April 15, 1991
After opening the season with two straight wins in Toronto, the Red Sox have now lost 4 straight games. They will get started early today wrapping up their series with the Cleveland Indians with the traditional 11am Patriots Day start at Fenway Park.
The offense has been much improved to this point, as evidenced by Boston having scored the most runs in the American League through their first six games. Conversely, the pitching has struggled. They are dead last in the league in runs allowed, with the starters’ ERA at a ghastly 7.09 on the young season. Of chief concern amongst the pitchers has been Roger Clemens. His velocity was down during the spring and the results were uneven. After a decent performance on Opening Day, Clemens was obliterated by the Indians yesterday at Fenway Park. He signed a 6 year, $26.1 million extension on the eve of Spring Training, with the Red Sox aiming to make him the highest paid player in the game. With that moniker comes lofty expectations for the 3 time Cy Young award winner. If the Red Sox are going to have a bounce back season, they will need Clemens to right the ship in a hurry.
Rule 5 draft pick Pat Hentgen has been outstanding out of the bullpen over two appearances. He turned some heads during spring training and he has emerged as a possible key piece for the future. After starter Chris Bosio struggled over the weekend, following his struggles in the spring, manager Jim Fregosi suggested that Hentgen could receive an opportunity in the rotation sooner than later.
Fregosi unveiled a new lineup for the Red Sox on Opening Day which has yielded great results so far. Wade Boggs has served as the leadoff man against righties, while slipping to 6th in the order when Boston faces lefties. They moved Ellis Burks from the cleanup role he served in last year to the top of the order. He’s hitting leadoff against lefties and second against right handed starters.
One of the most encouraging signs early on has been the emergence of Phil Plantier. After showing well in September after his call up last season, Plantier has started this season on a tear. His 3 home runs lead the American League.
Opening Day in Toronto
Around the League
Darryl Strawberry wasted no time making new fans in Minneapolis, as Strawberry took home American League Player of the Week honors in his first week with his new team. He went 11-for-23 with a home run and 7 RBI to open his season. In the National League, Atlanta’s Jeff Blauser won the award by going 12-for-21 with two home runs last week.
Week in Review
The Red Sox opened the season with a 10-7 win in an Opening Day slugfest in Toronto. Leading 7-3 in the 7th, Rob Murphy and Jeff Gray were unable to hold the lead, with the Blue Jays scoring 4 runs to tie the game. They were aided by two throwing errors from 3B Jeff Bagwell in the inning. Ellis Burks came to the rescue with a 3 run triple in the 8th inning.to put Boston back on top for good. Roger Clemens pitched well over 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 5, but was robbed of the victory with Toronto's 7th inning rally. Phil Plantier had a 3 run homer off Blue Jay starter Dave Stieb in the 5th inning to extend Boston's early lead.
For the second straight day, Boston's offense had a field day against Toronto's pitching. Today, they pounded out 14 hits en route to a 9-3 victory at Skydome. Carlos Quintana and Tim Naehring had 3 hits apiece to lead the Red Sox. Naehring hit a 469 foot home run off Toronto starter David Wells in the 3rd inning. Dana Kiecker was outstanding for the Red Sox today, holding the Blue Jays to 2 runs on just 4 hits over 7 innings. On the other side, Wells was unable to get through 4 innings for Toronto. Boston will go for the series sweep tomorrow night behind former Blue Jay Jimmy Key.
The Red Sox took their first loss of the season today, 8-3 to the Toronto Blue Jays. It wasn't exactly the triumphant return to Toronto that Jimmy Key had hoped for. He allowed 4 runs in the first inning, and was pulled after 4.2 innings, as he surrendered 7 runs in total. The Red Sox offense continued to be able to reach base, but they struggled to push runs across against Toronto's Todd Stottlemyre. He scattered 11 hits in his 7 innings of work, while limiting the damage to 3 runs. Phil Plantier and Tim Naehring each hit their second home run of the young season in the game. It was also a sloppy defensive effort for Boston today, as they committed 3 errors in the game, 2 from veteran third baseman Wade Boggs.