One of my favorite parts about living in Boston is going to Fenway Park on a regular basis, especially when a friend has extra tickets through work and I get to go for free. And especially when those tickets are ridiculously good – seats I would never or could never pay for on my own.

That was the case for me last night. My buddy Eddie got tickets through work, and our seats were in the front row of the State Street Pavilion.

Not only that, but our tickets included admission to the EMC club, which is what I imagine Jay Gatsby’s dining room would look like if it overlooked Fenway Park.

The picture is blurry because I tried to take a stealthy picture. I felt out of place enough without holding up my camera in the middle of the room.

Needless to say, on a night when I would’ve been happy with a 5 and a half hour long 16 inning battle, I instead got a 1-0 pitchers duel that was over in a cool two hours and twenty-one minutes. I’m sure that if I was in the right field grandstand with my knees up by my ears, my neck sore from turning towards the plate, and freezing cold because there were no waitresses bringing me hot chocolate and Baileys (it was 46 degrees on June 2nd), the game would’ve lasted 4:30.  But I can’t complain, since it was a fantastic game. Well pitched and well defended on both sides, and the Red Sox won.

The story of the game was Clay Buchholz, who was again masterful for the Red Sox. He pitched 8 innings of shutout ball by necessity, as his team only managed one run in support of their starter, and that run didn’t come until the 7th inning (more on that later). Clay needed just 92 pitches to get through those eight innings, and under different circumstances, I’m sure Farrell would’ve let him come back out to pitch the 9th. However, given the Sox’ lack of offense, and the fact that the Twins squared up a couple balls in their half of the 8th, John didn’t take any chances and brought out Koji to close the door in the 9th.

Clay’s line:

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Buchholz (W, 3-6)	8.0	3	0	0	2	8	0	3.82

Clay’s start:

Over his last four games Buchholz has a 1.47 ERA, and a 27/5 K/BB ratio. As you can see from the line score above, his ERA is now under 4 on the season.

The Red Sox’ lone run came with two outs in the bottom of the 7th, and in fact, the entire rally came with two outs. Xander got things going with a heat-seeker to center that went for a double. Sandy Leon followed with a good at-bat that ended in a walk, bringing up Rusney Castillo. After fouling off two tough two-strike pitches, Castillo singled up the middle, bringing home Bogaerts for what would be the game-winning run.

Rusney helped make sure that it remained the game-winning run by making a catch on the warning track in the bottom of the 8th inning on a ball that looked gone off of the bat of Aaron Hicks.

Notes:

-As I’ve written before, Xander looks like a different guy on the defensive side of the ball thus far in 2015. Last night he made a couple of rangy, tough plays look routine on hard-hit grounders. That being said I’ve noticed that he seems reluctant to lay out for balls just outside of his grasp, instead choosing to lunge for them. Maybe that’s the next step in his progression as a fielder.

-Watch this superman-style stop by Brian Dozier on a Sandoval grounder. Watch him turn two while you’re at it. He’s something else.

-I saw Don Orsillo leaving the game. We were walking in the same direction through the Pavilion and Club levels (nbd) for a solid minute. I’m a huge fan and normally I would’ve asked him for a picture, but he was booking it out of there with a rolling suitcase. The only time he even paused was to give a little girl with a glove a game ball that he had on him. Good looks Don.

-I really could write an entire blog about all the cool stuff I got to see on my night as one of the Fancy Fenway people. Instead here’s a photo gallery:

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-Almost forgot, it was also Mike Napoli bobblehead night. Today was a good day.

On the bright side, Wade Miley pitched well. He wasn’t great, but with one of the highest-powered offenses in MLB behind him, any pitcher can expect to win the majority of games in which he only gives up three runs through seven innings. But not yesterday. This is not to say, of course, that Miley was particularly great – there’s a reason his ERA is still 7.15. And the runs scored by the Yankees had Wade’s fingerprints all over them. But credit where credit’s due: this was a good start,  and it certainly helps our bullpen that our starters are finally stretching a little bit. Here’s to more of yesterday and less of April.

Ellsbury singled to lead off, and after Gardner struck out swinging, he stole second during A-Rod’s first at-bat of the day. Unfortunately, I was listening to the radio broadcast in the car, and there’s no video available online, but still…welcome to the big leagues, Blake Swihart. Both Rodriguez and Teixeira grounded out to end the inning and strand Jacoby.

To lead off the third inning, Miley gave up another single, this time to Didi GreGLORIOUS, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. No video of that either, but it’d prove costly, as he was driven in in short order by Brett Gardner, who was himself thrown out at third by a deceivingly lazy Hanley Ramirez relay (remind you of anyone?) to a quick-handed Xander Bogaerts, who flicked it to Pablo for the out.

But still. The run scored, and the Sox found themselves down 1-0. Dustin Pedroia put the situation right in the bottom of the 4th – when will pitchers learn not to give him this pitch? – but he led off the inning, so it was just a solo shot (with a “La Luna!” from Don).

Tie game, 1-1. This inning also featured an inning-ending double play with men on 1st and 2nd by Mike Napoli.

In the top of the 5th, the Yankees came right back and got to Miley for the only time, really, on the night. Chase Headley led off with a double, and Gregorio Petit singled immediately after him, on a high blooper to center field, but Headley was forced to hold midway between 2nd and 3rd to avoid being doubled off. Gregorius, in a tie game with no outs and men on 1st and 2nd, showed bunt on the 1st pitch he got from Miley, who then (fairly inexplicably) gave him an easily buntable ball down the middle of the plate, advancing both runners as Sandoval threw to Napoli for the out at 1st. After a savvy play by Napoli, staring down Headley as he scooped an Ellsbury grounder and tagged 1st base, Brett Gardner hit a two-out single to left. Hanley probably let too much time elapse winding up for the throw home for it to be an effective one, and both runners scored to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead.

The bottom of the 5th was bereft of an offensive response by the Sox, save for this ugly little poke to the right side of the infield by Swihart for his first major league hit. It was one of three good non-Betances-facing at-bats on the night for the rookie, getting two full counts and a 9-pitch at-bat in the 3rd inning that ended in a strikeout.

The 5th inning also featured a small world moment: a friend of the blog who I was watching the game with, Reeves, saw this Red Sox staffer catch a foul ball cleanly and give it to a kid in the section and yelled, “Oh my God, that’s my friend’s dad!” This was followed by a Facebook check so the group could compare their faces and Reeves texting a video to her friend for verification. And she was right! It was her friend’s dad! Truly, a magical moment. You’re welcome.

Miley would sit down the next six Yankees in order before being lifted as his pitch count crossed the century mark. In the bottom of the 7th, Swihart drew a tough full count walk with two outs, prompting Eovaldi’s removal from the game in favor of feel-good story Chris Martin, and scored from first on a Mookie Betts double that was a couple feet short of clearing the Monster.

But no other Red Sox batter would get to 2nd base after Betts was stranded to end the 7th – after a Hanley Ramirez walk (he was clearly frustrated that he wasn’t given something to hit), 5 consecutive Red Sox struck out to end the game, the last four by a clearly intimidating Dellin Betances to get the save. Swihart struck out looking on three pitches, poor kid, to end the game. By the time the bottom of the 9th rolled around, though, it would’ve taken more than a single run to tie it up anyway: Alexi Ogando gave up a solo home run to Chris Young in the top of the inning to give New York some insurance. 

But enough about that, let’s get to the good stuff: the NFL Draft! It used to be my favorite weekend of bloated nonsense television coverage of the year, and now it’s a somewhat less enjoyable weeknight barrage of bloated nonsense television coverage. Now, I have neither the time nor the inclination to set down all of my amateur thoughts on each of the Patriots’ picks like I have any idea of what I’m talking about, because I don’t. I’m just gonna tell you what I think New England got with each pick in a few words.

• Malcom Brown, DT: Wilfork. Duh. More realistically, a step up athletically over similarly-shaped Wilfork protégés of recent years (Myron Pryor, Sealver Siliga, etc.)
• Jordan Richards, S: Patrick Chung’s new sidekick/competition. Maybe he’ll push Tavon Wilson and Alfonzo Dennard to give a little more, because they’re officially on the bubble (especially Dennard – cutting him makes the most sense financially if he’s not gonna play again, like in 2014). No one would be saying this is too early for him if this was a 3rd round pick, which it basically was.
• Geneo Grissom, DE: Decent pass rushing end. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we need those. No one would be saying this is too early for him if this was a 4th round pick, which it basically was.
• Trey Flowers, DE: Maybe more of a hand in the dirt type of end than Grissom. Think the old Seymour/Warren combo. But don’t, because I don’t want anyone to think he’s as good as those guys based on the opinion of Lefty, an idiot. Besides, he’d need to put on weight for that role anyway. Probably more like Jarvis Green.
• Tre Jackson, G: Big boy, run blocker. Get behind him and move your feet.
• Shaq Mason, C: More interior depth. Probably the clearest sign that Dan Connolly probably isn’t coming back. Can’t have had much experience pass blocking at Georgia Tech. Competition for Stork, who was good, not great as a rookie.
• Joe Cardona, LS: Goodbye, Danny Aiken.
• Matthew Wells, OLB: He’s 6’2″, 222 pounds, plays outside linebacker, runs a 4.4 40-yard dash, and is legally blind in one eye. Your guess is as good as mine.
• A.J. Derby, TE: The next Julian Edelman! More likely he’ll be cut – our late-round tight end picks don’t seem to stick around (Lee Smith, Andy Stokes).
• Darryl Roberts, CB: The next Willie Andrews! The on-field version.
• Xzavier Dickson, DE: The next Tully Banta-Cain! Great name, no confusion on pronunciation.