in the 9th to give Bailey the win and ease the pain of the blown save. As blown saves go, this wasn't so bad. He didn't have much of a cushion to work with and worked his way out of a tough jam and preserved the tie.
BULLPEN GRADE: B-
The Sox hitting was not good this game, but fortunately was good enough to get the win. Jackie Bradley Jr. and Will Middlebrooks both were no shows going 0 for 3 with two strikeouts each. Jacoby Ellsbury hit a triple to start the game and Shane Victorino managed to bring him home on a ground out to give the Sox an early 1-0 lead. Salty hit a crucial solo home run in the 5th to give the Sox a 2-1 lead. Pedroia worked a 1-out walk in the bottom of the ninth and managed to score from first on the double from Mike Napoli for the walkoff.
HITTING GRADE: C-
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