AL
Rites Of Spring: Red Sox Fight Back For A Win Over Twins
Minor league catcher is on a hot streak.
Matt Spring – (Photo by The Commons Getty Collection Galleries)
On Wednesday, 30-year old career minor leaguer Matt Spring continued his hot hitting for the Boston Red Sox.
After a 3 for 3 day on Monday against the New York Mets in which he hit his first home run of the Grapefruit League season, Spring’s RBI single versus a Minnesota Twins split squad team drove in Jeff Bianchi with the winning run in the bottom of the 8th inning as Boston came back to defeat the Twins 3-2.
The Red Sox got back to their winning ways after an 11-3 St. Patrick’s Day drubbing by the Atlanta Braves. The teams combined for seven errors in front of a standing room only crowd of 9,957. The Annual St. Patrick’s Day game which featured green bases, and both teams wearing green caps along with the Red Sox wearing green uniform jerseys is typically one of the top tickets on Boston’s schedule, according to season ticket manager Jane Simmons.
In Wednesday’s victory over Minnesota, starter Rick Porcello pitched four innings , allowing one run on three hits, walking two and striking out three. Porcello threw 70 pitches a bump up from the 57 he threw in his last outing against The New York Yankees last Friday night. Of Porcello’s 70 pitches against the Twins, 47 were strikes. Relievers Anthony Varvaro and Craig Breslow pitched a scoreless inning each. Eduardo Rodriguez was touched for a run in two innings of work but picked up the victory for Boston. Rodriguez struck out two. Heath Hembree notched his first save.
In Red Sox camp news, two players nursing injuries played in minor league games against Baltimore Orioles teams at the Fenway South Complex, adjacent to JetBlue Park. Outfielder Rusney Castillo was 0 for 2 splitting his at bats between AAA and AA games, and catcher Christian Vasquez was 0 for 2 in both the AAA game and AA game, for a total of four at bats.
Robbie Ross Jr. pitched one inning in a minor league game , allowing two hits and one earned run, striking out one. He threw 21 pitches, 14 for strikes.
The Red Sox take to the road on Thursday for a game in Dunedin against the Toronto Blue Jays at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Game time is 1:05 PM. They return home for a game against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday before heading back to Bradenton to face the Pirates on Saturday.
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Tools of My Trade
Brian Mullen
Brian is a Boston native and art school student who took a summer job with a baseball team and never left. He has been employed by the Boston Red Sox in one capacity or another since 1982. He also follows and blogs college basketball. Follow him on Twitter @BostonBrian2015
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