Lester, Zink, fireworks
Complete game shutouts were the story Thursday night.
While everyone is talking about Jon Lester (9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K), Charlie Zink was dealing for Pawtucket (9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K).
Lester walked the first two batters he faced and you could sense Red Sox Nation cringing over one of those command-challenged outings. But Lester did not walk another and needed only 105 pitches (72 strikes)
Zink ran his record to 9-2 (2.42), and the Red Sox brass must be taking notice. Could he work in the bullpen? A spot start? Something.
Back to the Yankees-Red Sox game. Apparently New York manager Joe Girardi held a team meeting. He was not happy, according to the New York Daily News.
Don't know if you saw it, but St. Petersburg Times blogger Tom Jones listed 10 reasons to hate the Red Sox, and he found out how vast Red Sox Nation is. See Jones' latest blog.
Back to the minors: Zink was the highlight, but Adam Mills had a nice Double-A debut for the Sea Dogs (6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0K) in a 4-0 loss.
Lancaster pitcher Tony Bajoczky likes to pitch away from his hitter-happy stadium (2.41 ERA on the road) and it showed Thursday (7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K) ... Lars Anderson (.313) went 2-for-5.
Lowell starter Brock Huntzinger, a third-round pick last year out of high school, went 5 innings (2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K) ... Australian teen-aged outfielder Mitch Dening (.364) went 3-for-4.
I'll check in later from Hadlock ... good to have the website back!
Posted at 06:46 AM
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