Photo by Kelly O'Connor of sittingstill.smugmug.com

Photo by Kelly O’Connor of sittingstill.smugmug.com

After dropping Friday’s game to the Baltimore Orioles, the Red Sox took the weekend games of the 4 game set. On Saturday, the club was backed by a suburb outing by Felix Doubront and an RBI triple by Brock Holt, en route to a 4-2 final. On Sunday, Jake Peavy pitched a rocky 5.2 innings, but was picked up by a 3 run home run off the bat of Jonny Gomes, some terrific relief pitching, and a walk-off error that secured Boston’s 6-5 win.

  • Following in Victorino’s footsteps, Will Middlebrooks is also set to begin a rehab assignment. After being placed on the 15-day disabled list with a calf strain, the Red Sox third baseman seems ready to hit the field once again. (Middlebrooks set to start rehab)
  • Shifting is a two way street. Obviously, the fielders need to slide over to the side that the hitter favors. But at the same time, pitchers need to throw pitches that correlate with the defensive alignment behind them. While some starters attack hitters with a conventional shift approach, others pitch away from the shifts strengths, to their own strengths. (Red Sox adjust infield shifts to pitchers, no vice-versa)
  • While Boston’s offense has arguably been their biggest issue so far this season, the teams defensive woes have been prevalent too. When the Red Sox offense isn’t scoring runs, and the defense isn’t preventing runs, the teams below .500 record becomes understandable. (D-Ficiency: Leaky Red Sox defense a key ingredient to early struggles)
  • In the wake of the Boston Marathon tragedy, David Ortiz took the field and delivered a pregame speech that Boston won’t soon forget. Now, on the one year anniversary of the attack, Ortiz reflects back a year, and anticipates how this Patriots Day will be different from the last. (David Ortiz: Emotions will run high)