Perfect No More: Sox Fall To Twins

There will be no sweep of the Mayor’s Cup series for the Red Sox, who dropped their first game of the Grapefruit League season Sunday when they fell to the Twins, 8-2, in the City of Palms Park opener in Ft. Myers.

The Twins won at the expense of a pair of members of the Sox’ historic draft class of ’05. Clay Buchholz, a supplemental pick in ’05 who relieved starter Tim Wakefield, gave up four runs on five hits and a walk in the third inning, though he bounced back to toss a perfect fourth.

“I’ve got to be able to get outs and not give up four runs in an inning—I know that,” Buchholz told reporters afterward. “I mean, it’s going to happen. It happens to everybody. It didn’t happen to me all that much last year, so it’s a little better [for it to happen] right now.

“At the same time, it’s big league camp. It’s the real deal up here. I’ve got to get better. I’ve got to have a little bit better location and then we’ll go from there.”

Of course, only injury or a complete—and unlikely—implosion will keep Buchholz, Diehard’s two-time no. 1 prospect and fresh off a brilliant season that included a no-hitter against the Orioles, from breaking camp with the Sox as a member of the rotation. The margin for error for Craig Hansen—one of the Sox’ two first-round picks three years ago—is considerably slimmer, and he didn’t help himself by giving up four runs on two hits and three walks in the ninth inning as the Twins pulled away.

“I think he has too good a stuff for that to happen,” Terry Francona told reporters afterward. “So we’ll keep at it. The good news is the ball is coming out of his hand great. The flip side of that is that he shouldn’t give up runs—I don’t care where he is—like that.”

Hansen battling with the likes of Javier Lopez, Bryan Corey and Dan Kolb for the last spot in the bullpen.

Outside of Buchholz and Hansen, the Sox received solid pitching from Wakefield, who allowed a hit in two scoreless innings, and Corey, Hideki Okajima, Lopez and Manny Delcarmen, each of whom threw a shutout frame apiece.

The Sox were led offensively Sunday by third baseman Mike Lowell, who homered in the second inning, and Dustin Pedroia, who had an RBI single in the fifth inning. The Sox were limited to five hits by seven Twins pitchers.

The Sox are 2-1 in both Grapefruit League play and the Mayor’s Cup series, which is played annually between the Sox and the Twins to determine Ft. Myers bragging rights. There are two more games to be played in this year’s series—Friday at City of Palms Park and Mar. 12 at Hammond Stadium. The Sox won last year’s series for just the fifth time in the 15-year history of the event.

The “B” game between the Sox and Twins today at City of Palms Park will not count in the standings. Josh Beckett will pitch for the Sox so that he can be spared the cross-state bus ride to Jupiter, FL, where the Sox will take on the Marlins. Kyle Snyder, who hopes to win the fifth starter’s job, will start that Grapefruit League contest.