As for the game, another maddening start by Clay Buchholz (2-4, 5.92 ERA) and outstanding pitching from Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber led the way to a 4-2 defeat at Fenway Park.
Buchholz opened the game by allowing a lead-off double to Carlos Santana. Jason Kipnis grounded out, which moved Santana to third. Travis Lindor walked and old pal Mike Napoli came to the plate. Napoli grounded to Bogaerts and they caught Santana in a run down for the second out. Jose Ramirez popped up to end the inning. Bullet dodged even though Clay tossed 20 pitches. Mr. Mookie Betts greeted Cleveland Ace Corey Kluber with a double to lead-off the bottom of the first. Dustin Pedroia laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Mookie to third. Betts scored when Bogaerts was thrown out at first on a bang bang play by Lindor, but the Sox had the 1-0 lead. David Ortiz walked and Hanley Ramirez singled. Travis Shaw popped up to end the inning but the Sox put the pressure on Kluber early.
Yan Gomes flied out to begin the top of the second inning. Lonnie Chisenhall also flied out to left and Dustin Pedroia made a great play to nail Juan Uribe at first to end the inning. Jackie Bradley Jr wasted no time extending his hitting streak to 25 games by blasting an absolute rocket to dead center to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. That also extended Boston's homer streak to 20 games, longest in team history. Christian Vazquez struck out and the returning Swihart grounded out. Mr. Mookie singled but Pedroia lined out to end the inning.
Buchholz immediately puked all over himself in the top of the third. Rajai Davis singled and Santana walked. Jason Kipnis bashed a 3 run home to give the Indians a 3-2 lead in about 5 seconds flat. Lindor walked, swiped second and took third when Vazquez throw hit him. Napoli whiffed but Lindor made a hell of a slide on a sac fly by Ramirez to increase the lead 4-2. Gomes popped up to end the inning. Another lousy start by Buchholz and its only the third inning. The air was let out of the Sox bubble as Bogaerts whiffed to begin the bottom of the third. Ortiz whiffed but Hanley beat out an infield single (which was later ruled an error on Napoli) and took second on a wild pitch. Shaw grounded out to end the inning.
Chisenhal struck out to open the top of the fourth but Uribe singled. Davis whiffed but Santana walked. Kipnis flied out to end the inning. JBJ took a 9 pitch walk to open the bottom of the fourth but Vazquez immediately grounded into a double play to end that. Swihart grounded out to end the inning.
Lindor flied out and Napoli popped up to begin the top of the fifth inning. Ramirez popped up to end the inning. Mr. Mookie grounded out to start the bottom of the fifth. Pedroia looked at strike three but Bogaerts doubled. Representing the tying run, Ortiz whiffed to end the inning.
Buchholz returned for the sixth inning and Gomes greeted him with a double. Chisenhall advanced Gomes to third with a sacrifice bunt but Uribe popped up. David grounded out to end the inning. It goes down as a quality start, but Buchholz gave up 4 runs in 6 innings. That's anything but quality from him. It didn't matter anyway as Kluber wasn't going to let up. Ramirez popped up and Shaw struck out in the bottom of the sixth. JBJ grounded out to end the inning.
Tommy Layne was the first out of the pen in the top of the seventh. Santana grounded out but Kipnis legged out a single to chase Tommy. Matt Barnes came in and Lindor singled. Napoli flied out and Ramirez grounded out to end the inning. Kluber got the side in order in the bottom of the seventh. Vazquez, Swihart and Mr. Mookie all grounded out in short order.
Barnes returned for the top of the eighth and Gomes flied out. Chisenhall walked but Uribe flied out. Chisenhall stole second but Davis popped up to end the inning. Bryan Shaw relieved Kluber in the bottom of the eighth. Pedroia singled but was erased on the Bogaerts force. Still, representing the tying run, Ortiz banged into a double play to end the inning.
Robbie Ross Jr took over for the top of the ninth. Santana struck out and Kipnis grounded out. Lindor singled but Napoli struck out to end the inning. The Sox had one last chance against Indians closer Cody Allen in the bottom of the ninth. Ramirez and Shaw both whiffed but JBJ walked. Sox manager John Farrell pinch hit Vazquez with the rookie Marco Herandez and JBJ took second on defensive indifference. Hernandez whiffed to end the game. The Sox had lost 4-2.
Jackass of the Night is once again Clay Buchholz. Pitching against Corey Kluber isn't anyone's first choice but he still could have pitched better than he did. He gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits and 4 walks while striking out 3.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with a run scored. Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3. Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and a solo home run, extending his hitting streak to 25 games. Matt Barnes pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Robbie Ross Jr pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Travis Shaw was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout. Marco Hernandez pinch hit for Vazquez and struck out. Blake Swihart was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 4 with an rbi, extending his hitting streak to 14 games. David Ortiz was 0 for 3 but walked. Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 4. Tommy Layne faced 2 batters and only retired one of them.
Final Thoughts:
This is not good...not good at all. Losing Smith and The Hitman plus the ongoing injury to Rodriguez is bad news all around. Concussions are no laughing matter as David Ross missed more than half of 2013 with one and Steven Wright's season was wiped out last August. Who knows A. How long Brock will be out and B. If he'll be effective if he returns. Smith's flareup of his forearm is alarming as he pitched in just 3 games this year. So far Seattle is winning the Wade Miley trade as Miley is 4-2 and Smith and Roenis Elias have pitched in a combined 4 games. Hopefully Holt and Smith will come back soon but that's really bad news. Hopefully Rodriguez can salvage his season too if and when he ever returns. Speaking of returns, Joe Kelly is coming back tomorrow to take on Trevor Bauer at 4:05 PM tomorrow.
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