Ted's Army: The Voice of Red Sox fans

Recap: Everything goes wrong in Francona's return to Fenway

The Sox got trounced against Cleveland, 12-3, in between rain drops at Fenway tonight. 

They failed in basically every possible way. The offense was non-existent. David Ortiz slugged a three-run homer to account for the runs. Daniel Nava reached base four times -- two walks, two hits -- and everyone else combined to reach just six times.

Meanwhile, Ryan Dempster pitched just three innings, walking four and giving up five hits that produced four runs. He threw just 85 pitches, but John Farrell was forced to go to the 'pen to try to stop the slide. Long man Clayton Mortensen couldn't do any better, surrendering five runs on three walks and five hits over two innings, meaning that Farrell still had to use regular relievers for four innings. Alex Wilson, Craig Breslow, Junichi Tazawa, and Andrew Miller all took the mound.

The Indians' box score looks like something out of a video game. It's actually amazing they only scored 12 runs -- they reached base 24 times. Four players had multiple hits. Carlos Santana walked four times. It was ugly.

Oh, and Will Middlebrooks left in the 5th with back spasms. We couldn't even get through the game without an injury.

Back to Dempster. After a strong start he's gone cold, this being his third loss in four starts. He hasn't allowed fewer than two runs since May 2 in Toronto, and at the time Toronto was playing like a Babe Ruth team. What's going on? An injury he's hiding? Just a bad stretch of games? Or, what we don't want to think about, was his hot start merely a good stretch that can't be sustained?

All this is to say Terry Francona is going to smile wide tonight.

Box score

Recap: Orioles dominate Red Sox

I think the word you're looking for here is: 'metaphor'. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Sox starter Aaron Cook lasted only 2.2 inning and Sox batters never figured out Jason Hammel as the Orioles cruised to an 8-2 victory this afternoon.

God bless Clayton Mortensen and Scott Atchison.  After the Sox used 6 arms from the bullpen in yesterday's extra-innings loss, and Aaron Cook was removed mid-way through the second today, things looked pretty bleak.  Valentine called on Mortensen, who struck out 5 batters over 3+ innings of 2 hit ball.  He did allow a 3-run home run to Mark Reynolds in the 3rd (2 of the runners were Cook's responsibility) but after that he settled right down.  Once he was nearing 60 pitches, Bobby went to Atchison (who pitched in last night's game).  Atchison threw 3 hitless innings of his own.  I don't even want to think of what would have happened had Mortensen or Atchison struggled. 

And whoever was calling for Aaron Cook to be inserted into the Sox rotation: Shame on you!  Oh, that was me?  Whoops! 

In his defense, it wasn't actually poor pitching that was his undoing today, but a Chris Davis spiking.  Cook mowed through the first 5 batters he faced before allowing a single to Davis and another to Betemit.   Then he threw a bit of a wild pitch that Salty couldn't handle, Davis chugged home, Cook covered the plate, Davis slid home catching Cook in the lower leg with his spikes.  Cook stuck it out for a few more batters after that, but he wasn't nearly the same pitcher.   And by "not the same" I mean he completely unraveled. His final line for the game: 2.2 innings, 8 hits, 7 runs (6 earned) 1 walk and 0 strike outs.  

But it wouldn't have mattered if Cook took the mound or vintage Pedro Martinez because once again the Sox offense was non-existent.

From the 2nd inning through the 6th, the Sox went 1-2-3 each time, with an Ortiz walk being the only Sox runner Hammel allowed.  Boston tacked on a couple runs in the 7th on a Sweeney double and a Ross single, but that was pretty much the only offense all day.  Gonzalez had another good day at the plate, going 3-4 (raising his average on the year to .284) with a run scored.  Pedroia when 2-4.  Sweeney, Ross and Salty were the only other batters to get a hit.

On the plus side, there was no shortage of Red Sox slamming their helmets into the ground after poor at-bats, so there's that.

BOX SCORE

Your Morning Dump...Where we wonder what the Sox will do with $5.5 million

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...

The need for a proven, innings-eating starter is acute, which could mean ongoing talks with free agent pitcher Roy Oswalt could gain traction relatively quickly.

The Red Sox have been very interested in Oswalt the entire winter, a source familiar with those talks said last night, but it remains to be seen whether the new money will go toward an increased offer Oswalt’s way.

Another option could be a trade for White Sox starter Gavin Floyd. The Red Sox believe left fielder Carl Crawford will miss a minimal amount of the regular season due to his recent wrist surgery, so it appears less likely the club will budget the money toward another outfielder.

Herald: Salary dump sends Scutaro to Rockies

Pitching seems like the obvious choice to spend the nearly $6 million made available via the Marco Scutaro trade to Colorado. Well, to be exact, Scutaro is was expected to make $5.5 million in 2012 and Clayton Mortensen will make $414,000. Do the math and we get $5,086,000 and some pennies of newly available cash.

What about the hole to fill at shortstop? Well the Red Sox loved the bullpen-by-committee tactic used around the turn of the century so much, they have brought it back for short.

Punto, a classic No. 9 hitter, is a very good defensive shortstop who can play anywhere in the infield. Aviles, who spent some time this winter playing the outfield, has more offensive upside than Punto. He can also play third base.

That shortstop position has been a fun one to track since July 31, 2004. Congratulations, Nick Punto, you will be the 106th guy to play shortstop for the Sox in the last 8 years. My count may be off, it's all Edgar Renteria's fault.

To get back to the spending of the cash, Roy Oswalt seems to be popping up in conversation as of late. Yeah, he did make an average of $14 million over his last 5 seasons, but he is coming off of a not so contract-friendly season. We sound like a broken record with Roy Oswalt talk, but he looks like the Sox best option. The Sox may have to make a few more adjustments to free up salary to ink Oswalt, or they could surprise us and spend some cash that wasn't made available via trade.

Another name that has popped up recently is Gavin Floyd. Floyd is still under contract for 2012 with the White Sox so he would have to be aquired via trade. The Sox could try to get him for a few no-names and take on most or all of his $5 million remaining without getting some cash off of current payroll. I would be happy with one of those two guys. We'll just have to wait to see if the Sox will pull the trigger on some starters. I love playing the game of "What will the Red Sox do next?".

Related links: Globe: Scutaro dealt to Rockies | CSNNE: Cherington confirms Scutaro dealt to Rockies | WEEI: Red Sox deal Marco Scutaro in preparation for likely run at starter | Providence Journal: Scutaro dealt to Rockies for Mortensen

On Page 2,The Sox and Bard meet in the middle on a one-year deal.