The 2012 Boston Red Sox season was the 112th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished last in the five-team American League East with a record of 69 wins and 93 losses, 26 games behind the first-place New York Yankees. It was the first time the Red Sox finished last in their division since 1992. Under manager Bobby Valentine, the Red Sox finished with the third-lowest winning percentage in the American League.
On the heels of a 2011 season that ended with the team losing 20 of 27 games during September,2011 Boston Red Sox Schedule, Box Scores and Splits Baseball-Reference.com resulting in their elimination from playoff contention and the departure of manager Terry Francona, the Red Sox struggled throughout their 2012 campaign under new manager Bobby Valentine. At the All-Star break the team was 43–43, and at the end of August they had fallen to 62–71. At 66–81 on September 16, the Red Sox were mathematically eliminated from the playoff race. On September 19, the team lost their 82nd regular season game, thus clinching their first losing season since 1997. On September 30, the Red Sox reached the 90-loss mark, assuring them of their first season with 90 or more losses since 1966. The next day, the team suffered their 91st loss of the season, to the arch-rival Yankees, the most defeats since their 100-loss season in 1965. On October 4, a day after their final game of the season, Valentine was fired, with one year and two option years still remaining on his contract.
Offseason November Jonathan Papelbon, the closer of the Red Sox for seven seasons (2005–2011), signed a 4-year, $50 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. On November 29, 2011, Bobby Valentine accepted the Red Sox offer to become their new manager for the 2012 season.
December On December 13, 2011, the Red Sox signed catcher Kelly Shoppach to a 1-year, $1.35 million contract. On December 14, 2011, the Red Sox signed infielder Nick Punto to a 2-year contract. Also on December 14, 2011, the Red Sox traded right-handed pitcher Kyle Weiland and shortstop Jed Lowrie to the Houston Astros, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Mark Melancon. On December 28, 2011, the Red Sox traded right-handed pitcher Raul Alcantara, first baseman Miles Head, and right fielder Josh Reddick to the Oakland Athletics for right-handed pitcher Andrew Bailey and right fielder Ryan Sweeney.
January
On January 9, 2012, the Red Sox signed starting pitcher Aaron Cook. On January 16, 2012, the Red Sox signed another pitcher, Vicente Padilla. On January 21, 2012, the Red Sox sent infielder Marco Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for pitcher Clayton Mortensen. On January 23, 2012, the Red Sox agreed to sign outfielder Cody Ross to a 1-year, $3 million deal plus incentives.
Spring training The Red Sox began spring training play at the new JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Florida, replacing City of Palms Park as their home field for spring training.
Regular season Opening Day
The Red Sox opened their 2012 season on April 5, 2012, against the Detroit Tigers. Tigers closer José Valverde recorded his first blown save since September 2, 2010, allowing the Red Sox to tie the game in the 9th inning, but the Tigers won, 3–2, on a game-winning single by Austin Jackson.
Opening Day lineup 2 Jacoby Ellsbury CF15 Dustin Pedroia 2B28 Adrián González 1B34 David Ortiz DH20 Kevin Youkilis 3B12 Ryan Sweeney RF 7 Cody Ross LF39 Jarrod Saltalamacchia C 3 Mike Avilés SS31 Jon Lester P Traded later in the season
April After new closer Andrew Bailey injured his thumb days before Opening Day, the Red Sox went 1–5 over their first six games before mercifully hitting a three-game winning streak, resulting in a second consecutive undesirable start for the Red Sox after going 0–6 over their first six games in 2011. Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was placed on the 15-day disabled list after a shoulder injury during the home opener on April 13. This Week in Boston Sports — Week of Wednesday, April 18 – Retrieved April 17, 2012.
During an interview aired on local television on April 15, manager Bobby Valentine ripped 3B Kevin Youkilis, saying he is not "as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past". After outspoken defense of Youkilis by teammates Dustin Pedroia and Adrián González, Valentine turned on his own words, saying he "was totally behind him".Bobby Valentine rips Kevin Youkilis, then apologizes, Chicago Sun-Times – retrieved April 20, 2012. After Valentine's comments, the Red Sox plunged into a 5-game losing streak.
On April 20, the Red Sox celebrated 100 years at Fenway Park prior to the game against the New York Yankees with introductions of around 200 former Red Sox players, managers and coaches. Both teams wore throwback uniforms during the game similar to those used in the first major league game at Fenway Park. The Red Sox had off-white uniforms and caps, with only the words "Red Sox" in red across the chest. The Yankees' uniforms were all grey with the only printing the letters "NY" on the caps and left breast. After losing 4 consecutive games, the Red Sox took a 9–0 lead through 5 innings against the rival Yankees on April 21, but relief pitchers Vicente Padilla, Matt Albers, Franklin Morales, Alfredo Aceves, Justin Thomas, and Junichi Tazawa combined to allow 14 runs total in the 7th and 8th innings, as the Yankees prevailed by a score of 15–9, for the Red Sox' 5th consecutive loss.April 21, 2012 Yankees-Red Sox Play-By-Play and Boxscore, Baseball-Reference.com (retrieved April 22, 2012). After the game, the Red Sox traded pitcher Michael Bowden to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Marlon Byrd to help out their outfield after the injuries to Carl Crawford before the season and Ellsbury earlier in the season.Red Sox get OF Byrd for Bowden, Edes, Gordon. ESPNBoston.com. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
After their losing streak, the road was kind to the Red Sox, as they amassed a six-game winning streak by sweeping the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis and taking the first three games of a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox, including scoring 9 runs in 5 innings against Philip Humber, who had thrown a perfect game in his previous start. In the end, the Red Sox closed out April with an 11–11 record.
May The second month of the season did not start well for the Red Sox, as they went winless over their first five games in May. The Red Sox dropped the latter two games of a three-game series against the Oakland A's and were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in a three-game series that featured both 13- and 17-inning romps. On May 6, the Red Sox used all of their available bullpen pitchers in the lengthy 17-inning game and had to send in outfielder Darnell McDonald to pitch, ultimately leading to a 9–6 setback. On a lighter note, however, rookie third baseman Will Middlebrooks hit a grand slam in that game for his first Major League home run, and would then hit 2 home runs in the Red Sox' next game, which they won to snap their losing streak.
The Red Sox finally saw some measurable success at Fenway over and just after Mothers' Day weekend, taking three games of four from the Cleveland Indians and sweeping a quick two-game series over the Seattle Mariners before embarking on another road trip. During this time, McDonald went on the Disabled List, but the Red Sox recalled OF Daniel Nava and acquired OF Scott Podsednik, who had not played a Major League game since September 9, 2010. Podsednik was initially assigned to AAA Pawtucket for the time being. On this road trip, the Red Sox went 5–3, including taking 2 out of 3 games against the Philadelphia Phillies in their first interleague series of the year and 2 out of 3 games against the division-leading Orioles. Closer Alfredo Aceves had 4 saves in the 8-game road trip. While on the road trip, outfielders Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney were injured, but 3B Kevin Youkilis returned from the Disabled List. With Middlebrooks settled into starting at third base, the Red Sox used Youkilis at first base with Adrián González playing right field. Podsednik and Che-Hsuan Lin were promoted from the minor leagues to help out in the injury-torn outfield.
On May 26, Jarrod Saltalamacchia had a pinch-hit, two-run home run off Fernando Rodney with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, to lift the Red Sox to a 3–2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. It was the first walk-off home run of Saltalamacchia's career, while Rodney suffered the first blown save of the season after opening the year with a perfect 15-for-15 in save opportunities.
On May 29, the Red Sox cruised to a 6–3 win over pitcher Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers to achieve a record of 25–24, their first winning record of the season.
June The Red Sox entered June having finally amassed a winning record, but they soon found themselves struggling to keep it afloat. The Sox peaked at 28–25 on June 2, before slipping into a three-game setback. The Red Sox took 2 of 3 from the Toronto Blue Jays but only salvaged one game of a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles.
With a short period of divisional play now through, the Red Sox commenced with interleague play, facing off against the Washington Nationals, only to be swept by the Nats in the weekend series and yet again shoved below the .500 winning-percentage mark. Then, the Sox proceeded to try to rack up wins on the road over a six-game road voyage. They challenged the Miami Marlins, winning two of three games while visiting the new Marlins Park in Miami for the first time, and then proceeded to also take two of three games from the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Back at Fenway, starting pitcher Clay Buchholz continued his domination against Miami at Fenway on June 19, racking his 8th win of the season. On June 24, the Red Sox cruised to a 9–4 victory against Atlanta at Fenway in what was to become Kevin Youkilis' last game with the Red Sox before being traded to the Chicago White Sox. Fans, aware of the trade rumors, gave Youkilis a standing ovation after he hit a triple during the game. The Red Sox received utility player Brent Lillibridge and pitcher Zach Stewart (who was assigned to AAA Pawtucket) in the trade.Kevin Youkilis traded to White Sox – Extra Bases – Red Sox Blog – boston.com Retrieved June 24, 2012. On June 24, 2012, the Red Sox completed interleague play for the 2012 regular season. They finished off their homestand by welcoming the Blue Jays to Fenway and winning two of three games against them.
To finish off June, the Red Sox set out on a seven-game western road swing beginning with the first three games of a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field in Seattle, having amassed a 1–2 record in the series before entering July.
July The BoSox opened the month of July by ending the four-game Seattle series with a victory on July 1. The club traveled down the coast to Oakland, where they were swept by the Athletics in a 3-game series from July 2–4. Although they often have an afternoon home game on the Fourth of July, the Red Sox remained on the road during the holiday this season.
The Sox came home to Fenway Park to face the rival Yankees in a four-game series, which included a Saturday doubleheader created to compensate for a rained out Red Sox-Yankees game earlier in the year. The Red Sox lost 3 of 4 games against New York, dropping the Friday, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday games, and being victorious only in the Saturday night game. One bright spot for the Red Sox over the weekend was the surprising breakout performance of Pedro Ciriaco, making his debut with the Red Sox. Ciriaco amassed four hits and four RBIs in the Saturday night game, as his offensive prowess became the main storyline of the Red Sox' lone win of the series.