As for the game, it was almost a disaster. The Sox led 5-1 with Stephen Strasburg on the ropes but let him off the hook and the Washington Nationals came back to take a 7-5 lead...only for several defensive miscues to cost them the game. When all was said and done, the Sox took home a sloppy 8-7 win over the Nationals at Fenway Park.
Justin Masterson got the ball in the top of the first and Yunel Escobar led the game off with a single to left field. Mr. Mookie made a great running catch to rob Jayson Werth of a hit before Escobar took second on a balk when the ball fell out of Masterson's hand during a pitch. That looked right out the old baseball bloopers tapes. Harper went around on a 3-2 pitch but Ryan Zimmerman walked. Clint Robinson whiffed but Masterson had thrown 27 pitches to get out of the first inning. Mr. Mookie led off the bottom of the first against Stephen Strasburg and grounded out. Dustin Pedroia lashed a single into left and advanced to second on the base hit into the shift by David Ortiz. Hanley Ramirez advanced Pedroia to third on a fly out to right but Pablo Sandoval hit one back to Strasburg to end the inning.
The Nationals struck first in the top of the second. Wilson Ramos grounded out to short but Hanley Ramirez misplayed a ball hit by Ian Desmond that turned into a double. Danny Espinosa walked and the Nationals got creative with a double steal, although Hanigan gunned down Desmond at third. Michael Taylor then singled home Espinosa to give the Nats the lead. Taylor swiped second but Escobar grounded out to end the inning. Not good, Masterson didn't look like he'd last 5 at this rate and was down 1-0.
The Sox struck back in the bottom of the second as Mike Napoli hit one off the wall but he had a load in his pants and couldn't make it to second base. Daniel Nava flied out to right and Ryan Hanigan whiffed but Brock "The Hitman" Holt singled up the middle. Mookie Betts turned on an inside changeup down the line into the corner that scored both runners to give the Sox the lead. Pedroia grounded out to second to end the inning but Mr. Mookie had done it again and the Sox led 2-1.
Masterson calmed down in the top of the third. Werth flied out to right on a 3-0 count, Harper struck out swinging and Zimmerman grounded out second to end the inning. Strasburg whiffed Ortiz on a 96 mph fastball to begin the bottom of the third but Ramirez singled to left. Sandoval then got drilled in the foot and hobbled around. Between Bogaerts and Ramirez getting hurt last night, Castillo and Workman already hurt...the Sox are gonna need a M*A*S*H unit. Napoli then hit a perfect double play ball but Sandoval cleaned out Espinosa to break it up. With 1st and 3rd and two out, Nava singled down the right field line that scored Ramirez and sent Sandoval to third. Hanigan pitched in with a single that scored Sandoval and Napoli dashed to third. Holt whiffed but the Sox now had a commanding 4-1 lead.
Could Masterson hold the lead in the top of the 4th? Robinson grounded out to short and Ramos grounded out to first, but Desmond hit one in the hole at short. Espinosa singled to right but Taylor struck out swinging to end the inning. The answer was yes. Mr. Mookie led off the bottom of the 4th with a ground out but Pedroia launched his 3rd home run of the season into the Monster Seats to increase the lead. Ortiz was robbed of a hit by Werth and Ramirez whiffed to end the inning. This was the first time Strasburg has EVER given up back to back 5 run games as the Sox led 5-1.
Masterson crapped his pants in the top of the fifth although Escobar grounded out to third to start. The Nats loaded the bases as Werth was hit with a pitch, Harper blooped a single to left and Zimmerman walked. Robinson singled home Werth and a Ramos groundout scored Harper to cut the lead. Desmond singled home both runners to tie the game. If that wasn't bad enough, Masterson tried to pick off Desmond and threw the ball into the dugout, allowing Desmond to reach second. Masterson then plunked Espinosa and that was it for Masterson. Cruised for 4 innings and fell apart in the 5th, he suffered Dice K Disease.
Alexi Ogando was brought in and offered no help, allowing a 2 run triple to Taylor. Escobar struck out swinging to end the inning but what looked to be a laughter turned into a 7-5 deficit.
The Sox had no answer in the bottom of the 5th. Sandoval grounded out to second to start and Napoli flied out to the centerfield wall. Nava looked at strike three to end the inning.
Sandoval was gone to begin the top of the 6th with a left foot contusion. Hanley Ramirez moved over to third, Nava took Hanley's spot in left and Shane Victorino entered the game in right. Werth struck out looking and Harper was erased on a swinging bunt. Zimmerman popped up to right to end the inning. Strasburg returned for the bottom of the 6th and got Hanigan to fly out to right. Holt singled to chase Stephen and Craig Stammen was brought in to face Mr. Mookie. Betts grounded into a fielder's choice but swiped second. Pedroia walked to chase Stammen and old friend Matt Thornton was brought in to face Ortiz. David grounded into the shift to end the inning.
Not even coaches were safe as Sox base coach Brian Butterfield limped off the field during the top of the seventh inning. He was hauled off on a gurney and rushed to Mass General's ICU. Edward Mujica (1-0, 4.15 ERA) relieved Ogando and got Robinson to ground out to short. Ramos grounded out and Desmond struck out to end the inning. The Sox took advantage of garbage defense by Washington to strike back in the bottom of the seventh. Ramirez hit a routine grounder to Desmond at short who flubbed it for an error. Victorino was plunked and Napoli hit a sac fly that moved Ramirez to third. Allen Craig pinch hit for Nava as Nationals manager Matt Williams countered by relieving Thornton for Blake Treinen. Treinen plunked Craig, Washington's third hit batter of the game, to load the bases. Hanigan then squibbed one to Treinen who not only booted it, but threw wide of first...two errors on the same play allowed Ramirez and Victorino to score the tying runs, while Craig was at third with Hanigan at second. Holt then hit one to Desmond at short who had Craig dead to rights at home...AND THREW TO FIRST INSTEAD! Holt was out but Craig scored the go-ahead run. What was Desmond thinking? The sad part was 3 runs were in without a single base hit. Mr. Mookie grounded out to end the inning, but the Sox had the lead back by hook or crook 8-7.
Mujica returned to face Espinosa and struck him out to begin the top of the eighth inning. Sox manager John Farrell then lifted Mujica and it was time for the Orient Express. Junichi Tazawa, who had thrown 25 pitches the day before. got Taylor to pop up to first. Escobar singled and took second on a wild pitch but Taz bore down to strike out Werth to end the inning. Pedroia led off the bottom of the eighth with a single to right but Ortiz grounded into a double play to end that. Ramirez grounded out to third to end the inning.
The other half of the Orient Express, the returning Koji Uehara, whiffed Harper quickly to open the top of the ninth but Zimmerman hit one onto the Pass Pike....jussttttttt a bit foul. Koji recovered to get Ryan to line out to left then struck out Robinson to put the game away. It was bawful, but the Sox had won it 8-7
Hero of the night is a tough one, most of their runs were scored on defensive miscues but I'll have to go with Koji Uehara. He worked a perfect 9th in his first game back off the DL and his first real high pressure situation since last August.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 4 with a walk and his 3rd home run of the year.
Shane Victorino was hit with a pitch and scored in his only plate appearance.
Daniel Nava was 1 for 3 with an rbi before leaving the game.
Allen Craig pinch hit for Nava and was plunked, then scored.
Brock Holt was 2 for 4 with a run scored and an rbi.
Edward Mujica got the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Junichi Tazawa closed out the 8th without allowing a run.
The Bad:
Justin Masterson fell apart in the 5th after playing with fire the whole game. He ended up allowing 8 hits, 3 walks, made an error and allowed 7 earned runs. Good grief.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 5 but his one hit was a 2 run single.
David Ortiz was just 1 for 5.
Pablo Sandoval was 0 for 2 when he was hit with a pitch and had to leave the game.
Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 5 but scored twice.
Mike Napoli was just 1 for 4 but scored twice.
Ryan Hanigan was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Alexi Ogando allowed two inherited runs to score but pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings himself.
Final Thoughts:
The Nationals are playing some of the worst baseball not seen since the 1962 Mets but Sox fans will take it. They Nationals are too good to be THIS bad so its great to take advantage of it now before they go on their eventual roll. Starting the season by winning their first three series is a good sign for the Sox, unfortunately their rotation is as iffy as everyone thought. Injuries are starting to creep up on them but that's a given in a 162 game season. Getting to Strasburgh for 5 runs was encouraging as the offense looks to be in-sync. If Victorino and Napoli can turn back to 2013 form and Bogaerts can break out this year, this is going to be one deadly offense. The starting pitching is a completely different story but Sox general manager Ben Cherrington has a few months to fix that. The Sox look for the series sweep tomorrow when Wade Miley (0-0) locks up with former 20 game winner Gio Gonzalez in a 1:35 pm matinee at Fenway Park.
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