Bombs A-Bay by Jared Carrabis
Brad Penny debuts, two blasts by Jason Bay lift Sox to victory

(Photos from Boston.com)

Saturday was the debut of many things that Red Sox fans were looking forward to; the debut of Brad Penny, the new "old school" road uniforms and the booming bat of Jason Bay.

Well, Sox fans could anticipate the first two prior to the first pitch, but the third debut that fell on Saturday turned out to be quite the pleasant surprise. Brad Penny took the mound for the very first time in a Red Sox uniform in the bottom of the first inning. Out of the gate, Penny's fastball was less than what fans who have seen Penny pitch in the past would come to expect, ranging in the 88-90 MPH range.

The Angels got on the board early by manufacturing a run via the leadoff walk to Chone Figgins, followed by Figgns' fourth stolen base on the young season, as Figgins came in to score on back-to-back ground outs to the Red Sox infielders. Penny concluded the inning by hitting 93 on the gun. The former Dodger reached as high as 95 in his six inning performance on Saturday.

Although he wasn't dominant, Sox fans should be patient and allow Penny to return to his '06-'07 form. The hefty right-hander scattered five hits on the day, two of which were home runs to Mike Napoli, giving up three earned runs, walking two and striking out two. Penny faced 24 batters and hurled 86 pitches to pick up his first victory with the Boston Red Sox in as many tries.

The Sox' offense that has been nearly dormant since Opening Day came back with a vengeance against the Angels in the second game of the series. Trailing by a 2-0 score in the fifth inning, Mike Lowell rocketed a 91 MPH fastball off of Joe Saunders for a two-run home run to even the score at two. The Angels got a run right back in the bottom half to regain the lead, but the Angels' lead got there just in time for the firework show put on by Jason Bay.

Bay, who was 3 for his first 12 in 2009, made his presence felt in a big way when he ripped a two-run home run of his own into the left field corner to put Boston on top, 4-3. Bay continued to flex his offensive muscle and relax the worries of Red Sox Nation by following up his two-run shot with a solo blast in his very next at bat in the top of the ninth. The 86 MPH slider that Bay turned into a souvineer made the score 5-3 in favor of Boston.

With Jonathan Papelbon coming out of the bullpen in the bottom half, a two-run lead is plenty, right? Well, Papelbon got ahead of leadoff batter Torii Hunter 0-2, but when the Boston closer tried to deliver a pitch up and out of the strikezone, apparently it wasn't far enough out of the strikezone for the LA center fielder. Hunter smashed the 94 MPH fastball to the opposite field to bring the Halos within a run.

Papelbon regrouped and went on to lock down his second save of 2009. Although it was scary, and surely it wasn't pretty, the Red Sox now have their second win of the season. Returning to the mound in the rubber-match of this series will be Josh Beckett. On Opening Day, Beckett was nothing short of spectacular as he dominated his way through the potent Tampa Bay lineup, racking up ten strikeouts along the way. It is also worth noting that Rocco Baldelli has left his spring slump in Fort Myers and was 2-for-4 with a run scored in the win on Saturday.

-Jared Carrabis

Final Score: Red Sox 5, Angels 4

Published on April 12, 2009

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