Red Sox Roll into Bradenton

The Bucs took it to the Astros yesterday.  Does anyone else smell trouble in Houston?  If you have a few minutes today, peruse some of the Astros blogs, WOW.

The Pirates season has strong upside.  I thought the Astros would have had a little more for the Bucs yesterday, after Coach Cecil Cooper called a closed door meeting.  Stay positive, good things lie in store for us this year.

Today’s game against the Sox should be an interesting matchup for the Bucs.  After Ross Ohlendorf (six hits and two runs — one earned — in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out two) threw three plus innings yesterday, will Tom Gorzelany get an extra inning today as well?   Will Bootcheck ever get action earlier in a game against some more formidable bats?

Donnie Veal, a big fan of RumBunter, had a rough day at the yard yesterday.  Ugly line.  But still got the victory.  The big fella will bounce back. 

The offense has been strong all spring and the bullpen has been with exception of about four innings, lights out.  All the buzz about Freddy Sanchez being in great shape is fantastic.   Bombs yesterday by Sanchez, Monroe, and Garrett Jones again.  Jones has performed well and is making the most of the opportunity this spring. 

From Dejan at Post Gazette, Neal Huntington, on Moss’ status: “At this time, there’s no indication of ligament damage,” Neal Huntington said. “We’re sending him to Pittsburgh just to be totally cautious about that.” 

This is key, too: Moss was hurt while trying to make a diving catch Saturday when the ball bounced up off the grass and struck his thumb. Initially, it was thought that the ball hit the inside of the thumb, but the X-rays showed it was the outside.

The Red Sox blew out the World Champion Tampa Bay Rays yesterday 8-2 to revenge the loss on Saturday when they surrended nine unearned runs in a 15-7 loss to the Rays.

On the hill today is Lefty Jon Lester, who is reportedly on the verge of signing a five-year contract extension for the Red Sox in today’s 1:05 p.m. game in Bradenton. Takashi Saito, Hideki Okajima and Manny Delcarmen will get work out of the bullpen.

The Bucs counter today with lefty Tom Gorzelanny followed by Sean Burnett, Craig Hansen, Tyler Yates, Brian Slocum and Chris Bootcheck.