Well this sucks. Hideo Nomo (4-3, 4.24 ERA) turned back into a pumpkin after looking like he was going to be the next ace of the Boston Red Sox in April. The hapless Kansas City Royals smacked around Nomo for 5 runs in 6 innings of work. The Royals broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth with 2 runs and iced the game with runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth. The Sox did manage to cut it to 5-2 but Hector Ortiz got a clutch rbi base hit to represent the final margin. The Sox are blowing their AL East lead with another loss to a bad team as the Royals beat the Sox 6-2 at Kauffman Stadium.
Randy Quaid is angry again
Dan Reichert got the start for Kansas City and Trot Nixon led off the top of the first with a fly out to left. Jose Offerman doubled to center and moved to third on the Carl Everett grounder to second, but Manny Ramirez flied out to right to end the inning. Nomo started strong in the bottom of the first as Carlos Beltran grounded out to second to start. Rey Sanchez grounded out to short and Mike Sweeney flied out to right to end the inning.
Dante Bichette grounded out to short to start the top of the second before Brian Daubach struck out swinging. John Valentin grounded out to short to end the inning. Jermaine Dye struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Joe Randa singled to center. Dee Brown flied out to right and Mark Quinn grounded out to third to end the inning.
Shea Hillenbrand took strike three to open the top of the third before Jason Varitek flied out to left. Nixon singled to left but Offerman flied out to left to end the inning. The Royals struck first in the bottom of the third as Luis Alicea flied out to right to start. Hector Ortiz lined a triple over the falling Everett and scored on the sac fly by Beltran to give the Royals the lead. Sanchez caught Hillenbrand asleep with a bunt single and Sweeney singled to left, but Dye grounded into a force to end the inning with the Royals up 1-0.
Everett atoned for his miscue by lashing a triple of his own to left to start the top of the fourth. Ramirez knocked him in with a grounder to short to tie the game but Bichette lined out to center. Daubach singled to right and Valentin walked, but Hillenbrand flied out to right to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
The Royals went up for good in the bottom of the fourth as Randa singled to left to start. Brown doubled to left but Quinn grounded out to third. Alicea scored Randa with a grounder to second and Ortiz singled to left to score Brown to ice the game. Ortiz was thrown out trying to steal to end the inning but it was 3-1 Royals.
Varitek was plunked to start the top of the fifth and moved to second on the Nixon grounder to first. Offerman grounded out to third and Everett grounded out to second to end the inning. The Royals tacked it on in the bottom of the fifth as Beltran struck out swinging to start. Sanchez walked, Sweeney caught Hillenbrand asleep with a bunt single and Rey swiped third to put runners at the corners. Dye hit a sac fly to center to score Sanchez but Randa grounded out to third to end the inning with the Royals up 4-1.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the sixth as Ramirez grounded out to third to start. Bichette struck out swinging and Daubach watched strike three go by to end the inning. The Royals finished off Nomo in the bottom of the sixth as Brown grounded back to the mound to start. Quinn hit a home run all the way to Lexington, Kentucky to increase the lead but Alicea took strike three. Ortiz flied out to center to end the inning with the Royals up 5-1. Nomo lasted 6 innings but allowed 5 runs, ugh.
The Sox tried to fight back in the top of the seventh when Valentin smashed his first home run in over a year to cut the lead. Hillenbrand flied out to right, Varitek grounded out to short and Nixon flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox down 5-2.
Rolando Arrojo came in for the bottom of the seventh and Beltran grounded out to second to start. Sanchez also grounded out to second but Sweeney doubled to right. Dye grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Jason Grimsley came in for the top of the eighth and the Sox went quietly. Offerman grounded back to the mound, Everett grounded out to first and Ramirez lined out to short to end the inning. The Royals tagged Pete Schourek in the bottom of the eighth as Randa flied out to right to start. David McCarty singled to center but was forced at second by Quinn. Alicea singled in the hole at short and Ortiz singled home Quinn to wrap up the scoring. Beltran lined out to center to end the inning with the Royals up 6-2.
Roberto Hernandez came in to close out the top of the ninth and Bichette grounded out to second to start. Daubach also grounded out to second and Valentin took strike three to end the game. The Royals had won it 6-2.
The Good:
John Valentin was 1 for 3 with a walk and a home run.
Rolando Arrojo tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
The Bad:
Dante Bichette was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Shea Hillenbrand was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Pete Schourek allowed a run in the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
Trot Nixon was just 1 for 4.
Jose Offerman was just 1 for 4.
Carl Everett was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Manny Ramirez was 0 for 4 but drove in a run.
Brian Daubach was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Jason Varitek was 0 for 2 but was hit with a pitch.
Final Thoughts:
All the good feelings of April got washed away in May this season. Last year the Sox waited until June to fall apart, this year they started early. Paxton Crawford, Tomo Ohka and Hideo Nomo have all fallen off the map this month and their recent struggles reflect that. The real story of this game wasn't just Nomo's incompetence but the Sox lack of offense against Reichert. He allowed just 2 runs in 7 innings and the Sox looked lost apart from Valentin's home run. When Ramirez and Everett go just 1 for 8, you're in trouble. Good to see Valentin hit his first home run and he could be an unexpected surprise this season if his knee holds up. Two years ago he was an integral part of their run to the ALCS and they're gonna need that kind of performance this year. Hillenbrand is starting to slump and if Nomar Garciaparra was around, Sox manager Jimy Williams could mix and match to get some guys rest in between starts. Hopefully this is just a hiccup for Nomo and he picks up the pace moving forward, same goes for the rest of the team. The loss dropped the Sox to 24-18, 0.5 game ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back against the Royals tomorrow afternoon when Frank Castillo (4-2) takes on Brian Meadows of Kansas City. The game begins at 2:05 PM Eastern time at Kauffman Stadium.
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