Right-hander Daniel Bard has family from the Boston area and had visited Fenway Park numerous times as a child, so it's not a stretch to say that the Sox are in his blood. That's certainly a good thing for the 23-year-old, who made his big-league debut Wednesday night in Anaheim after getting called up last weekend.
Bard tossed a 96 mph fastball for his first pitch in the major leagues. Then he simply went about overpowering Angels hitters -- fanning Angels catcher Mike Napoli to record his first out in a no-out jam with runners on the second and third base. Bard ended up allowing one of the inherited runners to score in the eventual Red Sox loss, but the flame-throwing right-hander's debut was a encouraging sign that the already rich Boston bullpen is about to inherit another power arm. The Wednesday appearance wasn't about future plans in the Sox bullpen, however, and was simply about another talented member of Boston's farm system making his debut.
The rookie tossed two scoreless innings and showed that his stuff will play at the major league level.
"I'm obviously excited," Bard said. "It's something I've worked for my whole life, and I couldn't be happier. Now that I'm here, I'm just trying to help the team win."
ANGELS 8, RED SOX 4: OF Jason Bay smashed his 10th home run of the season in the first inning, but RHP Tim Wakefield couldn't hold back the Angels' bats in one of his worst starts of the season. The veteran knuckleballer was battered around for seven runs and 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings, and the Sox bats couldn't do much once the Angels had built a healthy lead.
