Chalk up a 3rd straight spring training defeat for the Red Sox. The Mets managed a 4-2 victory, scoring all 4 runs in the 8th off of Ramon Ramirez, who did not record a single out.
Other than Ramon Ramirez, the Red Sox pitching was great throughout. Lackey gave up a pair of hits in the first, but escaped without giving up a run. After the first, Lackey would retire the next nine batters he faced, and Papelbon would bring the streak of batters retired to 12. Okajima gave up a hit in the 6th, but struck out 2 and looked good in his appearance. Dan Bard had a 1-2-3 inning, trying out his changeup again, and Manny Delcarmen had a 1-2-3 inning in the 9th, looking kind of dominant. Brian Shouse had to clean up Ramon Ramirez' mess for him, giving up a hit by pitch and sac fly to the Mets while getting the 3 outs Ramirez could not.
Offensively, the Sox did manage to score a couple runs on 7 hits, unlike yesterday. There were a lot of hard-hit balls that just didn't fall for the Sox, but Pedroia, Cameron, Ortiz, Hall, Reddick, Hermida, and Angel Sanchez all managed hits. The team did not, however, manage a single walk today despite being amongst the leaders in bases on balls throughout spring training.
Notes:
- Early in the game, Lackey took a grounder off his foot, but told reporters it had hit harmlessly off the bottom in the clubhouse
- The Sox were at work defensively. The Mets scored their runs in the 8th off 2 walks, a home run, and a sacrifice fly. Beltre was all over the place.
- 13 groundouts, 7 flyouts for the Sox. If the Sox can keep the ball on the ground, opposing teams will not be scoring many runs.