Aceves struggles in start vs. Phillies

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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Alfredo Aceves had his worst outing of the spring Saturday afternoon. More to the point, he had the worst outing of any Red Sox pitcher since Grapefruit League play began.

But he wasn't trying to kid anybody afterward.

"This was one of those days where nothing went good,'' he said. It was bad game and I'm moving on.''

There's no telling how damaging Saturday's outing might be in the long run for Aceves's bid to make the Red Sox starting rotation.

But there's no getting away from how bad it was, either.

He pitched three innings against the Philadelphia Phillies and gave up 10 hits and nine earned runs while walking one, hitting one and throwing a wild pitch. He also yielded three homers, all of them solo.

Aceves entered the game with a 1.00 ERA and by the time he left, it had ballooned to 7.50.

"Today, I was a little up,'' he acknowledged. "I checked out the video after the outing and I was up.''

Making matters worse for Aceves and his bid for the rotation was that, across the state, Felix Doubront allowed just one run over six innings against the Miami Marlins.

"Every single day is important,'' he said. "Right now, we're almost at the end of spring training. Personaly, I take it day-by-day.''

Despite his clear preference to start rather relieve, he insisted he wasn't focused on where he'll end up when the season begins.

"For me, no, I'm not thinking about that,'' he said. "I'm taking it day-by-day.''

Aceves dismissed any suggestion that the pounding he absorbed was the result of experiencing a "dead arm,'' which is common for pitchers at this point in the spring.

"I feel good,'' he said, "and I saw the ball jump out of my hand.''

Aceves stressed that "one outing is not going to tell you the value of a pitcher.''

Now he just has to hope that the people doing the evaluating for the Red Sox are thinking the same way.

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