The good news was the Boston Bruins defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of their second round NHL playoff series but the bad news was the Boston Red Sox were shut out by the Seattle Mariners. The horrible month of April is finally over for the Sox and naturally it ended with yet another loss. Doug Fister of the Mariners tossed 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball and Mariners bullpen completed the shutout afterwards. John Lackey (2-3, 5.65 ERA) was game by allowing just 2 runs in 6 innings, but those two runs just happened to be the difference. The Sox had chances to take the lead early and tie the game but couldn't get it done as the Mariners beat Boston 2-0 at Fenway Park. How many runs did the Sox score Dean Wormer?
Lackey got the ball in the top of the first inning and Ichiro Suzuki dropped a base hit to center to start. Chone Figgins took strike three but Ichiro swiped second. Lackey then turned and fired the ball 100 feet over the head of shortstop Jed Lowrie and Ichiro made it to third on the error. Milton Bradley took strike three and Miguel Olivo grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox blew their only chance to take the lead in the bottom of the first against Fister as Jacoby Ellsbury walked to start. Ellsbury was erased on the Dustin Pedroia force but Adrian Gonzalez dropped a base hit to center. Kevin Youkilis walked but David Ortiz struck out swinging. JD Drew flied out to center to end the inning, what a waste.
Justin Smoak struck out swinging to start the top of the second but Jack Cust walked. Michael Saunders popped up to Youkilis and Brendan Ryan grounded out to second to end the inning. Jed Lowrie led off the top of the second inning by taking strike three. Carl Crawford grounded out to first and Jarrod Saltalamacchia lined out to left to end the inning.
The Mariners struck first in the top of the third as Jack Wilson popped up to first to start. Ichiro walked and Figgins singled him to third before Suzuki scored on the Bradley double to left. Olivo grounded out to third and Bradley started screaming at the second base umpire for absolutely no reason. Bradley had to be carried out by the third base coach kicking and screaming as Ryan Langerhans pinch ran for Bradley. Smoak grounded out to first to end the inning with the Mariners ahead 1-0.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the third as Ellsbury doubled to right to start. Pedroia grounded out to third, Gonzalez struck out swinging and Youkilis grounded out to short to end the inning.
Lackey got in trouble in the top of the fourth as Cust walked to start. Saunders flied out to left and Ryan popped up to first, but Wilson got a hit just out of the reach of Pedroia to move Cust to third. Ichiro grounded into a force to end the inning. Ortiz struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fourth before Drew grounded out to second. Lowrie doubled to right but Crawford popped up to right to end the inning.
Figgins singled to center to start the top of the fifth but Langerhans flied out to left. Olivo flied out to the centerfield warning track and Smoak grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox blew another rally in the bottom of the fifth as Saltalamacchia doubled to left to start. Ellsbury and Pedroia drew back to back walks to load the bases but Gonzalez hit a bullet to second, doubling off Jacoby for the double play. Youkilis popped up to first to end the inning, what a squander.
The Mariners struck again in the top of the sixth as Cust and Saunders stroked back to back base hits to left to start. Ryan dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over and Wilson scored Cust with a sac fly to center. Ichiro walked but Figgins grounded out to short to end the inning. That was it for Lackey who allowed just 2 runs in 6 innings but left trailing 2-0.
The Sox blew another rally in the bottom of the sixth as Ortiz popped up to Ichiro to start. Drew doubled to center and moved to third on the Lowrie fly ball to the centerfield warning track. Crawford walked and that was it for Fister. Aaron Laffey came in and Saltlamacchia hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
Hideki Okajima came in to pitch the top of the seventh inning and Langerhans grounded back to him to start. Olivo grounded out to third and Smoak struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox blew yet another rally in the bottom of the seventh as Ellsbury's bunt attempt was snuffed out by Laffey to start. Pedroia grounded out to short. Gonzalez walked and Youkilis doubled to left to put the tying runs on. Marco Scutaro pinch ran for Youkilis but Ortiz flied out to left to end the inning.
Okajima returned for the top of the eighth and Cust grounded into the shift to start. Saunders popped up a bunt to Okajima and that was it for him. Dan Wheeler came in and got Ryan to pop up to first to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the eighth as Drew flied out to center to start. Lowrie grounded out to third and Crawford flied out to center to end the inning.
Wheeler came back for the top of the ninth and Wilson grounded out to Scutaro to start. Ichiro singled to center and stole second on the Figgins swinging strikeout. Langerhans popped up to third to end the inning. The Sox pitchers had held the Mariners to just 2 runs in 9 innings, what a waste. Mariners closer Brandon League came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Saltalamacchia singled to right to start. Ellsbury banged into a double play and Pedroia flied out to right to end the game. The Mariners had won it 2-0.
Jackass of the Night is David Ortiz. He was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and left men on base all night.
The Good:
Jacoby Ellsbury was 1 for 3 with 2 walks.
Adrian Gonzalez was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Kevin Youkilis was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 2 for 4.
One of the rare times the losing pitcher ends up on the good list but John Lackey tossed 6 solid innings of 2 run ball. He allowed 7 hits and 4 walks.
Hideki Okajima tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Dan Wheeler tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 4 but walked.
JD Drew was just 1 for 4.
Jed Lowrie was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Carl Crawford was 0 for 3 but walked.
Honorable Mention:
Marco Scutaro was used as a pinch runner and played short in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Finally this god awful month is over. How fitting that in the wake of the worst start possible the Sox would get shut out in the final game of the month? A season that had so much promise after the Adrian Gonzalez trade and Carl Crawford signing has completely gone up in smoke. The Sox lost 15 of their first 26 games in every way imaginable and there seems to be no end in sight. They are absolutely dreadful with runners in scoring position and if its the not the starters stinking the joint out, the bullpen ruins the good starts. Tonight's game was a microcosm as everyone had no problems getting on base but couldn't do a damn thing once guys were on. Lackey pitched a good, determined game and Wheeler & Okajima kept the M's off the scoreboard, it just wasn't enough since the Sox bats couldn't generate any offense. The month ends with the Sox at 11-15 and the news doesn't get any better. Clay Buchholz will not make the start tomorrow afternoon and will be replaced by Tim Wakefield as he goes up against AL Cy Young champion Felix Hernandez of the Mariners. The game begins at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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