Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Sox manager Terry Francona was asked why they chose to pitch to Cabrera. He answered, “The kid behind him [Shin-Soo Choo] is pretty good, too. Sometimes it can almost be an advantage when you have an open base. You can pitch backwards, do some things. He just didn’t locate when he wanted to.’’
Bard disagreed.
“I felt really good,’’ he said. “I threw both those pitches right where I wanted to.’’
Bard said he checked the location of the pitches on video. “I thought I made good pitches,’’ he said. “If they both didn’t swing, [catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia] wouldn’t have moved his glove on either one.’’
Globe | Setup needs some cleanup
Related: Herald | Indians raze the Bard
Bard is a little Lackeyan in these comments. Let's hope it's an aberration, we don't need more excuse-making.
But Nick was right in the recap last night -- we need to pump the brakes on the use of Daniel Bard. Hopefully Jenks' impending return will help, but however we do it we need to make sure we ease the burden off Bard's arm. He's already pitching the most important situations each game (so Papelbon can be reserved for the glory of the save), so let's at least cut down the volume.
The hero for Indians was shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, who also owns the Delonte West Award for greatest name in baseball. Asdrubal? His mom must have pulled that letter combination from a bowl of alphabet soup. I love it.
On page 2, we get an update on the re-injured Dustin Pedroia.
He jammed his surgically repaired left ankle, but said after the game he was “OK.”
He experienced a similar sensation in Anaheim earlier this year.
"Similar to what I did in Anaheim," Pedroia said. "When I do something like that my leg is like a stinger like you get in football. My leg took a while to get feeling back. I was off the field already. In Anaheim the feeling came back in like a minute. Can't hold up the game that long. I slipped on the base.
CSNNE | Pedroia 'okay'
I like how he talks about a football injury so matter-of-factly. "Yeah, when I was playing middle linebacker in the Big 12 this happened all the time."
I'm starting to become concerned with Pedroia's collection of injuries. We constantly joke about his size, but you'd think that with as compact a body as his, there might be less chance for him to hurt something. But he's missed time the last two years, and is nicked up again. This particularly injury isn't a concern -- I just hope he doesn't end up with a career of them. I have fanciful visions of Pedroia being in Boston for his whole career, and raising a number 15 plaque up in right field. Hate to see things fall apart as they have with former faces of the franchise (ahem, Nomar).
Related: Herald | Dustin Pedroia OK after scare | Globe | Pedroia's injury considered minor | ESPNBoston | Dustin Pedroia lost feeling in leg
The rest of the links:
CSNNE | Game Story: Tribe rally to beat Red Sox 3-2 | Buchholz: Got to tip your cap to Masterson | Francona: Matsuzaka will not have surgery | Scutaro waits patiently on the DL | ESPNBoston | Indians rally in 8th to beat Sox | Francona: Daisuke to see Dr. Yocum | Herald | Sox see what may have been | No decision for Dice-K | JD Drew stays patient | Globe | Indians rally past Red Sox | Facing Cabrera wrong move from the start
