Phillies and Boston Play to 4-4 10th Inning Tie, Papelbon Returns to Closer Role
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The Phillies and the Boston Red Sox played a tight 10 inning game which ended in a 4-4 tie.
Phillies starter Jamie Moyer had rough sailing through the 2nd and 3rd innings giving up all 4 Boston runs on a solo blast by rightfielder Wily Mo Pena and a 3 run shot by 3rd baseman Kevin Youkilis in the 3rd. Moyer pitched 5 innings walking 1 and striking out 7. Boston starter Tim Wakefield had similar rough sliding with the Phils giving up a 2 run homer to 2nd baseman Chase Utley in the 1st inning. it was Utley’s 4th homer of the spring.
Relievers Jon Lieber, in his relief effort for the Phils since being reassigned to the bullpen, and J Bisenius pitched 2 and 3 innings respectively shutting the BoSox down over the final 5 innings. Lieber gave up but 2 hits while striking out 3 and Bisenius held the Red Sox hitless while striking out 1.
Jonathan Papelbon was similarly reassigned to the bullpen and to the closer’s role by the Red Sox, and he pitched the 7th through the 9th innings giving up the Phillies’ tying run in the 7th inning while walking 1 and striking out 3 in his 3 inning stint. Reliever Bryan Corey threw a hitless 10th inning at Phils as the game ended in a tie.
Phillies rightfielder Karim Garcia went 3 for 4 including a double and an RBI single off of Papelbon in the 7th inning. Infielder Abraham Nunez similarly went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.
ESPN’s AP report noted;
Papelbon is heading back to Boston’s bullpen to fill a major void, though he isn’t doing it because an injury to Mike Timlin left the Red Sox without a closer.
“I haven’t been sleeping well because there’s been that feeling deep down in my heart that I wanted to close,” Papelbon said after the Phillies and Red Sox played to a 4-4 tie in 10 innings Thursday.
Papelbon is coming off a sensational rookie season in which he had 35 saves and an 0.92 ERA. The 26-year-old right-hander was slated to be part of a strong starting rotation, but the Red Sox need a reliable closer because the 41-year-old Timlin has a strained side muscle and isn’t going to be ready to start the season.
Papelbon made the decision to tell manager Terry Francona how he felt about returning to his closer’s role earlier this week after consulting with his family and speaking to catcher Jason Varitek.
“He’s unique,” Francona said. “He’s at the top of the list of relievers in baseball. He impacts the game like no other. I’m thrilled we have a young guy that feels enthusiastic about doing a job.”
38 Pitches.com, the blog penned by Boston ace Curt Schilling writes about the factors; contemplation, Papelbon’s maturity after his first year in the majors — his dominant number one ranking among closers and the decision-making process which led to Papelbon’s return to the closer role.
Schilling writes;
No it wasn’t a rash decision brought about by uncertainty. I can promise you there were many meetings involving many people that occurred before this took place.
Paps wanted to close because that’s where he felt he helped the team best, but he had no issues or problems being a starter either. He was going to do whatever role they asked of him.
I think the most important aspect, and what will be the most talked about part of this move is his health. One of the important points to note here is just how much smarter, and stronger he is, than he was last year.
Since he was hurt last year, like any smart athlete, he has taken the time to get educated on exactly how his shoulder works, and how best to address it and take care of it. The great part about that is that in my experience it’s always taken a major surgery to get young pitchers with unhealthy shoulders to see the light, and that’s not the case here.
That to me is the most important aspect or the major turning point in any young players career. When you get hurt that first time, and you get educated about your arm, things change dramatically if you are someone that has an inner desire to be great, which he does. You get an education that not only allows you to get healthy, but get stronger.
Julian Tavarez, who did a solid job in the rotation when given the chance in September, will take Papelbon’s starting slot.
Why did the Red Sox wait so long before making the Papelbon/Tavarez switch?
Mainly because they wanted to make sure his shoulder continued to respond favorably to each outing.
“We made the decision with extensive, intense and passionate talk that we’re going to move Pap to the bullpen,” Francona said. “This has not been something the last four or five days — this has been a month. I wanted to go through the proper procedures and, ultimately, I needed to talk to this young man. He actually beat me to the punch.”
The scores, boxscores and recaps for this and all Thursday games can be found here.
The Phils host the Atlanta Braves on Friday in Clearwater. The scores, boxscores and recaps for this and all Friday games can be found here.
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