01-21-2020, 07:07 AM
BALTIMORE -- Even though the Boston Red Sox insist that theyve turned the page from last year, their first win of the season was eerily reminiscent of 2013. David Ortiz and Mike Napoli homered, John Lackey threw six sharp innings and Boston ruined the Baltimore debut of Ubaldo Jimenez with a 6-2 victory Wednesday night. Dustin Pedroia had four hits for the defending World Series champion Red Sox, now 1-1 after losing to Baltimore on opening day. "Dustin, David and Mike. Thats three of the better hitters in the league," said Boston manager John Farrell, who rode the trio to 97 wins during the 2013 regular season. Lackey (1-0) looked even sharper than he did last year, when he had a 3.52 ERA in 29 starts. In this one, the right-hander allowed two runs and three hits before handing the ball to the bullpen, which finished with three scoreless innings. "I just threw country hard balls the first few innings, then was able to mix in other pitches later on," Lackey said. "I was very pleased for the first time. It felt pretty good. Its something I can keep building on." Lackey said he made "one mistake" -- an 0-2 pitch that Nelson Cruz hit over the right field wall for his second homer in two games. But the Orioles did little else right against Lackey, who walked one and struck out six in improving to 14-5 lifetime against Baltimore. "He had command and he was throwing strikes and he was working fast," Orioles catcher Matt Wieters said. "It seemed like it was the fourth or fifth inning before we really started to see some pitches over the middle of the plate. Youve got to tip your hat to him. When he can locate like that with his kind of stuff, youre going to have success." Ortiz connected in the third inning and Napoli made it 4-2 with a two-run shot in the fifth. Both homers came off Jimenez (0-1), who signed a four-year contract with the Orioles in February after winning 13 games with Cleveland last year. "The one to David, that was a good pitch," Jimenez said. "It seems like he was looking for that pitch and he hit it good. But the one to Napoli, I would definitely like to have that back. Oh-and-2, big mistake. I was trying to go away and left it right down the middle." Jimenez allowed four runs, five hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out six in his lamentable Orioles debut. "You always want to win. But it is part of the game," he said. "Thats how it goes. I still have 30 more games to go. I have to get ready for my next one." Ortiz put the Red Sox up 2-0 in the third inning with a drive to right following a single by Pedroia. Ortiz was 0 for 7 lifetime against Jimenez before connecting. "The pitch to Ortiz wasnt a bad pitch," Wieters said. "He was probably looking for something in and he got it and he didnt miss it. Youve got to give him credit." Lackey gave up a leadoff single to Nick Markakis, then retired 11 straight before Chris Davis walked with two outs in the fourth. Cruz followed with an opposite-field drive to right on an 0-2 pitch. Signed as a free agent in February, Cruz has accounted for all of Baltimores four runs this season -- three RBIs and a run scored. In the fifth, Jimenez hit Daniel Nava with a pitch and Napoli homered on an 0-2 count. Boston pulled away in the seventh against Ryan Webb. After two singles and an intentional walk to Ortiz loaded the bases, Napoli lined a two-run single to left. Napoli had a major league-leading 31 RBIs last year with the bases loaded. And this year, nothings changed. "In that situation, youve got one out and the bases loaded, so Im just trying to hit a flyball to get the run in," Napoli said. "I just happened to get a base hit, so thats extra. Its nice to come through in those situations." NOTES: Thursday nights series finale features a duel of left-handers: Bostons Felix Doubront against Wei-Yin Chen. ... Baltimore LHP Johan Santana, seeking to rebound from shoulder surgery, threw 30 pitches off a full mound Wednesday in Florida. "Its encouraging to see that Johans throwing all his pitches," manager Buck Showalter said. ... David Lough went 0 for 4 and Steve Lombardozzi went 1 for 3 in their Orioles debut. ... Lackey has gone at least five innings in 23 of 24 starts against Baltimore. Darwin Thompson Super Bowl Jersey . Scotlands Greg Laidlaw made one of two penalty kicks and all three conversions, and Stuart Hogg added a try in the second half. "The most important thing to come out of the game is that we did not get scored against," Laidlaw said. Mitchell Schwartz Super Bowl Jersey . - The Kansas City Royals are hoping All-Star catcher Salvador Perez will be back in a few days. http://www.thechiefsshoponline.com/Youth...fs-jersey/. -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday. Derrick Thomas Super Bowl Jersey .Mihajlovic was sent off minutes from the end of Thursdays 2-0 win over Brescia and has been punished for using a disrespectful expression toward the fourth official and throwing the contents of a bottle of water at him, thus assuming an intimidating attitude. Jordan Lucas Super Bowl Jersey . -- Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen took the second-round lead Saturday in the Champions Tours Legends of Golf, teaming for a 6-under 48 in windy conditions on the par-3 Top of the Rock course.ASHBURN, Va. -- The face was different, the words familiar. Like Mike Shanahan and nearly every recent Washington Redskins coach, Jay Gruden is anxious to declare an end to franchises days of dysfunction. "I dont know what happened last year," Gruden said. "I know that interviewing with Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen and everybody here that the passion for excellence is there. All they want to do is win, and theyre going to provide me with every avenue to win." Gruden was introduced Thursday as the man charged with ending the perpetual state of turmoil the team has endured under owner Snyder and recently under general manager Allen. Gruden was a given a five-year contact for his first NFL head coaching gig, taking over a 3-13 team that has finished last in the NFC East in five of the last six seasons. "We HAVE to get it right," said Allen, who led the search and interviewed six candidates. "We need to get the franchise back on track in a winning direction. ... We were looking for a new leader, somebody who can inspire our football team. We knew it was more than just X and Os, it was about finding the right person to build a team chemistry that we needed." Gruden is Snyders eighth coach in 16 seasons as an NFL owner. Unlike Shanahan, who was fired last week, Gruden will not have final say over all football matters. Hell report to Allen, who has taken charge of assembling the roster and other personnel decisions. Snyder attended the news conference but did not speak to reporters. The 46-year-old Gruden has spent the last three seasons as the offensive co-ordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals, where his skill in helping to develop Andy Dalton will no doubt be of use when he takes on the task of grooming another young franchise quarterback, Robert Griffin III. Gruden praised the talents of Griffin and spoke of the need to build a "genuine" trust with the quarterback, who regressed this season after winning the APs Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 2012. Griffin returned from major knee surgery to start 13 games, but he publicly disagreed with some of Shanahans decisions, struggled as a drop-back passer and was benched for the final three weeks. Asked to confirm that Griffin will be the starter, Gruden chuckled and said: "I dont see him as a backup." "I see every trait that a quarterback has to have to be successful, I see Robert having all of those," Gruden said. "So why wouldnt you want to coach a guy like that? ... Im going to let him know that Im a trustworthy guy. Hes also got to understand that I expect a lot from the starting quarterback. I expect him to come in and prepare and work hard, and I expectt him to take the blame on some throws.dddddddddddd I expect him to be a great leader." Griffin limited his comments to a quick post on his Facebook page: "Excited about the hiring of Coach Jay Gruden. Cant wait to get to work with him & the guys!" Gruden said he will call the plays himself and that he has yet to decide which members of Shanahans staff to retain. It seems a safe bet, however, that some combination of defensive co-ordinator Jim Haslett, defensive backs coach Raheem Morris and tight ends coach Sean McVay has a good chance of sticking around, based on the trios previous relationship with the new coach. Gruden also said hes a fan of the 3-4 defence that Haslett has used the last four years. "I know theres a lot of coaches here who can coach," Gruden said. Gruden has been largely overshadowed by his more famous brother, Jon Gruden, who won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is now an analyst on "Monday Night Football." But Jay Gruden has been a name on the rise based on his success with Dalton and the Bengals offence. Jay Gruden interviewed for multiple head coaching openings last year and had drawn interest from at least three other teams seeking to fill a head coaching vacancy this year. He interviewed with the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday. The Redskins had to wait until the Bengals played their first-round playoff game before Gruden could be courted. It took a bad day from Gruden and Dalton -- scoring only 10 points in a home loss to the San Diego Chargers -- to make Gruden free to be hired this week. "I told him it worked out well that Cincinnati lost," Allen said. "He still doesnt understand that." Gruden said his ties within the Washington organization played a "big role" in his decision. He was an assistant coach with Tampa Bay from 2002-08, where he worked at various times with Allen, Morris and McVay. Gruden also coached under Haslett with the UFLs Florida Tuskers in 2009. Theres no question Gruden has paid his dues. He was a quarterback in the long-defunct World League of American Football, then went to the Arena Football League and began a playing and coaching career that was so successful it landed him in the AFL Hall of Fame in 1999. Hes been a head coach both the AFL and UFL, including two stints with the AFLs Orlando Predators. In 2010, after Haslett left for the Redskins, Gruden was head coach and general manager of the Tuskers and led them to the UFL championship game. "Theres a lot of work to do," Gruden said. "When youre 3-13, theres not one particular player or reason, theres a lot of reasons and theres a lot of things that need to be fixed." ' ' '