Although the Boston Red Sox lost to the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 on Tuesday afternoon, the news wasn’t all bad as Mike Lowell made his first appearance in a game and Clay Buchholz threw the ball well again.
For Lowell, it was his first at-bats in a game since the ALCS against the Tampa Bay Rays. Lowell was originally supposed to get two AB’s in the game but ended up getting a third and lacing a single to finish 1-for-3 with a strikeout and a popout.
Buchholz continued his domination of the Orioles and his excellent spring training as he threw three perfect innings, striking out two in the process. Jonathan Papelbon followed him with an inning of one-hit ball and Daniel Bard finally allowed his first hit of the spring in his inning of work. Kris Johnson took the loss for the Sox, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk in 2 innings of work. Felix Doubront gave up 2 runs on 2 hits while striking out 1 in an inning.
Jed Lowrie put aside his fielding problems from Monday and went 2-for-2 with a triple. He was thrown out trying to stretch the triple into an inside-the-park home run. Rocco Baldelli added the only RBI for the Sox going 1-for-3. Jacoby Ellsbury had the other hit for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox also made two more moves after the game as they reassigned pitchers Dustin Richardson and Kris Johnson to the minor league development complex. That brings the total players sent down yesterday to 5.
The Red Sox get the day off from games on Wednesday and will be back in action on Thursday afternoon when they head across the state to Jupiter to take on the St. Louis Cardinals. There is no television coverage and the only radio coverage will be on KTRS 550-AM in St. Louis.
Red Sox in the World Baseball Classic news and other links after the jump.
More good news for the Red Sox that David Ortiz will be back in camp in the next day or so. The bad news for Big Papi though is that his Dominican Republic squad was upset by The Netherlands again, this time 2-1. Big Papi went 1-for-4 in the loss and played first base again and Sox farm hand Denis Neuman threw 1 2/3 innings of no-hit ball striking out 1. Mitch Dening and his Australian squad are currently in action against Cuba.
Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia will be back on the field for Team USA tonight at 6:30 PM on the MLB Network when they take on Venezuela to determine seeding for the 2nd round. Javier Lopez and Puerto Rico will be in action as well at 5:30 PM on ESPN when they play The Netherlands to determine seeding for the 2nd round as well.
Red Sox agree to terms with 19 players [Full Count]
Brad Penny Progress Report [Full Count]
Mike Lowell returns, Clay Buchholz dominates [Full Count]
Jed Lowrie Sees the Difference [Full Count]
Lowell gets the idea [Boston Globe]
BP throws BP [Extra Bases]
Anderson tries to work himself out of hitting slump [Providence Journal]
Tight-lipped Okajima would rather pitch than talk [Providence Journal]
Francona’s not worried about health of Ortiz [Providence Journal]
While teammates cash in, Delcarmen forced to bide his time [Providence Journal]
In a preview of future matchups, Buchholz and top Orioles prospect do battle [Providence Journal]
Buchholz draws inspiration from Smoltz [redsox.com]
Penny to debut in intrasquad game [redsox.com]
Despite rust, Lowell is satisfied [redsox.com]
Boston’s moves could pay big dividends [ESPN.com]
An unlikely providence: SBTS grad ready to serve as Red Sox chaplain [The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary]
