With spring’s approach blissfully upon us, the Red Sox went boom on the Orioles thanks to some hot hitting from two high-priced Sox, both of whom have had rocky roads to get here.
Here comes Pablo Sandoval
Two days after hitting two homers, Sandoval was at it again, hitting two doubles to raise his preseason average to .349. While probably it’s a little early to declare him a Comeback Player of the Year candidate, the expectations with Sandoval have hit John Lackey-in-2013 levels, which means anything good will look absolutely great by comparison. And to think, it was almost two years ago that Ken Rosenthal said the Sox needed to rid Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez — who merely combined for 5 RBI in this game — “like, now,” to prevent the Sox’s chemistry from imploding. Things seem to be fine — like — now, which just goes to show you never trust a man in a bow tie. This man, at least.
Kyle Kendrick stays sharp
Another 5 innings for our potential fifth starter to open the season, as the non-roster invitee gives up 2 runs and strikes out 4. The news on Drew Pomeranz’s triceps strain seems better than expected, so the Sox might not need to call on Kendrick after all, but he’s done nothing discouraging this March, which, grading on a curve, is good news for the Red Sox rotation. He did give up a home run to Pedro Alvarez, but it happens.
Marco Hernandez keeps hitting
There’s not a lot of room for him on a team that keeps Brock Holt \o/ on retainer, but he had two more doubles today and could be a huge part of the team if Holt or Dustin Pedroia came down with an injury.