Jon Lester has himself ready for the regular season.
Boston’s ace cruised through seven innings of two-hit balls, striking out 10 in the Red Sox’s 6-0 win over the Phillies.
Joe Blanton got the start in Clearwater. He was solid through the first four innings but for hit for another three runs in the 5th, ending his start shorter than he wanted. After a David Ortiz RBI single in the 5th, Cody Ross took Blanton deep to make it 5-0, ending his day.
Blanton allowed five runs on seven hits, striking out five. He allowed two home runs, one to Dustin Pedroia in the 1st and to Ross in the 5th. According to Matt Gelb on Twitter, Blanton said he was “good at time, horses*** at times.”
Pete Orr, Lou Montanez and Freddy Galvis were the only Phillies to get a hit.
PAPS TALKS PHILLY, BOSTON AGAIN — Jonathan Papelbon wanted to clear up some of the comments he made a couple weeks ago on Philadelphia radio comparing Boston fans to Philadelphia fans.
“Obviously, I wasn’t trying to offend nobody, man,” he said. “I was just calling a spade a spade. I’ve been in the bullpen down there many times in Boston and this guy doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about. It happens in Philadelphia, too. I’ve been in the Philadelphia, but I was simply saying because the American League is different than the National League, there’s a little bit more thought process that goes along with that.”
So he wasn’t taking a shot at Boston fans?
“No,” he said. “I knew it was going to be read that way. But that’s the thing: I don’t really care. The fans that know me in Boston … it’s kind of irrelevant. But I’m not going to throw shots at Boston fans, no. They’ve been there for me for so many years. I was just making a statement National League vs. American League, you know? Bunting and all that. I can’t remember us bunting three times.”
Paps original comments can be read in the blog post as well.
TTB 