G72: Smoltz Roughed Up In First Inning, Then Settles In Nicely In Sox 9-3 Loss In D. C.

John Smoltz had a rough first inning in his first career start with the Red Sox tonight, but by the time his outing ended he had found his groove… he allowed four runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batter in the first before he was able to get things figured out. At the other extreme, he struck out the heart of the Nats lineup in order in the fifth inning.

The future Hall-of-Famer threw ninety-two pitches, frequently hitting 93-mph on the radar gun with his fastball. His off-speed repertoire was, for the most part, sharp. In the first inning, the Nationals put together some long at-bats… and it seemed that each time Smoltz made a mistake — leaving a pitch up and over the middle of the plate — someone rocketed it through the infield for a base hit. But as the innings progressed, the incidence of those mistake decreased… and so the incidence of his success increased.

The reviews of his outing were largely positive.

Of his outing, Smoltz said: “Most of the time when the linescore is the way it is, I’m going to be very disappointed, but I really can’t at this point. I lost a little rhythm there in the first inning, but I’m very encouraged with how good I can be and the way I felt and the stamina and everything going forward”.

He needed 34 pitches to get through the first inning and 25 pitches to get through the third inning… otherwise, he needed just 33 pitches combined to get through the other three innings (10, 10 and 13).

Manager Terry Francona said: “I was excited. I know it was a tough game, but if he throws the ball like that, if he feels like that physically, he’s going to be just fine”.

I think everyone who saw his performance last night would agree with Tito’s sentiments on that one.

Part of the reason for the rust in the first inning is that Smoltz had thrown only ten innings in the last three weeks. At this point, he says he just needs to get back into a consistent routine: “There’s been so much going on in the last eight days, I’m kind of glad it’s over so I can resume the five-day rotation and do what every pitcher does, and that’s make improvements from game to game… Within a few starts, I’ll be honed in to where I want to be”.

That is GREAT news for Red Sox Nation.

His counterpart, Nationals rookie right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, looked outstanding against the potent Red Sox lineup… he allowed one run and five hits and one walk over seven innings. He also recorded six strikeouts, including Dustin Pedroia twice.

Last night’s win was his first in June, in spite of the fact that he has a sterling 2.16 ERA for the month.

After the rookie retired the Sox in order in the top of the first inning, the veteran struggled to find his command in the bottom of the frame. After retiring the first batter on a grounder, Smoltz hit 1B Nick Johnson on the left shin with a slider that didn’t slide (the first baseman eventually left the game due to the contusion). 3B Ryan Zimmerman (no relation to the pitcher) ripped a ground ball double down the third base line and cleanup hitter Adam Dunn walked to load the bases. Smoltz then left a fastball up and over the plate to Josh Willingham… the left fielder laced a single through the hole on the left side of the infield for a 1-0 lead. C Josh Bard mirrored Willingham’s accomplishment, singling past 1B David Ortiz into right field for a 2-0 advantage. And when 2B Anderson Hernandez lobbed a single into left-center field the Red Sox deficit was doubled to four.

Willingham (double) and Bard (rbi-single) again were the culprits in the third inning as Washington added another run to the lead, but that the only blip on Smoltz’ radar for the remainder of the night. He retired the side in order in the second, fourth and fifth innings… he struck out slugger Adam Dunn twice, and then whiffed the troublesome tandem of Willingham and Bard to end his outing.

Daniel Bard and Takashi Saito each allowed two runs in an inning of relief… Ramon Ramirez pitched a perfect eighth inning.

The Sox scored a single run in the sixth inning on an Ortiz sac fly and then two more in the ninth inning on pinch-hitter Rocco Baldelli’s two-run home run.

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Smoltz joined Phil Niekro and Warren Spahn as the only pitchers to spend at least twenty seasons with one franchise before playing a game for another… ironically, all three had their two decades of service with the Braves.

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By making his debut, Smoltz began earning incentives on top of his $5.5 million contract: $125,000 for his first day on the active roster and $35,000 for each day he stays on the active roster until October 3rd. He’ll get $500,000 more if he’s on the active roster on the last day of the season.