Marcum lasts one inning, Brewers fall

Red Sox 10, Brewers 4 
W: Lackey (5-5) L: Estrada (1-4)

Shaun Marcum was done after just one inning in the series opener against the Boston Red Sox. He ended up leaving with a left hip flexor strain after 44 pitches and two earned runs. 

"I didn't want to come out after an inning, but we wanted to be smart about it, not do anything stupid," Marcum said. "I didn't want to take a chance of hurting it worse or actually doing something where I'm missing more time."

Things were looking good in the first inning for the Brewers. After Nyjer Morgan hit a single and Prince Fielder hit a ground rule double, heating up third baseman Casey McGehee crushed a two-out line drive into center field plating two runs. Unfortunately in the bottom of the first, Marcum's disastrous inning consisted of giving up a solo shot to Jacoby Ellsbury and an RBI double to David Ortiz to tie the game.

"They did a good job of working me, working the count, getting pitches, and when they got pitches, they hit them," said Marcum. "Ellsbury did a good job staying back hitting that ball, and we threw everything we could to Ortiz and he finally got a pitch. They put some good at-bats together. You have to give those guys credit."

The Brewers came back swinging in the third. After leading off with four straight singles, bases were loaded with one run already in. Casey McGehee hit a hard driven shot in between first and second base where Dustin Pedroia made an outstanding diving stop to turn a double play. It was McGehee's third RBI of the game for another two-run lead, but the rally was done and so were the Brewers.

Marco Estrada pitched four innings allowing only an Adrian Gonzalez home-run. He was relieved in the sixth by Daniel Ray Herrera, who lasted one inning after he allowed three earned runs. Pitching for the second consecutive day after being called up, Herrera has a 21.60 ERA in 1.2 innings pitched.

Once again the Brewers can not catch a break on the road. If Marcum does not get injured and Pedroia does not make that play in the third inning, we are looking at an entirely different game. Unfortunately, this is baseball and none of that matters. It is what it is and now it's time to move on to the next one.