The June swoon is in full effect for the Boston Red Sox. The lowly Chicago White Sox have now taken three of the four games they were supposed to play against one another. Yesterday the Boston bats were silenced by Chris Sale but today it was their own bullpen that led to their demise. The BoSox took a 6-4 lead against Jose Quintana into the eighth inning when the normally reliable Koji Uehara allowed 3 runs off of two home runs. After controversy erupted when fan interference turned a game tying 2 run homer into a double, the BoSox failed to score. The ChiSox added another run off Robbie Ross Jr in the ninth and sent the reeling Red Sox to their 12th loss in the last 19 games with a 8-6 win at Fenway Park.
The White Sox wasted no time scoring against Rodriguez in the top of the first although Tim Anderson grounded out to first to start. Adam Eaton drew a walk but Jose Abreu struck out swinging on a pitch up in his eyes. Melky Cabrera doubled to the left field wall to score Eaton to give Chicago the lead. Todd Frazier whiffed to end the inning but the White Sox led 1-0.
The Sox did nothing against Jose Quintana in the bottom of the first as Mr. Mookie Betts popped up to Brett Lawrie to start. Dustin Pedroia flied out to center and Xander Bogaerts popped up to Jason Coats in right to end the inning.
Rodriguez recovered in the top of the second as he blew away Lawrie on a 95 mph fastball to start. Dioner Navarro lined out to Pedroia and Avisail Garcia flied out to right to end the inning. The Sox blew a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the second as David Ortiz walked to start. Chris Young popped up to first in foul territory but Jackie Bradley Jr drew a walk. The slumping Hanley Ramirez took strike three but Travis Shaw blopped a single to center. Ortiz came motoring around but was thrown out by a mile to end the inning.
The White Sox took advantage of bad defense to score another run in the top of the third. Coats got his first Major League hit with a ground rule double into the right field stands. Anderson struck out swinging but Coats moved to third on the Eaton grounder. Abreu hit a routine grounder to Shaw...who bobbled it for an error to score Coats. Cabrera forced Abreu at second to end the inning but it was 2-0 White Sox.
The BoSox finally woke up offensively in the bottom of the third as Sandy Leon walked to start. Mr. Mookie hit a grounder up the middle and Lawrie made a great dive to stop it, but he tried to throw the ball behind his back over everything to allow Leon to reach second. Pedroia singled in the hole at second to load the bases and Bogaerts lined a single off the Monster to score two runners to tie the game. Ortiz singled to right to score Pedroia with the go-ahead run but Young popped up to Abreu in foul territory. JBJ singled off of Quintana into center to score Bogaerts with another run. The slumping Hanley banged into a double play to end the inning with Boston ahead 4-2.
Deven Marrero took over for Travis Shaw for the top of the fourth with Shaw still feeling the effect of the foul ball he hit off himself. Frazier popped up to right and Lawrie did the same before Rodriguez blew away Navarro with a 96 mph fastball to end the inning. Marrero led off the bottom of the fourth by grounding out to third but Leon walked. Mr. Mookie doubled off the Monster but Leon was foolishly picked off third. Pedroia walked which would have loaded the bases but Bogaerts popped up to right to end the inning.
Garcia walked to start the top of the fifth but Coats flied out to right. Anderson forced Garcia at second and Eaton struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fifth as Ortiz lined out to center to start. Sox analyst Dennis Eckersley took the time to say Albert Belle hated everyone on the planet but Eck because they both were recovering addicts and Eck helped him stay clean in Cleveland. Young popped up to center and JBJ grounded out to second to end the inning.
The White Sox tied it up in the top of the sixth although Abreu struck out swinging to start. Cabrera singled off the Monster and Frazier clobbered a home run into the Atlantic Ocean to tie the game. Lawrie grounded out to third on a bang bang play and Navarro grounded out to short to end the inning with the game tied 4-4. That was it for Rodriguez who pitched better than he had been lately but still allowed 4 runs in 6 innings.
The BoSox retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth when the slumping Haley belted his sixth home run of the season to start. Marrero hit one up the elevator shaft but Leon walked to chase Quintana. Old friend Matt Albers came in and Mr. Mookie popped up to right. Pedroia singled up to middle to advance Leon to third and Bogaerts beat out a dribbler in front of the plate to score Sandy with another run. That was it for Albers as Dan Jennings came in and Ortiz grounded out to first to end the inning with Boston ahead 6-4.
It was time for the Orient Express as Junichi Tazawan got Garcia swinging on a nasty splitter to start. Tazawa made a great stab on a Coats grounder and nailed him at first before Anderson whiffed on a nasty splitter to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the eighth although Young lined out to center to start. JBJ drew a walk but Hanley lined out to left. Marrero ripped a base hit up the middle but Leon grounded into a force to end the inning.
The Jays rallied off Koji Uehara in the top of the eighth as Eaton singled to right to begin. Koji got Abreu swinging with an elevated fastball but Cabrera homered into the Red Sox bullpen to tie the game. Frazier whiffed but Lawrie pounded a home run to Saturn to give the White Sox the lead. Navarro doubled to left and that was it for the incompetent Uehara. Heath Hembree came in and got Garcia to fly out to right to end the inning with the White Sox ahead 7-6.
Michael Ynoa took over for the bottom of the eighth and controversy erupted. Mr. Mookie grounded out to third to start and Pedroia struck out swinging. Bogaerts then hit a ball that a fan reached over the Monster to try to catch it but they dropped it onto the field. Sox manager John Farrell argued that it was over the line for a home run but the umpires disagreed. Farrell went berserk screaming but to no avail, its a fan interference double. Fenway Security threw the fans out of the building as Ortiz was intentionally walked. Young missed a home run off the left field foul by inches but Farrell wanted the call reviewed. Replays showed it was foul which added to John's anger as Young whiffed to end the inning.
Hembree returned for the top of the ninth and JB Shuck pinch hit for Coats to start. Shuck dumped a base hit to right but Anderson struck out swinging. Hembree was done and Robbie Ross Jr came in to cough up a run. Eaton forced Shuck at second but Abreu was plunked. Cabrera singled home Eaton to give the ChiSox an insurance run. Frazier was plunked to load the bases but Lawrie whiffed to end the inning with the White Sox ahead 8-3.
Zach Duke came in to close out the top of the ninth and JBJ tried to start a rally with a base hit to right. Hanley looked at strike three down the middle and Marrero whiffed. Leon grounded out to short to end the game. The White Sox had won it 8-6.
Jackass of the Night is Koji Uehara. He coughed up the lead and the game in the eighth inning.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 5 with a run scored.
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 5 with 3 rbis and a run scored.
David Ortiz was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and an rbi.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 3 with 2 walks and an rbi.
Travis Shaw was 1 for 1 before leaving.
Sandy Leon walked 3 times and scored 2 runs.
Junichi Tazawa tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
The Bad:
Chris Young was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Heath Hembree was charged with a run in 2/3 of an inning.
Robbie Ross Jr allowed an inherited runner to score in 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 5 but the one hit was a solo home run.
Deven Marrero was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Eduardo Rodriguez lasted just 6 innings while allowing 4 runs.
Final Thoughts:
This game was a kick to the junk. The BoSox have fallen apart in June and they seem to just find ways to lose. The only silver lining is neither the Baltimore Orioles or Toronto Blue Jays have pulled away as the Sox have hid the skids. The Sox need to bust this losing streak soon because they can't afford to fall too far behind the O's or Jays. The Sox had this game in the bag but Uehara blew it, one of the rare times he's done that. The Bogaerts non-homer was also a big difference in the game but what the hell. The loss dropped the Sox to 39-32, 2 games behind the Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to stop the bleeding and avoid a sweep tomorrow against the White Sox when they send "Slick" Rick Porcello (9-2, 3.76 ERA) against "Big Game" James Shields Chicago. The game begins tomorrow at 1:30 PM at Fenway Park.
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