Well, that didn’t take too long.
If there was one thing Andrew Miller could do to lower expectations after a strong outing against the Rangers last week, it would be to walk the first batter.
Instead, he walked the first two, and then gave up a single and sacrifice fly afterwards for good measure. The walks were not of the variety worked by Andruw Jones last night. They took just 10 pitches in total, with Miller showing a complete inability to find the zone on a regular basis. And while the single wasn’t terribly impressive, with Jed Lowrie making a weak dive and failing to convert the out, that’s the sort of thing that happens when you walk batters.
If Miller’s inning weren’t bad enough, the Sox then came up empty in the bottom half despite a leadoff hit from Jacoby Ellsbury. The speedy center fielder was caught by Derrek Holland when he left first early, and neither Pedroia nor Gonzalez could reach base.
Long story short, it’s bad news early in Boston.