Moore Untouchable as Rays Defeat Sox (7/22/13)

I did not see this game as I was on vacation.


News:

None, other than Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers was suspended for the remainder of the season for his involvement with performance enhancing drugs. 2011 MVP runner up Matt Kemp is furious and demands the MVP trophy be given to him instead. If MLB refused to strip Jose Canseco of his 88 MVP title and give it to Mike Greenwell, Kemp sure as hell isn't getting it.


THE GOOD:

Not much here. David Ortiz was 1 for 3 and Mike Napoli was 1 for 2 with a walk. Craig Breslow got the last out of the top of the 9th.


THE BAD:

Jackass of the Night is really tough since the only baserunners all night were Ortiz and Napoli. I'd have to go with Jonny Gomes who went 0 for 3 including striking out with Napoli on first and banging into a double play after Mike walked.

                                                 Jackass of the Night

Other bad guys include everyone else on offense. Jacoby Ellsbury, Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia were a combined 0 for 11. Ryan Lavarnway, Brandon Snyder and Jose Iglesias were a combined 0 for 9 with 3 strikeouts.


THE UGLY:

Brandon Workman was the hard luck loser but didn't pitch like a loser at all. On a normal day the rookie would have done fine by allowing just 2 earned runs in 6 innings of work. If the Sox could have generated some offense he would have been spared the defeat. Jose De La Torre ran out of gas in the 9th inning, allowing a run in 2 2/3 innings of work.


Final Thoughts:

The last 4 games has shown a big difference when Pedroia/Ellsbury/Iglesias/Victorino get on base and when they don't. The 2 games they've lost since the second half started, none of them could get on base and in the games they won, they did. If the top of the order can get on base, they have a shot to win...simple. The Rays are scorching hot, winning 18 out of 20 now and just a half game back of the 60-41 Red Sox. The good news is the Sox sent their rookie 5th starter against their ace. Tomorrow the Sox send their ace (in name only) Jon Lester against The Artist Formerly Known as Fausto Carmona. Unless David Price reverts to last year's form, the Sox won't see pitching like Moore again the rest of this series. Hopefully the Sox bats wake up.