It’s been a rough start Tuesday night for Alfredo Aceves, whose early struggles have given the Padres a 4-2 lead.
The Red Sox drew first blood in the bottom of the first when Kevin Youkilis crushed a ball off the Monster to bring Adrian Gonzalez home from first with two outs, but the lead did not last long.
After recording two quick outs in the second inning, Alfredo Aceves lost all semblance of control. Starting with balls three and four to Cameron Maybin, Aceves threw 12 straight pitches without finding the zone, loading the bases and eventually walking in two runs as he allowed five straight free passes.
Now leading 2-1, the Padres again struck with two outs in the third, but this time actually making use of their bats. Anthony Rizzo started things with a loud double off the Monster, and was followed up by a single from Cameron Maybin and a double by Nick Hundley to add two more runs.
The Sox showed signs of life in the third, with Josh Reddick leading off the inning with a triple. The next two batters each reached, but Adrian Gonzalez ran into some tough luck, lining a ball hard off of Mat Latos’ glove. Latos picked the ball up, and fired to third to start a double play and put a damper on what could have been a very big inning.