Boston Red Sox demolish Tampa Bay Rays 8-0 – MLB Spring Training
Boston Red Sox demolished Tampa Bay Rays 8-0 at the JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Lee County, Florida on Tuesday, March 27 in their Grapefruit League clash of the 2012 Major League Baseball Spring Training Session.
Josh Beckett looked to be in his comfort zone as he pitched five solid innings, allowing just one hit to help the Red Sox secure a comfortable win over their American League rivals.
Bobby Valentine loved what he saw from the starter, who struck out five and walked three on 84 pitches. Beckett will be very happy after lowering his spring ERA to just 0.95 in five starts, impressing the skipper with his accurate and on-target pitching.
"Josh is working on his changeup a little, and I thought threw a lot of really good pitches today," Valentine said. "I think he got his work in, put up a bunch of zeros, was competitive working against their hitters and I think that's what he needed. He'll
have one more short (start).."
"As far as arm strength and stuff goes there's still stuff you got to figure out during the season, too," he said. "I think if you hit the ground running in April, you're probably not very old. So spring training's, in my opinion, a little bit long."
The win will be of great significance for the Red Sox who have struggled to find right pitching and hitting combinations this season. Although the Red Sox have now improved their spring win-loss record to 12-10, their fans will be expecting them to perform
more consistently during the regular season.
Boston’s Manager Bobby Valentine looked very pleased with what he saw from his players and he aimed to give similar performances in post-spring games.
Without a shadow of a doubt, the Red Sox have great depth and quality in their batting and pitching lineups. However, they have not been able to execute their game plan to perfection since the start of 2012 Spring Training. It will be interesting to see
if they Red Sox can learn from their mistakes to make it to the World Series finals.
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