Daniel Bard struggles in first appearance since demotion

Daniel Bard was demoted to Triple-A Pawtucket this week after posting a 5.24 ERA, a league-leading eight hit batsmen and a 34/37 K/BB ratio over 55 innings. His first appearance in the minors suggests that a return to the Red Sox is not imminent.

According to Ian Browne of MLB.com, Bard allowed three runs in one inning last night against the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate. While he struck out two, he also gave up two hits and hit two batters. He threw 16 out of 25 pitches for strikes and topped out at 96 mph on his fastball.

While Bard started the game, he was only scheduled to pitch one inning and he was more focused on his mechanics than the results.

“The best thing about throwing down here is you can kind of ignore the results and not worry about wins and losses as much,” Bard said. "[I was] trying some tweaks mechanically, and I think it was really good on some pitches -- and that’s what I was looking for, to get that feel. I didn’t expect it to be perfect on every pitch. The pitches it felt good on did what they were supposed to and went where they were supposed to [go].”

Bard won’t have to wait long to put last night’s outing behind him. He’s scheduled to make his next appearance Monday, likely throwing two innings. It hasn’t been decided whether he’ll start the game or come out of the bullpen.