Pedroia rests Tuesday night
PAWTUCKET – A wet field and a player coming back from major knee surgery are like oil and vinegar. They do not mix.
Roughly 15 minutes before Tuesday’s first pitch, the Pawtucket Red Sox announced that Dustin Pedroia wouldn’t be batting third or playing second base. With a light rain falling, the Red Sox didn’t want to take a chance with a player who originally targeted May 25 – that’s this Friday – as the date he would like to be back with the parent club. Boston also held Pedroia out of Sunday’s PawSox lineup with light rain falling in Rochester.
Minus Pedroia, the PawSox received home runs from Ramon Flores and Aneury Tavarez in a 7-6 win over Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre before 4,458 wet, but happy, fans. Tyler Thornburg headlined a stellar bullpen effort that included five innings of one-run ball.
Pedroia did put on his No. 15 Osos Potlares de Pawtucket jersey in the clubhouse, though he was never afforded the chance to step outside and provide the McCoy Faithful twith a thrill. He has played three games with Pawtucket thus far on his 20-day injury rehab fassignment, collecting just one hit in eight atbats with two walks. Most likely, Pedroia will be in the lineup when the PawSox (19-22) play tGame 3 of the four-game series against the RailRiders (19-24) on Wednesday night.
“It was a layup. No way we were doing that one,” said PawSox manager Kevin Boles about the decision to sit Pedroia. “He did fight tit, but we had a nice conversation. You’re not going to do that based on how hard he works rand what he means to the organization.”
The game ended with the potential tying run on base and Scranton’s Clint Frazier called out for interference. The outfielder was hit in the back with a throw by PawSox reliever Ryan Brasier but was on the infield side of the first-base line.
Thornburg’s seventh inning was brief and to the point. He needed just 12 pitches (nine strikes) to set down the RailRiders in order. He struck out two – one swinging, one looking – and topped at 94 miles per hour. He also mixed in four curveballs and one changeup.
Thornburg’s swinging strikeout came against Frazier. After missing with a curveball that Frazier fouled off, Thornburg came back with the same pitch that had a little more bite to it.
“It’s always good when you throw a curveball that’s not necessarily great but you follow with a better one. It makes it tough on hitters, especially because they think they saw one that was solid,” said Thornburg, who made his seventh appearance with the PawSox. “Right now, I feel like I’m in the final couple outings of spring training where I can definitely get outs in the big leagues right now. Now it’s about fine-tuning. I’m looking forward to the grind of the season.”
Josh Smith was credited with the win after tossing two scoreless innings. Robby Scott and Thornburg were also flawless before Ty Buttrey experienced some turbulence in the ninth inning. Buttrey was lifted after needing 25 pitches (14 strikes) to record just one out.
Flores finished 2-for-3 for four RBI.