Daniel Bard’s 1-2-3 Inning

It was only six days ago when Daniel Bard put together an efficient 1-2-3 inning against Charlotte using 10 pitches (seven strikes) to retire the Knights in order.

However, his next two outings were anything but a model of efficiency. A combined 12 batters faced in 1 1/3 innings with five walks, a hit batter, a blown save, one wild pitch, and a total of 47 pitches (18 strikes).

In a 1-1 tie last night against Rochester, Bard’s number was called in the seventh to do something he had yet done with the PawSox: pitch in back-to-back nights. Needless to say, the Bard we saw last night was nearly a carbon copy of the one six days ago.

Bard has now made 11 appearances with the PawSox and is now 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA. (Kelly O’Connor)

The right-hander needed just 10 pitches (eight strikes) to induce three ground ball outs to the right side of the infield. Following a sacrifice fly from Che-Hsuan Lin in the bottom of the seventh, Bard was awarded his first win of the year with Pawtucket.

Joe McDonald (@ESPNJoeyMac) of ESPNBoston.com covered last night’s game and wrote a nice piece about Bard’s results:

“He turned it loose,” PawSox manager Arnie Beyeler said. “It was like, ‘Hey, I quit caring and I’m just going to throw it.’ His arm action tonight looked a little bit like we’ve seen in the past where he got away from the mechanical, robotic look and just reared back and threw the ball.”

Brendan McGair (@BWMcGair03)of the Pawtucket Times does a terrific job covering the PawSox and writes about not only last night’s outing, but a conversation between Bard and teammate Andrew Miller.

In other Red Sox news, Carl Crawford is scheduled to play tonight for Double-A Portland as he recovers from left wrist surgery. Sea Dogs’ broadcaster Mike Antonellis did a video interview with Crawford yesterday you can watch here.

-AG

@aaronmgoldsmith
agoldsmith@pawsox.com