As for the game, what a complete disaster. The Red Sox were up 5-3 in the ninth with their closer on the mound against the Baltimore Orioles. Instead of a routine win, the O's pounced on Joel Hanrahan (0-1, 11.57 ERA) for 5 runs, sending the already paltry Fenway Park crowd home early, as if the steady rain wasn't enough already.
Baltimore wasted no time scoring in the top off the first off starter Ryan Dempster. Nate McLouth led off with a walk and Jacoby Ellsbury dropped a routine pop up, allowing McLouth to move to third.
Nick Markakis put the O's on top with a groundout that scored McLouth. Adam Jones and Chris Davis both struck out to end the inning. Jake Arrieta got the ball in the bottom of the first inning. Jacoby Ellsbury failed to redeem himself by grounding out. Shane Victorino grounded out as well and Dustin Pedroia struck out to end the inning.
Dempster recovered in the top of the second. Matt Wieters and JJ Hardy both grounded out before Ryan Flaherty struck out to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the second. Mike Napoli and Will Middlebrooks flied out but Daniel Nava walked. Jarrod Saltalamacchia tied the game with a double that scored Nava. The returning Stephen Drew flied out to end the inning with a 1-1 score.
Dempster hung tough in the top of the third. Nolan Reimold popped up, McLouth and Machado grounded out to end the inning. The Sox took the lead in the bottom of the third. Jackie Bradley Jr walked and Ellsbury finally redeemed himself with a triple to score JBJ. Victorino hit a sac fly to score Ellsbury to make it 3-1. Pedroia and Napoli walked but Middlebrooks banged into a double play to end the inning.
The O's struck back in the top of the fourth. Markakis blasted a home run to right to cut the lead 3-2. Jones singled and took second on a wild pitch by Dempster. Davis whiffed but Wieters singled to JBJ...who booted the ball, allowing Jones to score to tie the game. Hardy walked but Flaherty struck out. Reimold grounded out to end the inning with the game tied. Arrieta settled down in the bottom of the fourth. Nava lined out but Saltalamacchia doubled again. Drew grounded out but moved Jarrod to third but JBJ grounded out to end the inning.
Dempster cruised in the top of the fifth.McLouth and Machado struck out and Markakis grounded out to end the inning. Arrieta matched Ryan in the bottom of the inning. Ellsbury grounded out, Victorino popped up and Pedroia whiffed to end the inning.
That was it for Dempster after 5 innings as Sox manager John Farrell lifted him for Koji Uehara in the top of the sixth. Jones struck out, Davis grounded out and Wieters popped up to end the inning. The Sox took the lead back in the bottom of the sixth. Tommy Hunter got the ball and struck out both Napoli and Middlebrooks. Nava and Saltalamacchia then hit back to back jacks to put the Sox up 5-3. Drew grounded out to end the inning.
Junichi Tazawa came in for the top of the seventh. Hardy flied out then both Flaherty and Reimold struck out to end the inning. Good work by Uehara and Tazawa...talk about an Orient Express. Troy Patton came on to pitch the bottom of the seventh. JBJ and Ellsbury grounded out then Victorino flied out to end the inning.
Andrew Bailey took over for the top of the eighth inning. McLouth walked but Machado popped up. Markakis and Jones whiffed to end the inning. Darren O'Day took over for the bottom of the eighth. Pedroia lined out and both Napoli and Middlebrooks whiffed to end the inning.
Joel Hanrahan took over in the ninth looking to close the game out, but ran into a buzzsaw. Davis blasted a solo home run to cut the lead but Wieters struck out and Hardy popped up. One out away from the save, Flaherty singled. Alexi Casilla pinch ran for Flaherty and stole second. Reimold walked and Chris Dickerson pinch ran for him. McLouth walked to load the bases and a wild pitch tied the game when every runner moved up. Machado hammered the exclamation point when he hammered a 3 run homer to give the O's an 8-3. The boo birds rained down on Hanrahan as Sox manager John Farrell lifted him for Andrew Miller. Way to crap your pants there Joel.
Markakis struck out to end the inning but the air was out of the ball. O's closer Jim Johnson took the mound in the bottom of the ninth with Casilla now at second base. Nava flied out, Saltalamacchia struck out and Drew struck out to end the game. The O's had come back to win 8-3 after being down to their last out.
Jackass of the night is a no brainer. Joel Hanrahan had a 2 run lead in the ninth and blew it, allowing 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning.
The Good:
Daniel Nava was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi and 2 runs scored. Jarrod Saltalamacchia would have been the hero as he went 3 for 4 with 2 rbi's and a run scored off his first homer of the year. Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless 6th inning. Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless 7th inning. Andrew Bailey pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Andrew Miller got the final out of the 9th inning.
The Bad:
\
Will Middlebrooks was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. Stephen Drew was 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Jacoby Ellsbury was just 1 for 4 with an error but drove in a run and scored one. Shane Victorino was 0 for 3 but drove in a run. Dustin Pedroia and Mike Napoli were both 0 for 3 but walked. Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 2 with an error but walked and scored. Ryan Dempster went just 5 innings and allowed 3 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7.
Final Thoughts:
Apart from Joel Hanrahan the Sox did everything well. Its a shame things ended the way they did because they were headed to a good team win. Saltalamacchia and Nava did well and the bullpen (apart from Hanrahan) picked up Dempster well, who was victimized by lousy defense. The offense is trying to hold things together until David Ortiz returns so winning low scoring games will have to be their M.O. for a while....god help them. Tomorrow Alfredo "The Vulture" Aceves gets the start in place of John Lackey opposite Chris Tillman.
No comments:
Post a Comment