After getting a win in relief Monday night against the Twins, Daniel Bard delivered the strongest start of his major league career in a 10-3 win over the White Sox last night.
Bard allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits over a career-high seven innings while striking out six and walking just one. After surrendering a fifth inning solo homer to Paul Konerko, he responded by retiring 13 of the final 14 batters he faced. Bard’s command and control won’t be this precise every time out, as we have already seen this season, but an outing like this functions as a reminder that he has a chance to be much more valuable as a starting pitcher than a reliever.
As for the Red Sox, they have now won five in a row to move to 9-10 on the season. Funny what some games against some lesser competition will do. They’ll go for their sixth straight this evening when Jon Lester takes on the undefeated Jake Peavy.
Your Friday box scores:
Mariners 9, Blue Jays 5 (10 innings)
