RHP Scott Atchison continued his unlikely run of dominance out of the bullpen, following LHP Jon Lester’s lousy effort with three shutout innings that lowered his ERA to 1.00. Making the journeyman’s results more improbable is the fact that his 27 innings lead all big-league relievers. He has struck out 20 and walked just six.
LF Carl Crawford, who has been on the disabled list since the start of the season after surgery on his left wrist in January and then due to an elbow strain, hit off a tee Friday. He is expected to do so again Saturday.
1B Adrian Gonzalez is expected to get the start in right field Saturday against Rays LHP David Price, with rookie Will Middlebrooks returning to the lineup either at third base or DH, and Kevin Youkilis playing first. Price has been particularly tough on DH David Ortiz (3-for-18), who could get a day off.
CF Scott Podsednik went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice. He is the first player to record sacrifices in each of his first two starts with the Sox since LHP Billy Rohr in 1967. The last position player to do it was Boze Berger in 1939. The decision backfired in the sixth when Podsednik advanced runners to second and third with no outs, but only one ended up scoring.
LHP Jon Lester was simply abysmal in one of his worst starts of the season. He allowed seven runs and three homers in four innings, with the big blow Matt Joyce’s grand slam with two outs in the third. Lester, who saw his ERA climb from 3.95 to 4.72, battled both his command and the strike zone of plate ump Mark Carlson, showing frequent frustration.
2B Dustin Pedroia went 0-for-4 and saw his average fall to .289, the first time it has been below .290 since April 24. Over his last 12 games, Pedroia is hitting just .200 (10-for-50) with no homers and two RBI. Pedroia has just two extra-base hits in that span.
OF Darnell McDonald, on the disabled list retroactive to May 12 with a right oblique strain, began a rehab assignment Friday with Class AAA Pawtucket. He went 0-for-1 with a sacrifice fly.
LHP Franklin Morales sparked a benches-clearing incident when he plunked Tampa Bay’s Luke Scott with a pitch with two outs in the ninth inning. “At the end of the day,” Scott said, “you reap what you sow.”
