Masterson Masterful, But Sox Blow It

By KC Downey in Featured, Red Sox, Top Story ⋅ April 25, 2008 at 6:27am ⋅ Post a comment

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Boston Red Sox's Justin Masterson follows through on a pitch against the Los Angeles Angels in the first inning of a baseball game at Boston's Fenway Park, Thursday, April 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Due to a dearth of starting pitching thanks to various injuries including the Varitek flu bug and neck stiffness, the Red Sox called up one of their stud prospects to spot start. This time, the Sox sent 6′6″ Justin Masterson to the hill. He was…dare I say…masterful. The righty pitched six strong innings, allowing only one run on two hits and four walks, to go with four strikeouts.

Despite the strong outing, the Sox lost 7-5 after the bullpen allowed four runs in the seventh to give the Angels the lead. Javier Lopez allowed both men he faced to reach base, and Manny Delcarmen loaded the bases before allowing both of Lopez’s inherited runners to score, including two of his own as well. David Aardsma allowed a run in the eighth and Julian Tavarez allowed another one in the ninth. Those extra runs proved costly for the Red Sox.

That’s because David Ortiz blasted a two-run HR in the ninth to give the Sox just a two-run deficit. So sad, but on the bright side, Ortiz is busting out of his slump. His HR was his fourth to go along with his 20 RBIs, which places Big Papi at or near the top of the American League in that category.

Best Offensive Stud: Gary Matthews, Jr., LAA

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB
Matthews	5	0	3	3	0

As much as I hate to do it, Matthews was the clear choice for Best Offensive Stud again. He had three RBI’s to lead the Angels attack, including a clutch bases loaded single to score two in the seventh, and a RBI double in the eighth.
Is he just a Red Sox killer like Frank Thomas and the former Julio Lugo (until we signed him)? I sure hope not, because I can’t stand him!

Game Notes:

Just a thought: Masterson looked stronger than either Jon Lester or Clay Buchholz have all season, but we probably won’t see him contribute a great deal to the big club until 2009.
Coco Crisp continues to hit: he went 2-4 and his average now sits at .341.
Kevin Cash played again as Jason Varitek continues to battle the flu. He went 1-2 with an RBI and a walk.

Tags: Justin Masterson, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Manny Delcarmen