Game 32: Red Sox 7, Indians 5

Whatever warm and fuzzy feeling brought about by last Ubaldo Jimenez's outing last Sunday was quickly removed by the early innings of Friday's game. The walks and wildness were there against the Rangers, but it was contained to one inning; this time it was front and center, a featured part of almost every inning.

To wit:

First inning

D. Ortiz walked, D. Pedroia to second

D. Pedroia to third, D. Ortiz to second on wild pitch

A. Gonzalez hit by pitch

C. Ross walked

Three baserunners and an extra base because of reasons other than the batter putting the bat on the ball. The Sawx scored two runs that inning, and it was fortunate they only scored that much. Had Jimenez settled down, this would have a footnote in the scheme of things, but it was only the beginning. By the time he left in the fifth inning, he had allowed 5 walks and 9 hits, and because Dan Wheeler allowed one of his inherited runners to score, Jimenez allowed 7 runs, all earned.

The frustrating part of the game was that Clay Buccholz didn't pitch that much better than JImenez; the Indians just didn't take advantage of the opportunities they were presented. Throughout the early innings, the Indians could have kept pace with the Red Sox, but just couldn't get that big hit with runners in scoring position. They did finally have a big inning (seventh), but because they didn't have a good start, they were too far back to climb all the way back. They brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth with one out, but Jack Hannahan struck out and Johnny Damon (who looks like someone trying to get his spring training at-bats in) flew out to end the game.

Source: FanGraphs