Bats return to slumber
Offense can’t help Pomeranz
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
BALTIMORE — Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz pitched well (51⁄ innings, two runs allowed) but certainly not better than Orioles starter Dylan Bundy, who stifled numerous Red Sox scoring opportunities over his seven-plus innings as the Orioles took the first game of the series, 2-0, last night.
The Red Sox twice had a runner on third base with fewer than two outs but could not dent the scoreboard.
Manny Machado took Pomeranz deep with two outs in the fifth inning, hitting a laser shot into the leftfield stands for a 1-0 Orioles lead.
The Orioles got their other run in the third, after Craig Gentry lined a one-out double to left. After a Christian Vazquez passed ball allowed him to move to third base, Gentry trotted home on Adam Jones’ RBI single.
Pomeranz allowed the two runs on five hits and two walks, with four strikeouts. He threw 102 pitches, the same number Chris Sale threw Thursday. Sixty of Pomeranz’ pitches were thrown for strikes, while Sale threw 80 strikes.
“Drew had quality stuff,” said manager John Farrell. “Made a number of pitches. … Offensively, we had opportunites. They roll three double plays, and we couldn’t bunch hits together. Twoout hit, one-out hit, no-out hit. We created some opportunities but still left empty.”
Pedey’s night
Dustin Pedroia made a remarkable play in the sixth inning. Playing in shallow right with the shift on for left-handed-hitting Chris Davis, Pedroia made a dive to his right. Barely getting up, he made a slingshot of a throw to get Davis by a step.
Two innings later, Pedroia was spiked in the leg during a hard slide from Machado. Pedroia had to leave the game and Pablo Sandoval moved from third base to second, while outfielder Steve Selsky came in to play third base. It was Sandoval’s first game at second base since 2009.
The infield depth was hampered before the game as Brock Holt was put on the disabled list with vertigo. Also, shortstop Xander Bogaerts was only available to play defense because he can’t swing a bat after jamming his left thumb on Thursday. Bogaerts replaced shortstop Marco Hernandez at the start of the eighth after Hernandez was lifted for a pinch hitter.
Bradley back at it
Jackie Bradley Jr. was activated off the DL and went 1-for-4 in his return to the lineup.
Bradley, out for 10 days with a sprained right knee sustained while running the bases in Detroit, has to wear a brace but he wants it to be for the shortest amount of time as possible.
“I’m going to try to break out of that thing like Forrest Gump if I have to,” Bradley said.
With Bogaerts unavailable to start, Farrell got a bit philosophical about the missed opportunity not to field his full lineup once again.
“Kind of like life — Plan B,” he said. “We’re getting there. We’re getting closer. The fact that we’ve been able to more than keep our head above water when we haven’t been full strength or we haven’t seen the projected power from this lineup emerge, it’s still a very good group that is capable of a lot of good things.”
He does not believe that the missing personnel relates to the team’s power dip. They are last in the majors with seven home runs.
“I don’t think you can sit here and say there’s one exact reason that we’ve got the home run totals we do,” said Farrell. “The fact is, we’ve still scored the fifth-most runs in the league. We’ve got the highest total number of hits. Power will come.”
Price steps up rehab
For the first time since the last day of February, David Price (forearm) threw breaking balls off a mound. He mixed them in with his fastballs in a 30-pitch bullpen session. Afterward, he described the session: “Felt good, really good.”
Farrell said the team will check in to see if Price is still feeling really good the next two days before deciding if his next bullpen session will take place on Monday’s off day or Tuesday at Fenway.
“That’ll be based on how he comes out of the next couple of days,” Farrell said.
The manager reiterated that the team is taking a cautious tack with Price, who has experienced soreness as the intensity and volume of his recovery ramps up.
Still, the manager sees progress.
“The fact is that all pitches thrown (yesterday), the intensity with which they were thrown, was very encouraging, and the next bullpen thrown will have those up and down simulations to them,” Farrell said.
There is no timetable for the next phase, which would be to throw to hitters.
Farrell also repeated the team’s belief that Price is making progress and that the injury is not a long-term one.
No regrets
A day after he pulled Sale for closer Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning, a move that backfired when Kimbrel allowed a game-tying home run to Toronto’s Kendrys Morales, Farrell had no regrets.
“I still would do it again — I don’t look back on (Thursday) as a wrong decision,” Farrell said. “There were a number of things that came into play. In the moment, you’re pressed into making a decision that you feel is best. That’s where we are. I don’t think that’s what happened (Thursday), I want a re-do.”
He said he spoke about his decision-making process with Sale and that the talk went “fine.”
“This is our livelihood,” Farrell said. “As much as you can critically think ahead in the late afternoon before situations arise, that’s kind of what we do routinely. Had a chance to talk to Chris about it as well, just to give him thoughts into what went into it and the outcome. The fact is, had we not had a closer as dominant as Craig has been, it might be a different scenario. That’s one of the factors that’s brought into the decision.”