Before the game, the Red Sox held their ring ceremony. It was their third in the last decade....that has a nice "ring" to it doesn't it? David Ortiz got a special ring along with it for being World Series MVP, probably a bonus for his lowballed contract.
Jake Peavy took the ball to start the top of the first and struck out Carlos Gomez on 3 pitches. Jean Segura then tripled down the left field line and today's heel Ryan Braun struck out as well. Peavy completed the trifecta by striking out Aramis Ramirez to end the inning. Marco Estrada took the ball for the visitors and Daniel Nava popped up to left. Dustin Pedroia hit one to the warning track but was caught in center. David Ortiz struck out to end the inning.
Jonathan Lucroy led off the second inning with a blast over everything to give the Brewers the lead. Logan Schafer also blasted one to right but it died at the wall. Kris Davis then doubled off the Monster and Scooter Gennett hit one to deep right but again caught just before the warning track. 4 straight hard hit balls and Lyle Overbay bucked the trend by walking. Gomez singled down the line to score Davis but was caught stealing to end the inning. The Brewers led 2-0 and Peavy got hit HARD.
The Sox struck back in the bottom of the second. Mike Napoli worked a 10 pitch leadoff walk to begin but Mike Carp hit one up the elevator shaft. Grady Sizemore singled and Napoli took off for third and the relay throw by Schafter hit him in the back. The ball rolled into right field allowing Napoli go come home and Sizemore advance to second to cut the lead. Sizemore then swiped third only because Ramirez missed the tag, Lucroy's throw was there in time. Xander Bogaerts then hit a fly ball but Schafer made up for his throw by gunning down Sizemore at home trying to score. Inning over, Brewers still had the lead 2-1.
Jean Segura led off the top of the third by grounding out to second. Braun popped up to second and Ramirez flied out to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the third although AJ Pierzynski struck out swinging. Will Middlebrooks smashed one into the Monster seats to tie the game, his first of the season. Nava gave one a ride but it was caught in right. Pedroia struck out swinging to end the inning but the game was tied 2-2.
Lucroy led off the top of the 4th with a double off the Monster that ate up Carp. Peavy got Schafer to pop up to short and Carp made up for it by snagging the fly ball hit by Davis. Gennett popped up to Middlebrooks to end the inning. Ortiz popped up and Napoli struck out to begin the bottom of the 4th but Schafer missed a blooper by Carp and Mike ended up at second base. Sizemore worked a 9 pitch walk but Bogaerts was robbed of a certain triple by Gomez in center to end the inning.
Peavy began the top of the 5th by striking out Overbay swinging. Gomez hit a wall ball single and advanced to second on the swinging sacrifice bunt by Segura. With the go-ahead run on second, Braun flied out to right to end the inning. Estrada remained tough as Pierzynski led off the bottom of the 5th by going down hacking. Middlebrooks flied out to center and Nava struck out swinging to end the inning.
Peavy got into a jam into the top of the 6th. Bogaerts dropped a line drive by Braun, his first error of the season and Lucroy walked. The Sox caught a break when Schafer botched a bunt before popping up to Middlebrooks. Davis flied out to left and Gennett grounded back to Peavy to end the inning. Peavy finished with 6 innings of 2 run ball, just like John Lackey in the second game of the year.
Pedroia singled to right to begin the bottom of the 6th but was thrown out trying to steal. Ortiz grounded out to Overbay and Napoli worked a 10 pitch walk to chase Estrada. Will Smith (no, not the Fresh Prince) relieved Estrada as Jonny Gomes pinch hit for Carp. Napoli advanced to second on a wild pitch....then to third on a passed ball. With the go-ahead run 90 feet away....Gomes took strike three to end the inning.
It came down to a battle of the bullpens as Burke Badenhop made his season debut by getting Overbay to ground out to lead off the top of the 7th. Gomez got his third hit of the day with an infield single to third but Badenhop struck out Segura swinging. Braun grounded out to Bogaerts to end the inning. Sizemore worked a leadoff walk to begin the bottom of the 7th and advanced to second on the groundout by Bogaerts. Pierzynski lined out sharply to Overbay and Brewers manager Ron Roenicke had Middlebrooks intentionally walked to get to Nava. With the go-ahead run at second base....Nava grounded out to short, 2 more runners left on base.
Badenhop returned for the top of the 8th and was greeted by a Ramirez single. Fortunately, Lucroy banged into a double play. Schafer flied out to right to end the inning, a solid effort by Badenhop.
Brandon Kintzler relieved Smith in the bottom of the 8th and Pedroia lined out to Overbay to start. Ortiz reached on a single into the shift. Once again there would be no clutch hitting as Napoli banged into a double play to end the inning.
Edward Mujica came on to pitch the top of the 9th and crapped his pants. He was greeted with a leadoff double by Davis. Gennett dropped a bunt down but Mujica foolishly threw to third and everyone was safe. Overbay made them pay with a triple down the right field line to score both runners to ice the game. Gomez continued to be red hot with an rbi single to increase the lead. Segura beat out a double play ball and stole second to boot. Braun flied out to right but Ramirez singled home Segura to chase Mujica. Farrell had enough and lifted him for Andrew Miller. Miller provided no relief as he walked Lucroy and Schafer to load the bases. Somehow Miller struck out Davis to end the decrepit inning with the Brewers ahead 6-2.
Fransisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez was brought in to close out the 9th. Gomes looked at strike 3, Sizemore grounded out to second and Bogaerts popped up to end the game just like that. The Brewers had spoiled the home opener with a 6-2 win over the Sox.
Jackass of the Night is easy. Edward Mujica gave up 4 runs on 4 hits in just 2/3 of the 9th inning. Accordian Man translated Mujica as "sh*t the bed"
The Good:
Mike Napoli walked twice in four plate appearances and scored a run.
Mike Carp was 1 for 2.
Grady Sizemore was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and a stolen base
Will Middlebrooks was for 2 with a walk and solo home run.
Jake Peavy tossed 6 innings and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4
Burke Badenhop pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief.
The Bad:
Daniel Nava was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Johnny Gomes was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with an error.
AJ Pierzynski was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4.
David Ortiz was just 1 for 4.
Andrew Miller faced 3 batters and walked 2 of them.
Final Thoughts:
Once again the Sox have trouble scoring runs. They managed only 5 hits in the entire game. If the Sox had a 3 or 4-2 lead going into the 9th, it would have been a lot different but Mujica looked frozen on the mound and it showed. This has been one of the coldest, nastiest winters in recent memory so it may take a while for the team and the weather to warm up. The offense better wake up because the team has had 4 good games by the starters and only 2 wins to show for it. Now is not the time to go into a slump with the season just starting. The Sox blitzed through everyone last April and it led to the division title but this season is starting out the opposite. The Sox look to rebound tomorrow when Clay Buchholz takes the mound for his season debut opposite Wily Peralta at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment