The Red Sox got the monkey off their back last night in dramatic fashion. To be honest, these first 4 games have been taxing (other than the 0-10 blowout). Hopefully tonight the Red Sox can score in the first 8 innings, which is really something they haven't done much of.
They should have a good chance to do that tonight against Kyle Drabek. The once highly regarded prospect had a terrible season in 2011. He went 4-5 with a 6.06 ERA and walked a stunning 55 batters in just 78 innings. Drabek's last major league start was a 14-1 home loss to Boston on June 12, when he allowed eight runs in four innings.
Meanwhile, this will be a very interesting night on the mound for the Red Sox. Daniel Bard finally gets to make his debut as a starter. Bard has thrived in a relief role for Boston since his arrival in the big leagues in 2009, compiling a 2.88 career ERA and .190 opponent batting average, but the Red Sox were short handed in starting pitching and moved him over. Spring training didn't go all that well for him as he had some control issues, but he was able to get his pitch count up and was still throwing heat even as that pitch count rose. He needs to limit his walks tonight.
What do I expect? My hope is something like what he got out of Doubront last night. For Bard's first start if he can go 5 innings allowing 1-2 runs I'll be pretty happy.
Red Sox win 9-4
Player of the Game: Ortiz
Game starts at 7:07pm
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