Corey Kluber, Kutter Crawford keep rolling; David Hamilton lifts Red Sox offense to 4-1 win over Marlins
The Red Sox hosted the Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon, as Corey Kluber made his second start this spring against the Marlins. Kulber came out of the gate hot with a strikeout of the side.
He came back out with a scoreless second and third inning, but did get taken out of the game in the third after loading the bases. Red Sox prospect Chase Shugart relieved Kluber and struck out Jazz Chisholm to escape the jam. Kluber finished with 52 pitches and four strikeouts.
Kluber is looking to be a veteran anchor in Boston’s starting rotation, similar to the role Michael Wacha played last season. The 37-year-old started 31 games last season for the Rays and carried a 4.34 ERA.
Shugart has had an impressive start to his spring, as he came into a bases loaded spot against the best hitter on the Marlins and got out of it with a strikeout. Shugart has already faced Joey Gallo in his last outing and talked to Beyond the Monster about his approach.
Richard Bleier made his final appearance of the spring, a scoreless inning against his former team, before heading off to play in the WBC for Israel. The newly acquired lefty should be the teams most used lefty out of the bullpen this season.
Wyatt Mills struggled for the first time this spring for the Red Sox in the top of the 5th. After a 28 pitch inning, Mills gave up two hits, one run, one walk, and had three strikeouts.
Kutter Crawford continued his scoreless spring with another three innings against Miami. Three clean innings paired with three strikeouts, Crawford continues to keep his name in the ring for a potential rotation spot if health continues to be a factor for the starting rotation.
The Red Sox offense finally got things going in the bottom of the 7th inning, as the Red Sox finally got on the board with a bases loaded walk by Narciso Crook. Ronaldo Hernandez followed it up with another bases loaded walk to give the Red Sox the lead.
David Hamilton came up next with the bases loaded and sent a two-run double over the right fielders head to extend the Red Sox lead to 4-1 where the game would finish up. The Red Sox remain undefeated with a few ties in the mix as well.
Follow Andrew on Twitter @ByAndrewParker
For additional Red Sox and Major League Baseball content, follow Beyond the Monster: Boston Red Sox on Twitter @BeyondtheMnstr