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Clearing the Bases Blog Index
July 06, 2008
Look for the Sox to take

Before we get into Saturday's highlights, today's Red Sox-Yankees game offers a battle of styles, with old man knuckler Tim Wakefield vs. young fireballer Job Chamberlain.

With Chamberlain's command being suspect at times, look for the Red Sox to force him to throw strikes.

As for Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Yankees: It is games like those that Boston misses the clutch bat of David Ortiz.

Watching Sea Dogs right-hander Michael Bowden pitch brings to mind another 21-year-old who starred on the Hadlock Field mound. See Sunday's baseball column.

In the Red Sox game, Justin Masterson (6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 HBP, 2 K) took the loss, but he certainly did not wilt.

Clay Buchholz (5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 5 K) did not have his best outing for Pawtucket, although two walks is a good sign.

But one of those two walks was costly. With one runner on and two outs in the third inning, Buchholz walked a batter to keep the inning alive. He then gave up an RBI double and three-run homer.

In Portland, the Sea Dogs won 5-1 as Dave Gassner showed you don't have to be a prized prospect to pitch well.

In Lancaster, Lars Anderson and Jason Place kept their recent spurts going. Anderson (.320) went 2-for-2 with his 11th homer. In the past 8 games, Anderson is hitting .483 (.15-31). Place went 2-for-3 and continues to push his average up (.254) after a slow start. Place is hitting .400 (16-40) in his last 8 games.

I have not mentioned Michael Jones’ name in a while, but the Greenville first baseman is still hitting (.331). He was 3-for-4 Saturday.

Two recent draft picks are doing well:

Lowell reliever Seth Garrison, 22, pitched two scoreless innings (1 H, 1 BB). In 12 1/3 innings, he has a 0.73 ERA. Garrison was a 23rd-round pick out of Texas Christian.

Outfield Bryan Peterson, 18, an 11th-round pick out of West Valley High in Spokane, Wash., is one of the few high school players to sign so far. He went 3-for-3 Saturday in the Gulf Coast League, and is hitting .370 (10-27) in eight games.

Posted at 07:57 AM

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Kevin covers baseball for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He first reported on spring training games for the St. Petersburg Times in 1978. He wisely moved to Maine in 1994 and now writes about the Portland Sea Dogs and Boston Red Sox—when he's not coaching Little League baseball.

He is married to Nancy, and the couple recently completed their lineup card with the birth of their ninth child.



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