FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Boston manager Bobby Valentine says Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard will fill out the Red Sox rotation.
Valentine announced the final two spots Sunday.
Additional Photos
The left-handed Doubront will take the fourth spot and the right-handed Bard will be the fifth starter. Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz already had places in the rotation.
Right-hander Alfredo Aceves, who had been competing for one of the spots, will pitch out of the bullpen.
Red Sox 5, Twins 1: The Red Sox got to Carl Pavano in the sixth inning.
Pavano went 52⁄3 innings, giving up four runs and seven hits, with no walks and three strikeouts in a 5-1 loss to Boston. He is 0-3 with a 6.17 ERA in the spring.
“Great,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of Pavano’s outing.
“Got his work in, 95 pitches, he was good. He got a little tired at the end. But it got up to where we wanted him to be. That’s perfect.”
Pavano, entering his 14th season, got through his first five innings with relative ease.
He was challenged in the fourth when the Red Sox loaded the bases. Adrian Gonzalez led off with a single, before Kevin Youkilis flied out. David Ortiz singled to left, and Pavano hit Cody Ross with a pitch to load the bases.
But Pavano struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia and got Ryan Sweeney to fly out to right to end the threat.
Chris Parmelee hit his fifth home run of the spring in the sixth inning to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.
The Red Sox then rallied in the bottom of the inning.
Youkilis led off, getting hit by a pitch and was replaced by pinch-runner Pedro Ciriaco.
David Ortiz struck out. With Ross batting, Ciriaco stole second and third, scoring on Ross’ double.
Saltalamacchia grounded out with Ross going to third. Sweeney’s single to left-center scored Ross. Sweeney scored on Mike Aviles’ double to left, driving Pavano from the game.
He was replaced by Alex Burnett, who gave up a triple to Jacoby Ellsbury, scoring Aviles, but Ellsbury was thrown out trying to score on the play, ending the inning.
“I thought the inning with the bases loaded I threw a bunch of pitches and I think it tired me out,” Pavano said.
“About the fifth inning the ball got up a little bit. I started off kind of slow then I caught a good rhythm, caught a good groove and carried it into the fourth and fifth inning and then I got a little tired and the ball got a little bit up. That last inning, I was all over the place.”
This will be Pavano’s second straight opening day start for the Twins.
“It’s great,” he said. “It’s an honor from your organization, to feel like they want you to be the guy who starts them off two years in a row. It’s also my job to go out there and start us off on the right foot.”
Garrett Mock earned the win for the Red Sox. He threw two innings, allowing one run and one hit. Dustin Pedroia and Gonzalez each went 2 for 4 with a double for the Red Sox.
Earlier in the day, the Twins made a series of roster moves, paring their roster down to 27, including two non-roster players.
“Good. I’m happy with everything the way it turned out,” Gardenhire said. “Health-wise is good. Get through a few more days here and start playing ball. If we need to tweak it, we will tweak it. If we don’t like something we see, we can change it because we have some pretty good people at AAA.”
Notes: The Red Sox optioned catcher Ryan Lavarnway to Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday. They have 40 players in big league camp, including 29 from the 40-man roster, two on the 60-day disabled list, and nine non-roster invitees. … The Twins made a series of roster moves Sunday. Right-hander Casey Fien, catcher J.R. Towles, infielder Brian Dozier, and outfielder Brian Dinkelman were reassigned to minor league camp. The Twins have one player on the 15-day disabled list, pitcher Kyle Waldrop, and 27 players still in big league camp: 14 pitchers (one non-roster), two catchers, seven infielders (one non-roster) and four outfielders.
• • •
Valentine said closer Andrew Bailey will travel to Boston on Monday to have his right thumb examined.
Valentine made the announcement after Sunday’s 5-1 win over Minnesota Twins.
Bailey, who was acquired in a December trade with the Athletics, has not pitched in a major league game since March 25, against the Blue Jays in Dunedin. He pitched 12⁄3 innings in a minor league game on Wednesday. Bailey was delayed at the start of spring training because of a strained lat suffered during the vertical leap portion of his entrance physical.
In addition to the minor league outing, he has pitched six innings in six Grapefruit League games this spring, with an 0-1 record and a 4.50 ERA.
The extent of Bailey’s problem is not known. Valentine said it began bothering Bailey during the March 21 game in Bradenton against the Pirates, but Valentine was not made aware of it until Friday.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.