Justin Masterson had a tough act to follow after Jon Lester’s no-hitter last night.
So, Masterson just followed that up with a gem of his own earning his first major league win in the 2-1 contest against the Kansas City Royals.
Masterson threw for 6 1/3 innings of work on three hits, one earned run, three walks, and five strikeouts for a total of 91 pitches (55 for strikes).
Boston’s offense scraped together two runs in the second inning with a Julio Lugo sacrifice fly to right and a two-out ground rule double near Pesky Pole by Coco Crisp.
Finally, the Boston pen held onto a lead as Jonathan Papelbon finished out the ninth inning with two strikeouts good enough for his 13th save of the season.
Star of the Game: Is it fair to mention the scouts here?
Honestly, Theo Epstein is the “brain” of the operations for this club, but is there ever enough or any credit given to the scouts for this team. Seriously, with all the young players (pitchers and hitters, you all know who they are) how can they possibly get better at evaluating young talent? You tell me because I have no idea certainly after watching the past two nights of play on the field by the youth.
Preview of Next Game: I get to see another Red Sox career debut
I have seen Tomo Ohka, Abe Alvarez, Adam Stern (in Baltimore), Clay Buchholz (AAA debut), and now Bartolo Colon. I wish him well tomorrow but cannot see him going past 5 innings. Just my prediction.
