Wednesday Links: The curse of Pierzynski

Rubby De La Rosa could give the Sox’ bullpen the boost it needs in the second half. Photo by Kelly O’Connor, sittingstill.net.

With the stakes considerably lower than the last time they met, the Red Sox and Cardinals began a “world series rematch” series on Tuesday. Fresh off a solid start against the Toronto Blue Jays last Wednesday, Rubby De La Rosa took the mound for the Red Sox, and tossed 6 innings of one-run baseball. For St. Louis, Lance Lynn held the Red Sox offense to just 2 runs on 4 hits over 7 innings of work. With Boston up by a run in the 7th inning, the Cardinals staged a rally against new Red Sox left-hander Tommy Layne. After retiering the first batter of the inning, Layne walked Cardinals center fielder Shane Robinson, who later advanced to second on a ground out. A batter later, St. Louis knotted the score on an RBI single by Cardinals second baseman Kolton Wong. In the 8th inning, the Cardinals managed to assemble another rally, this time against the usually sure-handed Junichi Tazawa. With 2 outs in the inning, A.J. Pierzynski collected a single to left, and later advanced to third on another 2-out single by Oscar Taveras. With runners on the corners and 2 outs, Jon Jay blooped a soft fly ball into left field to score A.J. Pierzynski, and give the Cardinals the 3-2 advantage. In the 9th, Yoenis Cespedes managed to collect a lead-off single, but Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal retired the next 3 batters in succession to secure the victory for St. Louis.

• Despite being the whipping boy for the 2014 Red Sox failure, A.J. Pierzynski holds no animosity towards the Red Sox or the city of Boston. While with the Red Sox, the veteran catcher never seemed to fit the Red Sox mold on offense or defense. Instead, Pierzynski’s tendency to make quick outs, and his defensive shortcomings behind the plate lead to his release from Boston shortly before the All-Star break. (AJ Pierzynski: I know everyone expects me to be bitter…but I’m not.)

• The Red Sox announced on Tuesday that Shane Victorino underwent successful surgery on his lower back, but would miss the remainder of the 2014 season. Despite a productive return from the disabled list in mid-July, the Red Sox right fielder was still battling back problems that sidelined him for most of the season. (Shane Victorino undergoes successful back surgery on Tuesday)

• The Red Sox newly acquire outfielder Allen Craig was placed on the disabled list on Tuesday. Craig, who came to Boston in the deadline deal that sent John Lackey to St. Louis, injured his left ankle while running out a ground ball during Friday’s game against the Yankees. The Red Sox don’t believe that his current injury has any correlation to his previous ankle injury, but will likely seek multiple medical opinions before proceeding with rehabilitation. (Red Sox place Allen Craig on the disabled list)

• With the just about the entire 2013 Red Sox pitching staff now donning other uniforms, one wonders if Ben Cherington should finish dismantling the Red Sox rotation by shipping Clay Buchholz out of town. Aside from a dominant — albeit, abbreviated — 2013 campaign, the right-hander has proven that his unreliability on the mound, and his inability to stay healthy off the mound. (Cherington’s next move? Bounce bad Buchholz)

• With Bud Selig in his last season as commissioner of baseball, the MLB’s search for its next leader has appeared to be confined to the leagues head office. However, Red Sox chairman Tom Werner has entered the race for the job, after he was encouraged to do so by his fellow owners. Werner, along with Rob Manfred and Tim Brosnan, are reportedly the finalists for the position. (Red Sox chairman Tom Werner among finalists to be MLB commissioner)

• Tweet of the day: 2014 could be worse than 2012. Just think about that for a minute.