Master and Servant
Indians pitcher Justin Masterson is such a nice guy that his former teammates didn’t want to score runs off of him. The Red Sox lineup nubbed grounder after grounder to Cleveland’s infield; by the end of his nine innings Masterson tallied 17 ground ball outs. Only Victor Martinez and J.D. Drew managed singles off the lanky starter. The other two baserunners, Kevin Youkilis and Jeremy Hermida, reached on bases on balls. I suspect Masterson bribed the Boston ballplayers with his wife Meryl’s Home Plate Cookies.
Clay Buchholz wasn’t his ace self on the mound: 7 innings pitched, 3 hits, 3 earned runs, 4 walks, and 1 strikeout. Although he gave up a handful of runs the game was winnable until Boof Bonser and Joe Nelson took over in the eighth. Bonser, whose smartest career move was to legally change his name from the banal “John” to the memorable “Boof,” pitched to four batters and didn’t notch an out. Nelson allowed all of the runners he inherited score in a most grandiose fashion: a four-bagger with ducks on the pond lofted into right field by Travis Hafner.
Who knows if or when Bonser or Nelson will ever work it out. But there was a pitcher acquired by the Red Sox off the scrap heap who went on to become the team’s leader in innings pitched. I neglected to properly commemorate Tim Wakefield surpassing Roger Clemens for the club record in innings pitched. While Wakefield will not be remembered as an all-time great baseball player, he is all-time member of the Old Town team. After he announces his retirement he will be enshrined in the Red Sox Hall of Fame quicker than it takes him to pitch a game.
| Game 61: June 9, 2010 | ||
| Red Sox 35-26 | 0 | L: Clay Buchholz (8-4) |
| No extra base hits. | ||
 Indians22-36 | 11 | W: Justin Masterson (2-5) |
| 2B: Anderson Hernandez (1) 3B: Trevor Crowe (2) HR: Travis Hafner (5) | ||
