FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Boston Red Sox manager Grady Little wanted to see just one thing from pitcher Casey Fossum in Saturday’s start: a smile when it was all over.
Fossum couldn’t deliver.
Boston’s struggling left-hander gave up seven runs, including three home runs, in four innings of an 11-6 Red Sox loss to Philadelphia.
The performance, which kept his ERA over 16, did little to boost Fossum’s confidence, but it didn’t shake Little’s faith.
“Not one thing,” Little said when asked if anything, save an injury, could push Fossum out of the starting five. “Casey’s one of our starting pitchers.”
It wasn’t quite as bad as the scoreboard suggested.
Fossum walked three last Sunday, when he gave up six runs to Pittsburgh. Saturday, he didn’t walk anybody, and he struck out four on breaking balls he said felt as good as they ever have.
“I felt strong,” said Fossum, who will likely start once more and throw once or twice in relief before the season starts. “I was right around the strike zone on all my pitches. I felt like I only overthrew one ball. I just missed with my fastball a little bit inside.”
Fossum was determined to throw strikes, and he paid for it, leaving fastballs down the middle that turned into two home runs by David Bell and one by Jimmy Rollins. Bell added a third later off reliever Brandon Lyon.
“My goal today was to attack the strike zone and I did. I didn’t walk anybody,” said Fossum, 5-4 last season with a 3.46 ERA for Boston. “The only thing I can say is things are going to get going for me sooner or later. They can only get better.”
Fossum said he’d never had a stretch like this in his career, but he’s comforted by the support he’s getting from the team.
“It’s not mechanical at all,” Fossum said. “My mechanics are fine right now, I feel really good (mechanically). It’s just a question of getting the pitches where I want them.”
Little said it wasn’t surprising Fossum was focussed on getting the ball over the plate.
“A lot of times when a player’s going through difficulties like that, he puts in his mind that he needs to throw a strike,” Little said. “We talked about that before the game. That’s not the objective here – to throw a strike. The objective is to get an out.”
Little knows Fossum is under extra pressure this season. If he struggles, he’s in for constant reminders of Boston’s refusal to give him up along with Shea Hillenbrand in a possible trade for Bartolo Colon.
That may be why Little defended Fossum so emphatically Saturday.
“I thought Casey was much better out there today,” Little said. “He’s throwing the ball across the plate, getting ahead of the hitters. That’s a step in the right direction to get him ready. Now we just need to start getting him more and more command of the strike zone and we should be fine.”
In fact, because of timing issues caused by Friday’s rain-out in Winter Haven, Fossum may even get a promotion from the No. 5 to the No. 4 slot in the rotation. Little said it may simply work out better to have Fossum pitch the fourth game of the season and John Burkett the fifth.
“Before the game we were hoping he’d leave the game with a big old smile on his face,” Little said. “Things turned out where he’s not going to be able to do that. But he’s got a lot of things to be proud of out there today.”
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