Outlook around Fenway decidedly gloomy
Manager Bobby Valentine of the Boston Red Sox holds the ball as he waits for Matt Albers to reach the mound in the seventh inning against the New York Yankees. (April 21, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
BOSTON -- Not much has gone right for the Red Sox this season. Then came the rain.
Sunday's downpour allowed Boston to postpone its game against the Yankees five hours before it was to begin. That gave the Red Sox a break from their 4-10 start and allowed them to avoid the awkward sideshow of having former manager Terry Francona call the game from the ESPN booth.
Francona now is the most popular man in Boston this side of Paul Revere. And Valentine, judging from the boos he heard during Saturday's 15-9 loss to the Yankees, is as beloved as a bowl of bad chowder.
That didn't stop first-year general manager Ben Cherington from saying he's "very satisfied'' with the job Bobby V. is doing.
"He's doing the best he can with the roster he has,'' Cherington said late Saturday night. "It'll get better. He knows that and I know that, and along the way, if changes need to be made on the roster, that's my responsibility.''
Boston traded for outfielder Marlon Byrd on Saturday. Another change Valentine announced Sunday is that Daniel Bard, Sunday night's scheduled starter, will be available out of the bullpen beginning tonight. Valentine wouldn't flat-out say he will stay there, but Boston's MLB-worst 8.44 bullpen ERA could force him to keep the former setup man in the pen.
Boston relievers gave up 14 runs Saturday. "It's been a tough week. If I had to rate them all, this is one of the toughest," Valentine said. "When you're 4-10, it's not easy to say that everything is going perfectly. But I think they're good players, high quality, and we're going to win a lot of games."
Valentine met late Saturday with Cherington, owner John Henry and team CEO Larry Lucchino. "As they've done in the past, they came down after a tough loss,'' Cherington said. "It was an opportunity to talk and remind each other we're all in this together . . . It was a chance to catch up for good, productive conversation, and more than anything, be in the room and talk about sticking through this together.''
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