Alfredo Aceves Is A Very Valuable Pitcher But He Is Not A Closer As He Proved Once Again

Things have a way of always turning out poorly on bad teams no matter what the sport. Alfredo Aceves returned from his three-game suspension tonight and wouldn't you know that he played a critical part of why Boston choked away a 5-4 lead in the ninth and lost 6-5 to the Angels in the series opener at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Aceves (2-9, 8 blown saves) got a 1-2-3 eighth but as anyone knows from watching the Red Sox (62-68, 30-30 away) this season, he struggles mightily when called upon for a save longer than an inning. Mike Trout (3 hits, 2 RBIs) tied it with an RBI single then Torii Hunter (run, walk) won it on a walkoff sacrifice fly.

Los Angeles (67-62, 34-29 home) actually trailed 5-2 in the sixth before Albert Pujols (29th of the season) cranked a solo homer and Howie Kendrick cut it to 5-4 with an RBI double.

Clay Buchholz (7 innings, 4 earned runs, 6 hits, 5 strikeouts, 3 walks) and Jered Weaver (7 innings, 5 runs, 4 earned, 7 hits, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk) pitched to a standstill but the Angels improved to 4-0 against the Red Sox this season-all in the span of a week.

The incomparable Trout (25th of the season) gave the Angels a 1-0 lead with a leadoff homer to start the home half of the first. Mark Trumbo added a sacrifice fly for the 2-0 LA advantage.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (22nd of the season) cut it to 2-1 with a solo homer of his own in the second. Boston added three runs in the fourth on RBI singles from James Loney (3rd game in a row) and Salty. A run also crossed home plate on Ryan Kalish's double play.

Ryan Lavarnway's sacrifice fly in the sixth put the Red Sox in good position up 5-2. Bobby Valentine's hand was mostly forced since he didn't want to use Andrew Bailey (who pitched in 4 of the last 5 days) or Vicente Padilla. Although, for some reason he had Aceves warming up in the sixth. Clayton Mortensen was an option but he's never closed so I can't say I blame Valentine from staying away from him.

Kevin Jepsen (3-2) unknowingly earned the win with a scoreless ninth.

It was just another soul-crushing loss in a season full of them. Mortensen will be sent back to Pawtucket to make room for tomorrow night's (10:05 p.m., NESN) starter Zach Stewart (1-2), who makes his Red Sox debut vs. C.J. Wilson (9-9). He was the major piece that came over from the White Sox in the Kevin Youkilis trade.

I have to admit that even though they aren't good and they are playing out the string, I enjoy watching this cast of mostly spare parts and minor leaguers play rather than the overpaid underachievers that we were stuck with the last few seasons. Who knows, maybe a few of them will win jobs for next year (Pedro Ciriaco already has).

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