Dice-K took the mound today against the Tigers. His struggles this spring have been well reported…and many believe that Dice-K should either be traded or taken out of the rotation. This start seemed way more important than it actually probably was in order to show one way or another in terms of Dice-K. As a Dice-K fan, I was crossing my fingers that he did well.
Dice-K took the mound…against Verlander no less…and well…pitched pretty gosh darn well. Dice-K pitched 5 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 BB and striking out 5. I was only able to listen on the radio, but it sure sounded like Dice-K was getting it done. And the walk…it was VMart in an epic 10 pitch at bat. Dice-K and the Tiger broadcasters thought that Dice struck him out, but it was called a ball and a few pitches later VMart headed on down to 1B with a free pass. All in all…I think this was a great showing for Dice-K. It’s just what we needed to see. If we get outings like this from him this year, that’s a pretty good 5th starter. What the Tigers broadcasters said was most impressive was that Dice was commanding the strike zone….now, if only he can continue to do that….you know…consistently.
As for the offense, the Sox got on the board with Ellsbury hitting a HR off Verlander in the 4th inning to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. The Tigers broadcasters said the HR was well hit…and well gone. Ells has had himself a very nice spring and right now he is hitting .414. The Tigers would tie it up in the 7th when Miguel Cabrera hit a HR off of Matt Albers. It looked like we were heading to a tied game, but in the bottom of the 10th inning, DMac hit a HR for the Sox to take a 2-1 lead. Duckworth came out in the bottom of the 10th and closed the game out.
And a shoutout for VMart who I will always adoringly love. He got a single and a walk in the game. NESN had a nice little article about how VMart enjoyed his time with the Sox and holds no grudges from not being resigned. I’ll always cheer for VMart and wish him nothing but the best with the Tigers.
SOX WIN 2-1.
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