The Red Sox left-hander's first start in 11 days and second of the season lasted five innings Wednesday night in Boston's 7-2 win over the Indians. He walked four struck out seven and need 104 pitches.
CLEVELAND — Last week's rain made Tuesday slippery for Felix Doubront.
The Red Sox left-hander's first start in 11 days and second of the season lasted five innings in Boston's 7-2 win over the Indians. He walked four struck out seven and needed 104 pitches.
Doubront's scheduled start Thursday was rained out in Boston.
"I thought he got into a little bit of a decent rhythm in the second and third and little bit of the fourth inning," Sox manager John Farrell said. "But it's probably the [result] of him having skipped a start and not being as sharp as we'd like, and things got dicey in the fifth inning. But he stayed away from a crooked number on the scoreboard and made the seven runs hold up."
The Sox put up seven in the second against Cleveland's Ubaldo Jimenez, and the long inning wasn't a boon to Doubront — not physically. A large lead's better than no lead, but long innings can be disruptive.
"When you have that lead and go out there, you're cold," Doubront said. "And it's hard to get it going again. It's a little tough."
Still, the Red Sox continue on a path no American League team has taken in almost a quarter-century.
Win or lose, no Red Sox pitcher has allowed more than three runs in a start. That's 13 games now to open the year, nine of them wins. The 1990 Brewers had a streak that hit 14 games to start their season.
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