Red Sox Prospect Matt Barnes Impressive In Major League Debut
BOSTON (CBS) -- While the Boston Red Sox don't have much to play for the rest of the way, the final weeks of the season give them a chance to see what a few of their promising prospects can do at the Major League level.
They got their first glimpse of Matt Barnes, Boston's first round pick in 2011 out of UConn, on Tuesday night, as the 24-year-old made his major league debut against the Baltimore Orioles.
Pitching in relief, Barnes threw three scoreless innings while striking out a pair of Orioles. He showed some great poise on the hill, and didn't look to be rattled by the spotlight that goes with pitching on the big stage.
"After I got on the mound, instincts took over,'' Barnes told reporters after the game, according to CSNNE's Sean McAdam, "and I wasn't really nervous at all. Once you get past the (initial) nerves and who you're playing against, it's the same game I've been playing for 20 years. Once you get out there, you don't really see anything else except for the (catcher's) glove.
"You just try to execute pitches," he said. "I felt like I was doing the same thing I've been doing my whole life."
Barnes, who is typically a starter, entered the game in the seventh inning and handled his first inning with ease, getting the heart of Baltimore's lineup -- Alejandro De Aza, Adam Jones and Nelson Cruz -- 1-2-3 on a fly our and pair of ground outs. After striking out Chris Davis to start the eighth, Barnes gave up a double to Steve Pearce, but retired the next two batters.
He ran into some trouble in the ninth, getting into a second-and-third jam with just one out, but struck out Jones and got Cruz to line out softly to second to escape unscathed.
"It was awesome," Barnes said. "To be able to get out of that and keep it a three-run game going into the ninth, to give the offense a chance as opposed to a 5-1 game or a 6-1 game, I think that was big."
The rookie's poise on the mound impressed his new manager.
"He didn't panic,'' John Farrell said of Barnes' ninth inning. "He used his secondary pitches, got a key strikeout of Jones and gave us a very impressive three innings tonight.''
It may not be great baseball the rest of the way for the Red Sox, but they'll be able to get a better picture of the future as they let their young arms and bats get a feel for the majors over the next few weeks.
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