Red Sox Beat Northeastern, Boston College
BOSTON (CBS/AP) -- It is to be expected when a professional baseball team beats a college squad in an exhibition game. So while the Red Sox' 3-0 victory over Northeastern University and 11-1 win over Boston College on Thursday won't lead to any celebratory parades, the annual tradition nevertheless creates plenty of excitement among Red Sox fans for one very obvious reason.
It's officially baseball season.
It's not the regular season just yet, but the Red Sox did get their spring training schedule under way Thursday afternoon at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers.
Joel Hanrahan, Daniel Bard and Andrew Miller were among seven pitchers to toss an inning in the first seven inning game of the day. All three threw scoreless innings, with Hanrahan striking out two batters in the first and Bard striking out the side in the second. Both Hanrahan and Bard allowed one hit and no walks.
Shane Victorino, Pedro Ciriaco, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Jose Iglesias and Ryan Lavarnway all went 1-for-1, with Saltalamacchia adding two walks and an RBI. Ciriaco and Iglesias drove in one run apiece.
The Red Sox did bat in the bottom of the seventh, even though the game was technically over, and they added on two more runs which did not count in the box score.
"You can't ever prepare for the adrenaline during the season. This is a step above live batting practice," said Hanrahan, who also added he only threw one breaking ball. "It's a little bit different than say, a normal spring training game, but you still have another team out there trying to get hits off you."
Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Shane Victorino were at the top of the Boston batting order for the first game, but against Boston College, the Red Sox went with lesser-known hitters. Catcher Daniel Butler hit a two-run homer as part of an eight-run third inning, and Shannon Wilkerson added a two-run shot of his own in the fifth.
Koji Uehara started the second game, and Bailey followed him by tossing a scoreless second inning. Non-roster invite Terry Doyle, who went to Boston College, pitched the final two innings for the Red Sox.
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