Red Sox Tie Rays ... Wait. What?

by Randy Booth on Mar 30, 2010 6:43 PM EDT in Game Stories

The Red Sox tied the Rays, 9-9, on Tuesday.

Yeah, a tie.

Send them back to the field! Why end a very important spring training game in a tie? Who does that benefit? No one. Exactly. This game was so important that Tim Wakefield -- the normal starter today -- started a minor league game instead of showing his stuff to the Rays lineup. Yeah, this game was that important. (That "stuff" being a knuckleball, of course.)

On a more serious note, the Red Sox looked pretty good today until Daniel Bard took the mound. The Sox were up 7-4 when Bard came into the game in the 7th. Bard did not look good, allowing four runs on five hits. He got just two outs.

Casey Kelly started and showed really solid command, despite walking two. He worked three innings and allowed four hits, two runs and struck out three. His fastball topped out around 91 mph, but the command for the 20-year-old pitcher was quite impressive.

Josh Reddick and Anthony Rizzo led Boston offensively. Both went 3 for 5 with home runs. The performance extends Reddick's great spring training. Rizzo, on the other hand, showed what may be down the line. Rizzo was quite impressive, making solid contact on all his hits. His home run was a well hit shot (but not as deep as Reddick's bomb). What impressed me the most is Rizzo's pretty swing from the left side. The Sox should be excited about this young guy.

Tug Hulett and Adrian Beltre had two RBIs apiece.

Red Sox and Orioles play on Wednesday at 1:05 p.m.

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Comments

What, no shootout?

BTW, I hate shootouts. Gary Bettman has ruined hockey.

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on Mar 30, 2010 8:45 PM EDT reply actions

Gary Bettman sucks.

Shootouts? I’m a purist, so I’d prefer not to have them, but making a game between Carolina and the Leafs shorter isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.

I have a five-tool player in my pants.

ACTUALLY, advanced metrics show that that wasn't "premature".

@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard

by Bloggy on Mar 30, 2010 10:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Bard has a Rays jinx

I like shootouts by the way, even though the bruins suck at them.

by drabidea on Mar 30, 2010 10:17 PM EDT reply actions

Reddick is playing this spring like a man with a mission

I know, I know – spring training numbers. But sheesh!

by mmmmm on Mar 31, 2010 12:08 AM EDT reply actions

Love it

Haha THAT serious. Gotta hide that knuckleballer after 18 years he’s still a surprise.

by Chris Andrew on Mar 31, 2010 2:53 AM EDT reply actions

Tie game

I love it. Just goes to show what a joke about 90% of spring training is. All the hoopla around practice/exibition games. I’m fine with the whole thing, but the spring training thing is really outdated and just a huge money grab by the owners and Florida/AZ tourism. Everybody on the Sox roster is in shape by Februrary. The pitchers need about a week to get ready and there are really no jobs up for grabs with the Sox. Of course this does differ on some teams, but even then many teams keep players down even when the could “make” the team to preserve the non-arbitration years. Time to get it on!

by Scoop1981 on Mar 31, 2010 9:06 AM EDT reply actions

Consider the number of folks who blew up during the WBC

I’d say they aren’t in shape by February.

Spring training isn’t a joke. It’s training. No one thinks it means a damn thing, aside from getting a look at people fighting for the odd spot and the like. If people want to attend, let ’em.

Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.

I have a five-tool player in my pants.

ACTUALLY, advanced metrics show that that wasn't "premature".

@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard

by Bloggy on Mar 31, 2010 3:43 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

by wolf9309 on Mar 31, 2010 5:38 PM EDT up reply actions

Reddick is Spring Training

Are guys like Reddick, Rizzo, Kelly, etc the reason spring training is even remotely entertaining?

I mean I could careless what Papi is batting, basically watch to make sure no starters get injured and then look to see the ‘future’ of the club.

With Reddick, seems like he could have a good future in RF after JD. D and arm strength look good, my Q is where do you play him for the next to years?

He’s the 5th OF this year and I start to wonder if he makes Jake more expendable, especially if Jake doesn’t round out is offense and he’s contract demands are too Boras lead.

by JonnyNYC on Mar 31, 2010 10:53 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah, watching the developing guys develop is easilly the best part of ST.

Josh will definitely spends this year in the minors, barring any injuries to the major league outfielders.

Never performed in AAA last year, and the Sox don’t give guys freebies due to good spring trainings. Besides, he’s still taking some bad hacks at balls. He’s having success now, but if he ever wants to be truly great (which he definitely can be), he’s going to need to get the patience he had last year before coming up to Boston back.

As for where he slots in, yeah, I would think he takes over for J.D. Drew in 2012. So long as he knows there’s a spot waiting for him, we shouldn’t worry about him getting annoyed in the minors. With both Cameron and Drew set to expire after ‘11, Kalish ending up neck-and-neck with him shouldn’t be a problem either. Westmoreland, Lin, or Fuentes are the ones that could push a Boras-negotiating Ellsbury from the fold.

USG

by Ben Buchanan on Mar 31, 2010 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions