Before the game, David Ross was placed on the 7 day concussion DL after getting knocked goofy by Will Middlebrooks last week. In his place the Sox brought back Ryan Lavarnway to be the backup catcher. Hopefully Ross is alright.
IN
It was a bad day for Boston sports as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Boston Bruins in Game 6 of their NHL playoff first round series and the Boston Red Sox got beat by the Toronto Blue Jays. The Red Sox have played some horrendous baseball lately and it was capped off by today's all around stinkeroo in a humiliating 12-4 defeat. The loss capped off a bawful homestand where the Sox went just 2 and 5 and have also lost the last 8 of 10. Sox starter Ryan "Duke The Dumpster" Dempster (2-4, 3.75 ERA) simply didn't have it and once again the Sox were useless at bat. Even more humiliating was Toronto Blue Jays starter Brendan Morrow was scratched due to injury so they called up 25 year old DOUBLE A prospect Chad Jenkins to fill in. This was so sudden that Jenkins was completely surprised to learn he'd get the start. How did the Red Sox respond to facing a spot starter out of double A? Well, let this explain it better.
Only 2 runs off a Double A starter equals this
The Jays struck first in the top of the second inning. Adam Lind singled but Brett Lawrie struck out. Colby Rasmus struck out but Emilio Bonifacio doubled. So if Jenkins got out of a jam at age 25, how did 37 year old Dempster respond? He allowed a 2 run single by Munenori Kawasaki. Cabrera grounded out to end the inning but the Jays were up 2-0.
The fun didn't end there, oh no siree bob! In the bottom of the second, Daniel Nava lined out and Mike Carp grounded out. Jarrod Saltalamacchia atoned for his passed ball by hitting a ground rule double. How did Will Middlebrooks respond to the man who was 1-3 last year for Toronto? He grounded out to short...duh.
The hits kept on coming....for Toronto anyway. In the top of the third inning, Bautista blasted a solo home run to increase the lead. Encarnarcion and Arencibia grounded out before Lind flied out to end the inning The Jays were up 3-0 and it would only get worse.
In the bottom of the third, Stephen "PU" Drew lined out but Ellsbury and Victorino hit back to back singles. How did Dustin Pedroia respond to a spot starter on short rest? He hit into an inning ending double play.
The Jays had no trouble scoring in the top of the 4th. Lawrie grounded out but Rasmus walked. Then came the most gruesome play of the game. Bonifacio hit his first home run of the year to make it 5 to zilch but Victorino had a chance to catch it, only to run full speed into the wall and injuring himself. Injuries are never a good thing so hopefully he's okay. Kawasaki popped up and Cabrera struck out to end the inning with the Jays up 5-0.
The Sox got a run back in the bottom of the fourth inning. Napoli crushed a 400 foot bomb to cut the lead to 4. Nava grounded out, Carp flied out and Saltalamacchia grounded out to end the inning.
The Jays got the run back in the top of the 5th. Bautista grounded out but Encarnarcion homered. Arencibia and Lind struck out to end the inning but the Jays were now up 6-1. That was it for Dempster who had thrown exactly 100 pitches and was lit up for 6 runs in 5 innings. Not his best start.
The Sox mustered nothing in the bottom of the 5th. Middlebrooks whiffed but PU Drew walked. Ellsbury whiffed but PU Drew stole second. How did Victorino respond with a runner on second against a Double A starter? He flied out to right in a Herculean fashion. The AA starter on short rest shut down the Sox for 5 innings, pathetic.
Andrew Miller took the mound for the Sox in the top of the 6th and proceeded to poop his pants as well. Brett Lawrie greeted him with a home run, Rasmus popped up but Bonafacio singled and Kawasaki walked to chase Miller. Outstanding relief there buddy.
Clayton "Vigo" Mortensen took the mound and he crapped himself as well. The two baserunners pulled off a double steal on the sleeping battery of Mortensen and Saltlamacchia then Melky Cabrera hit a sac fly to make it 8-1. The Jays capped off the inning when Baustista homered for the second time today and now it was 10-1. The Jays ended up scoring as many runs in this inning as the Sox did all game. Encarnarcion grounded out to end the inning but the Jays had a 9 run lead. Jenkins ran out of gas in the 6th but with a 9 run lead, Jays manager John Gibbons could care less. Pedroia singled and Napoli doubled to right as Aaron "Fruit" Loup relieved Jenkins. Daniel Nava managed a sac fly to make it 10-2 before last night's jackass Jonny Gomes pinch hit for Carp and did what he did best with runners on, he struck out. Saltalamacchia also flied out making the Red Sox look completely incompetent with men on base.
Sox manager John Farrell brought in the bench in the top of the seventh as Pedro Ciriaco took over at first, Nava moved to right field to replace Victorino (who was brought to the hospital but thankfully is ok) and Gomes stayed in left. Arencibia flied out, Lind grounded out and Lawrie lined out to end the inning. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the seventh as Middlebrooks and Drew struck out before Ellsbury grounded out to end the inning.
Craig Breslow came on to pitch the top of the eighth. Rasmus grounded out, Bonifacio popped up and Kawasaki struck out to end the inning. The Sox somehow rallied off Esmil Rogers who took over for Loup. Esmil served up a nice fat meatball to Ciriaco who gobbled it up and launched it into the monster seats for a home run to make it 10-3. Pedroia flied out but Napoli singled, Nava walked and Gomes was hit by a pitch to load the bases. At this point a grand slam or even a bases clearing double would make the game far more interesting. Bret Cecil relieved the ineffective Rogers who nearly induced a double play ball but Saltalamacchia beat out the throw to first to score Napoli to make it 10-4. Now with runners at the corners Middlebrooks swatted a historic groundout to third that ended the rally. Nothing says clutch more than going 2 consecutive games without a hit with runners in scoring position.
It was now mop up duty for Jose De La Torre, making his major league debut in the top of the ninth.. The last link to Kevin Youkilis also crapped his pants by allowing a double to Cabrera, a walk to Bautista and a single to Encarnarcion that scored Cabrera. Torre did manage to get JP Arencebia to ground into a double-play but Bautista scored to cap off the scoring. Lind grounded out to end the inning with the Jays ahead 12-4. Steve Delabar had mop up duty in the bottom of the ninth. PU Drew singled but Ellsbury struck out. Ciriaco and Pedroia flied out to end the game, the Jays had won it 12-4.
I could put the entire team on here and there are plenty of picks for Jackass of the Night but I'll have to go with Ryan Dempster. He was matched up against a 25 year old Double A starter and gave up 6 runs in only 5 inning, making the bullpen throw 4 innings (mostly ineffective). Yes, he was outpitched by someone from Double A.
THE GOOD:
Shane Victorino was just 1 for 3 before leaving the game.
Pedro Ciriaco was 1 for 2 including a solo home run.
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 5 with a run scored.
Mike Napoli was 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and a home run.
Stephen Drew was 1 for 3 with a walk.
THE BAD:
Mike Carp was 0 for 2.
Jonny Gomes struck out in his pinch hit at-bat.
Will Middlebrooks was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts
Andrew Miller gave up 3 runs in just 1/3 of an inning.
Jose De La Torre made his major league debut by giving up 2 runs in the ninth
THE UGLY:
Jacoby Ellsbury was just 1 for 5.
Daniel Nava was 0 for 2 but walked and drove in a run
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was just 1 for 4 with a passed ball.
Clayton Mortensen gave up a run but pitched 1 2/3 innings to save the rest of the bullpen.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Mercifully this homestand has come to an end. Almost 10 straight days of misery (with 2 exceptions) ends with the Sox in 3rd place. They can't hit in the clutch, their overworked bullpen is starting to give up runs in bunches, errors are becoming more frequent, they still have troubles pitching in the 9th and hitting lefties and worst of all they have no closer again. Luckily a lot of that can be fixed. Some of the boys are in a slump and once they come out of it, the offense will pick up. Getting Andrew Bailey and Franklin Morales back healthy will shore up the exhausted bullpen and a trade or two may get the lefties and errors situation fixed. Still, the day was a complete washout that even ruined the debut of De La Torre, the 27 year old reliever holding the fort until Morales and or Bailey comes back. The players get a much needed day off tomorrow. Maybe they can go to the bar together or go home and play pickle tickle with their wives, or play pin the tail on the donkey at a children's benefit. ANYTHING to get their minds off the last 10 days. They're gonna need to clear their heads in a hurry because they have a big roadtrip against Tampa Bay coming up. A sweep down there would bring optimism and momentum back to their side big time. The one best team in baseball (record wise) now drops to 22-16 and 2 games behind the Yankees.
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