By Jeff Louderback With a single off Tampa Bay rookie right-hander Jake Odorizzi in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s twinbill finale, Jose Iglesias extended his hitting streak to 18 games. The 23-year-old infielder is batting .435 (40-for-92) with a 1.047 OPS (courtesy of eight doubles and seven walks). Those numbers seemed unfathomable as early as [...]
By Jeff Louderback Like Mark Melancon demonstrated last year – and Joel Hanrahan showed earlier this season before undergoing Tommy John surgery – Andrew Bailey is illustrating that occupying the closer’s role for the Boston Red Sox is dramatically more demanding than his previous team. Tasked with preserving a 1-0 lead, and shutting the door [...]
By Jeff Louderback Minutes after Andrew Bailey spoiled a brilliant outing from Felix Doubront by surrendering a game-tying solo home run to Kelly Johnson in the top of the ninth, Jonny Gomes slugged a walk-off, two-run dinger against Joel Peralta to lift Boston past Tampa Bay, 3-1. The Red Sox completed a doubleheader sweep. They [...]
By Jeff Louderback Though he was one of the most consistently good starting pitchers in baseball from 2008 to 2011 – and he has the mix of plus offerings to stake a claim as one of the best arms in the majors – Jon Lester is not an ace. Sure, he took the mound on [...]
By Jeff Louderback To no surprise for anyone who doubts Red Sox injury reports after a player is sidelined, Clay Buchholz was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday. The move is retroactive to June 9. Buchholz, who is 9-0 with a 1.71 ERA in 12 starts this season, departed his last start on [...]
By Jeff Louderback A rain delay that was one minute shy of three hours knocked starter Alfredo Aceves out of the game, but four Red Sox relievers silenced the Tampa Bay Rays in Boston’s 5-1 win in the opener of a day-night doubleheader. Aceves was summoned from Pawtucket to take the mound, and he limited [...]
By Jeff Louderback Ranked as one of the top 25 players in the draft by Baseball America and Perfect Game, Jon Denney was bypassed through the first two rounds because teams were concerned they would be unable to sway him from his commitment to the University of Arkansas. Boston selected the catcher in the third [...]
