Doubront continues to keep Sox in games

Share

CHICAGO -- Felix Doubront didn't dominate, and he had only two clean innings of the six he pitched.

But the lefty continued a pattern by giving his teammates a chance to win, tossing six strong innings while allowing three runs in the Red Sox 10-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Doubront has made four starts for the Sox this season. In three, the Sox won; in the other, he left with a 9-1 lead only to watch as the bullpen imploded against the Yankees, allowing 14 unanswered runs.

"That's what I try to do -- keep the score down to give the team an opportunity to score more runs and win the game," said Doubront.

Pitching in temperatures that hovered the high 30's for much of the night, Doubront fell into some bad habits. In an effort to stay warm -- and, perhaps, get back into the dugout as quickly as possible -- he began overthrowing and lost his release point at times.

"With my front shoulder open," said Doubront, "I couldn't throw strikes. But I made the adjustment and I got the six innings in, which was important."

He walked three, hit a batter, and threw a wild pitch, but whenever he got into trouble -- as he did in the first and third innings -- he managed to limit the damage.

Of course, it helped that Doubront had himself a 2-0 lead even before he threw a pitch and that lead grew to 7-1 when his teammates erupted for five runs in the top of the third.

"That's what every starting pitcher wants," said Doubront. "You want them to score a lot of runs because that makes you more confident on the mound."

"He did what it took to get through the sixth," said Bobby Valentine. "His stuff is good. The changeup, the curveball, the fastball are all 'plus' pitches, I think, and once he starts getting a few more calls, he's going to be a real good pitcher."

Contact Us