As usual the Houston starter that was previously winless blinded the Sox in the top of the first inning. Mr. Mookie Betts grounded out to second and Dustin Pedroia flied out to left. Somehow Xander Bogaerts walked but Mitch Moreland flied out to end the inning, Meanwhile the Astros had no problem beating the daylights out of Porcello in the bottom of the first inning. George Springer doubled to lead off and Marwin Gonzalez reached on a bunt single by the sleeping Porcello. Jose Altuve doubled home Springer and Carlos Correa walked to load the bases. Brian McCann scored Gonzalez with a sac fly and advanced Altuve to third. Carlos Beltran hit a sac fly of his own and Yuli Gurriel grounded out to end the inning. The Astros were up 3-0 and the rout was on.
The Sox mustered no resistence in the top of the second inning. Benny The Kid popped up, Chris Young flied out and Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to end the inning. Somehow Porcello didn't give up a run in the bottom of the second inning. Derek Fisher grounded out to short, Norichika Aoki flied out but Springer doubled again. Gonzalez looked at strike three to end the inning.
Paulino continued to dominate the top of the third inning. Josh Rutledge flied out, Sandy Leon looked at strike three and Mr. Mookie whiffed to end the inning. The Astros pounced on Porcello again in the bottom of the third. Altuve crushed a solo shot to dead center and Correa singled. McCann popped up but Beltran swatted a 2 run bomb to put the game out of reach. Gurriel grounded out and Fisher lined out to end the inning with the Astros up 6-0.
Pedroia tried to fight back by getting a base hit to lead off the top of the fourth inning but was erased on the Bogaerts fielder's choice. Moreland whiffed and Benny The Kid grounded out to end the inning. Somehow Porcello pitched a clean inning in the bottom of the fourth inning. Aoki grounded out, Springer flied out and Gonzalez struck out to end the inning.
The Sox finally got on the board in the top of the fifth inning. Young belted a solo home run to get things started. That was it as JBJ flied out to center, Rutledge watched strike three go by and Leon flied out to end the inning. Still, there would be no shut out as the Sox were down 6-1.
Porcello held it together in the bottom of the fifth inning. Altuve flied out to right and Correa grounded to short, but McCann singled. Beltran flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox had one last chance to get close in the top of the sixth when Mr. Mookie singled to lead off the inning. Pedroia flied out and Bogaerts banged into a double play to end the threat. Porcello continued to crap himself in the bottom of the sixth. Gurriel doubled and Fisher singled him to third. Aoki grounded into a double play but Gurriel scored to increase the lead. Springer struck out to end the inning and mercifully end Porcello's day. 6 innings, 7 runs and another 10 hits allowed. He's broken and needs to be repaired.
Chris Devenski came in to pitch the top of the seventh which meant Paulino had tossed 6 innings of 1 run ball against this ridiculous offense. Moreland grounded out, Benny The Kid tried to bunt his way on but was snuffed out and Young grounded out to third to end the inning. 26 year old Austin Maddox made his major league debut in the bottom of the seventh. Gonzalez flied out to right, Altuve grounded out to third and and Correa popped up to end the inning. Welcome to the big leagues Austin.
Luke Gregerson got the ball in the top of the eighth inning and got JBJ grounded out to begin. Rutledge whiffed and Leon grounded out to end the inning. Fernando Abad came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning with Pablo Sandoval in at third base, Rutledge moving over to first. This was designed to give Moreland the rest of the night off since has a fractured big toe so the less he plays, the better. McCann struck out but Beltran doubled. Gurriel grounded out but Beltran moved to third. Fisher whiffed to end the inning.
Former Red Sox prospect Dayan Diaz got the ball in the top of the ninth inning. If the Sox had to go down, at least it was by an old friend. Mr. Mookie popped to short, Pedroia grounded back to Diaz and Bogaerts struck out to end the game. The Astros had won it 7-1.
Jackass of the Night is once again Rick Porcello. He went 6 innings and allowed 7 runs on 10 hits. He's one of the worst starting pitchers in baseball and something needs to be done about him immediately. He's 3-9 with a 5.05 ERA.....ugh.
The Good:
Chris Young was 1 for 3 including a solo home run.
Austin Maddox made his major league debut by pitching a scoreless inning.
Fernando Abad pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 3.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3.
Josh Rutledge was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4.
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 but walked.
Honorable Mention:
Pablo Sandoval played 3rd in the 8th inning.
Final Thoughts:
I don't know what's worse these days, the transformation of Rick Porcello or the on-going incompetence of the Red Sox offense. At least you only see Porcello 1 game out of 5, the Sox offense has scored literally 3 runs in the last 3 games against Nick Pivetta, Pat Neshek, Hector Neris, Mike Fiers, Will Harris, Michael Feliz, David Paulino, Chris Devenski, Luke Gregerson and Dayan Diaz. 10 pitchers, 27 innings, 3 runs. That's PATHETIC!!! Something has to be done about Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. They're making too much money to put up the numbers they are. Its to the point where Sam Travis and Deven Marrero are rotting in Pawtucket because Dave Dombrowski wants to justify the bloated contracts of Sandoval and Ramirez. At least its plainly obvious Sox manager John Farrell has zero faith in Sandoval but his hands are tied by the higher ups. Ramirez had a great bounce back season last year but without David Ortiz around, he's back to where he was in 2015. Then again so are Rick Porcello and Sandoval. Apart from the Sox pitching staff, this team is no different than the bumbling buffoons the 2015 Sox were. Its almost the same exact offense give or take a few guys and look how that turned out. The only sliver of good news is the New York Yankees are in a major funk of their own and have dropped 5 in a row. The loss dropped the Sox to 38-30 on the season but still 1 game behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night on Sunday Night Baseball, the Sox play the rubber game of this 3 game set with David Price on the mound against the immortal Jose Musgrove. Knowing the Sox, the 4-5 Musgrove with a 4.81 ERA will toss a 7 inning shut-out.
No comments:
Post a Comment