Emotional day for Red Sox By The Sports Xchange
BOSTON -- An emotional day at the ballpark ended on an up note for the Red Sox on Friday night.
"We as a group have been walking around with a heavy heart today. Our leader, our friend, our manager shared some pretty devastating news with us today," Torey Lovullo, the interim manager, said after the Red Sox followed the news that manager John Farrell is battling lymphoma with a 15-1 rout of the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
"We hit just about every emotion you possibly can that was capped off by a lot of excitement in the dugout -- and I think these guys did that for John. They went out there and they fought hard, played hard and played with a ton of energy for John today."
The players got the news in a pre-game meeting that apparently didn't include starting pitcher Joe Kelly, who went six innings to win his third straight game.
"We're going to fight for John and like Papi (David Ortiz) said, 'We're on this ride with John. We're all together. We're a family,' " said Lovullo, who added he expects to see Farrell around Fenway Park until the treatments begin and that he will let Farrell tell him how much he wants to talk baseball when the chemo starts.
Before the game, second baseman Dustin Pedroia, still on the disabled list, said, "We know he's going to get through this. We'll all get through it together and do anything we can to help him."