Buchholz got the ball in the top of the first and Nick Markakis led the game off with a ground out to second base. Nelson "pain in the ass" Cruz struck out swinging but Chris Davis walked. Jonny Gomes then made a diving catch to rob Adam Jones of a hit to end the inning. Wei-Yin Chen got the ball in the bottom of the first and Brock Holt grounded out to second to begin. Dustin Pedroia grounded out to short but not before nearly taking out Jonathan Schoop at third base when Pedroia lost control of his bat on a swinging strike two. David Ortiz drew a four pitch walk but Napoli forced Ortiz at second to end the inning.
The O's beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the second as Steve Clevenger grounded out to second to begin. Schoop grounded out to short and Ryan Flaherty grounded out to Buchholz to end the inning. In the bottom of the second, last night's comeback starter Jonny Gomes did what he usually does, strike out swinging. Xander Bogaerts popped up to center and Daniel Nava struck out swinging to end the inning.
Steve Lombardozzi started the third inning rally with a single. David Lough singled and after Holt dropped his pop up into the stands, Markakis singled Lombardozzi home. Lough took third and he scored on Cruz' single. The hits kept on coming as Davis singled Markakis home and Cruz took third. Cruz scored on the force at second by Jones. Clevenger then doubled home Jones to make it 5-0 just like that. Not only have the Red Sox trailed in nearly every game they've played this season, they've trailed big. Schoop doubled home Clevenger and Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough. After breezing through the first two innings, Buchholz allowed 7 hits and was replaced by Burke Badenhop. After finishing last night's game less than 12 hours ago, the Sox needed Buchholz to pitch a good game with the rest of the troops tired....well he failed miserably. Luckily Badenhop got Flaherty to bang into a double play to end the inning. Just like that the game was over 2 1/2 innings into it.
The O's beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the second as Steve Clevenger grounded out to second to begin. Schoop grounded out to short and Ryan Flaherty grounded out to Buchholz to end the inning. In the bottom of the second, last night's comeback starter Jonny Gomes did what he usually does, strike out swinging. Xander Bogaerts popped up to center and Daniel Nava struck out swinging to end the inning.
Steve Lombardozzi started the third inning rally with a single. David Lough singled and after Holt dropped his pop up into the stands, Markakis singled Lombardozzi home. Lough took third and he scored on Cruz' single. The hits kept on coming as Davis singled Markakis home and Cruz took third. Cruz scored on the force at second by Jones. Clevenger then doubled home Jones to make it 5-0 just like that. Not only have the Red Sox trailed in nearly every game they've played this season, they've trailed big. Schoop doubled home Clevenger and Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough. After breezing through the first two innings, Buchholz allowed 7 hits and was replaced by Burke Badenhop. After finishing last night's game less than 12 hours ago, the Sox needed Buchholz to pitch a good game with the rest of the troops tired....well he failed miserably. Luckily Badenhop got Flaherty to bang into a double play to end the inning. Just like that the game was over 2 1/2 innings into it.
Could the Red Sox rally in the bottom of the third? Hell no! David Ross struck out swinging and Jackie Bradley Jr struck out looking to begin the bottom of the third. Holt grounded out to first to end the inning.
Picking up where he left off, Lombardozzi led off the top of the fourth with a single to right. Somehow Badenhop got Lough to line out to center but Markakis walked. Cruz banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox got their first runner of the day on a miracle walk by Pedroia to begin the bottom of the fourth. Somehow Ortiz singled to right but Napoli kept up the incompetence with a full count strike out swinging. More basebawful continued when Gomes lined out to Flaherty.....who doubled off Pedroia to end the inning.
Badenhop walked Davis to begin the top of the fifth, but recovered to strike out Jones looking and get Clevenger to bang into a double play. 3 double plays by Badenhop, talk about putting out the fire. The Sox finally struck in the bottom of the fifth as Bogaerts worked a lead-off walk. Nava somehow hit one in the hole at short and Ross nearly hit into a double play but beat out the relay throw to first. Somehow Jackie Bradley Jr hit a ground rule double into the right field seats to score Boegarts and advance Nava to third. Holt lined out to center but Ross scored to cut the lead. Pedroia then cut the lead in half with a double down the left field line to score Bradley Jr. Ortiz lined one off the glove at second but was thrown out at first to end the inning. The Sox cut the lead in half and trailed 6-3.
"We're not dead yet!" - Pedroia
Badenhop continued his scoreless streak by getting Schoop to ground out to short to begin the top of the 6th. Flaherty and Lombardozzi both grounded out to first to end the inning. 3 2/3 scoreless innings for Badenhop, great job to keep them in the game. Ryan Webb replaced Chen for the bottom of the sixth and Napoli struck out swinging to start. Nava watched strike three go by and Ross also went down hacking to end the inning.
Craig Breslow took over for the top of the seventh and Lough grounded out to first. Markakis flied out to right but Cruz walked. Cruz was the first base runner since Clevenger's double in the 3rd. He didn't go far as Davis grounded out into the shift to end the inning. Zach Britton took the mound for the bottom of the seventh and Nava flied out to right to start. David Ross clocked his first home run of the year to cut the lead but Bradley Jr grounded out to short. Holt singled to left and Pedroia walked, but with the tying runs on.....Ortiz grounded out to third to end the inning. Inching closer but still trailing 6-4.
The O's struck back in the top of the eighth as Jones got a base hit to left to begin. Clevenger hit a picture perfect ground ball to Pedroia but Bogaerts botched the relay throw and Steve was safe at first. Schoop flied out to center but Clevenger tagged up and advanced to second. Flaherty singled to center and Bradley Jr threw a hundred feet from home to score Clevenger, but Ross got Flaherty at second to end the inning. Still, it was back to a 3 run lead for Baltimore 7-4.
Darren O'Day replaced Britton for the bottom of the eighth and Mike Napoli greeted him with a blast to centerfield to cut the lead. Mike Carp pinch hit for Gomes and grounded out to short, great clutch hitting. Bogaerts lashed a base hit to left to put the tying run at the plate. Nava singled off the glove of O'Day and that was it for him, O's manager Buck Showalter brought in lefty Brian Matusz. For some reason, Sox manager John Farrell pinch hit Jonathan Herrera for Ross. The Sox then literally ran into a double play as Herrera struck out and Bogaerts stopped halfway to third and allowed himself to be tagged to end the inning with the Sox down 7-5.
Carp stayed in left, AJ Pierzynski took over at the dish and Andrew Miller took the mound for the top of the ninth. Lombardozzi popped up to first and Lough popped up to short, then Bradley Jr made a basket catch to rob Markakis of a hit to retire the side. O's closer Tommy Hunter was brought in to finish the game. Bradley Jr grounded out to first and it looked like Holt did as well....until Lombardozzi threw the ball away. They ruled it a hit but it was clearly an error. Pedroia nearly tied the game but the ball hit the top of the centerfield wall for a double. Showalter then made the bold move by intentionally walking Ortiz to load the bases for Napoli, who ended last year's Patriots Day game with a wall ball. This year....he grounded out to second, but Holt scored to cut the lead. This left it up to Mike Carp, not the master of walkoffs, Jonny Gomes, to win the game. As expected, Carp grounded out to first to end the game. All that work only to lose 7-6.
Jackass of the Night is an easy one. With the Sox needing to rest their bullpen, Clay Buchholz went out and pitched miserably, lasting only 2 1/3 while giving up 7 hits and 6 runs that cost the Sox the game.
The Good:
Burke Badenhop kept the Sox in the game with 3 2/3 scoreless relief.
Andrew Miller pitched a scoreless 9th.
Brock Holt was 2 for 4 with a run and an rbi.
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 3 with 2 walks and an rbi.
David Ortiz was 1 for 3 with 2 walks.
The Bad:
Jonathan Herrera struck out with the tying runs on base in the 8th.
Jonathan Herrera struck out with the tying runs on base in the 8th.
Mike Carp came up twice with a chance to win the game and failed both times.
Jonny Gomes was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts
The Ugly:
Craig Breslow allowed a run in two innings.
Mike Napoli was just 1 for 5 but that included a home run and an rbi groundout in the 9th.
Xander Bogaerts countered going 1 for 3 with a walk and run scored by playing horrendous defense and running the bases horribly, leading to the defeat.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored on his lone hit.
Honorable Mention:
AJ Pierzynski caught the top of the 9th with no problems.
AJ Pierzynski caught the top of the 9th with no problems.
Final Thoughts:
Fun game, too bad they didn't win it. The Sox needed a lift from Buchholz and didn't get it, but rallied down 6-0 to put the tying run at third in the bottom of the ninth. A tremendous effort from Burke Badenhop kept the Sox in it but Breslow allowing the final run was a killer. Even though the Sox put up six runs there were too many instances of failing in the clutch, not to mention the bad baserunning by Bogaerts. That's a rookie mistake and hopefully there won't be too many of those this year. Its a shame the Sox lost this one after the emotional pre-game ceremony and all the talk about last year's heroics. Then again, maybe that's the problem. Maybe they can't get untracked because they're too focused on trying to do too much to replicate the success. They've trailed in almost every game this year and every game is different. For whatever reason they just don't execute when it matters. The worst part about this is now the New York Yankees are coming to town with the Sox exhausted bullpen ready for them to feast on. Tomorrow night Masahiro Tanaka goes for the Sox against Jon Lester (2-2) of Boston. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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