Masterson Shines In Red Sox 5-3 win.

Justin Masterson, where will you play? Will he be a member of the already crowded starting rotation or will he be a valuable part of the bullpen's "bridge to Papelbon." I know how I'd answer that question, but it's not up to me. Boston manager Terry "Tito" Francona and his staff will eventually decide where to put his valuable arm. One fact that I came across JUST NOW is that the number four slotted pitcher, Brad Penny, could not get loose for yesterday's game, so everything in paradise might be cloudy for him, at least for the near future. That's why Tito is stretching Masterson out. Yesterday he pitched two terrific innings in a 5-3 Baltimore Orioles win. But the final score is not important, what happened in the spring training game is.

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BOSTON (3) AT BALTIMORE (5)

BOSTON AB R H BI BALTIMORE AB R H BI
J Ellsbury cf 3 0 1 0 B Roberts 2b 2 0 0 1
J Van Every cf 2 0 0 0 J Turner 2b 1 0 0 0
J Lowrie 3b 3 0 0 0 A Jones dh 2 0 1 0
R Khoury 3b-2b 1 0 0 0 M Wieters ph-dh 2 0 0 0
C Carter lf 4 0 1 0 N Markakis rf 3 0 1 0
Z Daeges lf 0 0 0 0 L Montanez rf 1 1 1 0
B Wilkerson 1b 3 0 0 0 A Huff 1b 3 0 0 0
P McAnulty 1b 1 0 0 0 O Salazar 1b 1 0 0 0
J Bailey rf 2 1 1 0 T Wigginton 3b 3 1 1 0
C Ambres rf 1 0 0 0 D Murphy 3b 1 1 1 2
L Anderson dh 3 0 1 0 L Scott lf 2 0 0 1
G Kottaras c 2 0 0 0 R Freel pr-lf 1 0 0 0
D Brown ph-c 2 0 0 0 J Christian cf 2 1 1 0
N Green 2b 3 1 2 1 N Reimold cf 2 0 0 0
Z Borowiak 3b 1 0 0 0 G Zaun c 1 1 1 1
I Ochoa ss 3 1 1 2 G Rodriguez c 1 0 0 0
A Diaz ss 0 0 0 0 C Gomez ss 1 0 1 0
J Masterson p 0 0 0 0 B Davis ss 1 0 0 0
D Hansack p 0 0 0 0 B Bergesen p 0 0 0 0
B Traber p 0 0 0 0 J Johnson p 0 0 0 0
D Bard p 0 0 0 0 C Ray p 0 0 0 0
D Richardson p 0 0 0 0 C Waters p 0 0 0 0
A Mills p 0 0 0 0 W Perez p 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 34 3 7 3 TOTALS 30 5 8 5

BOSTON 000 100 200 -- 3
BALTIMORE 001 200 02x -- 5

DP--BALTIMORE 1. LOB--BOSTON 7, BALTIMORE 5.
2B--C Gomez, G Zaun, J Christian, N Green. 3B--T
Wigginton. HR--D Murphy 1 (1) (off A Mills), I
Ochoa 1 (1) (off C Waters). SF--B Roberts.
IP H R ER BB SO HR
BOSTON
J Masterson 2 1 0 0 0 1 0
D Hansack 1 2 1 1 1 0 0
B Traber 1 3 2 2 1 0 0
D Bard 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
D Richardson 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
A Mills (L,0-1) 2 2 2 2 0 1 1

BALTIMORE
B Bergesen 3 4 0 0 0 3 0
J Johnson 1 1 1 1 1 2 0
C Ray 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
C Waters (W,1-0) 3 2 2 2 0 1 1
W Perez (S,1) 1 0 0 0 1 2

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Masterson retired six of the seven batters he faced, giving up a lone single to the first batter. Here's Tito's thought process and modus operandi when it comes to his talented righthander, a man between the 'pen and the rotation. To me, it's a no-brainer...if Penny is healthy. BULLPEN!

“If we thought there was some anxiety there with him, we’d spend more time talking to him. He’s OK,” Francona said. “He understands that he’s an integral part of what we want to do. We just need to let this play itself out a little bit. and we’ve explained this to him. He threw strikes,” Francona said. “He was pretty good. He’ll come back Sunday against Tampa Bay and throw three innings.”

Three innings? Well, Tito recently said everything is still to be determined regarding Justin, but if you ask me, I'd put him in the bullpen. We have four solid starters plus Wakefield (sorry, Tim) ready to go and you can add another when Smoltz is ready, which won't be long. So why not use Masterson exactly where he excelled last year...in the 'pen inducing rightys to hit the ball to an infielder, often starting a double play. But right now, the question is the health of Brad Penny.

The snow is over in Connecticut and we received a modest 8-9 inches. But the frigid arctic air barrelled in after the storm passed to our east and north. Right now, it's 8 degrees F. The normal high temperature for March third is 43. Oh how I wish we could see that...soon. Have a great Tuesday and as always, BE WELL. Your comments are welcome and always answered, and you can click on this post's title for all the latest and IMPORTANT news from the Providece Journal about Brad Penny. Shalom. Aloha. Ciao. L'chaim. See ya.