The struggling Ian Kennedy was 1-6 going into the game with an ERA over 5, winless in Kansas City. So naturally he dominated the Red Sox in the top of the first inning. Mr. Mookie Betts flied out harmlessly to center and Andrew Benintendi grounded weakly to short but Xander Bogaerts walked. The injured Mitch Moreland popped up to end the inning. Pomeranz, meanwhile, took the hill in the bottom of the first and barely got Whit Merrifield on a grounder to third. got a lucky third strike call to get Jorge Bonifacio and Lorenzo Cain flied out to end the inning.
The terrible Red Sox offense continued to suck in the top of the second when Chris Young hit one up the elevator shaft on the first pitch. Jackie Bradley Jr popped up to second on the second pitch and Josh Rutledge whiffed badly to end the inning. The Royals struck first due to the lazy Red Sox defense in the bottom of the second. Eric Hosmer blooped a ball into center and JBJ casually strolled after it, allowing Hosmer to hustle into second with a double. Salvador Perez singled in the hole at short to put runners at the corners and Mike Moustakas scored Hosmer by hitting into a double play. Chestor Cuthbert grounded out to end the inning but the Royals were up 1-0.
1-0 may have been 100-1 because the Sox weren't going to touch Kennedy in the top of the third. Christian Vazquez grounded weakly to second, Deven Marrero whiffed and Mr. Mookie flied out to left. Have I mentioned Kennedy hasn't won in Kansas City all year and had an ERA over 5? Meanwhile the Royals teed off on Pomeranz in the bottom of the third as Alcides Escobar doubled down the left field line to start. Escobar moved to third on the ground out by Ramon Torres and scored on the long fly out by Merrifield. Bonifacio grounded out to end the inning but it was now 2-0.
Just as it looked like Kennedy was going to throw a no-hitter, the Sox tied it up in the top of the fourth inning. Benny The Kid and Bogaerts belted back to back jacks to tie the game. Moreland was hitless in his last 14 at bats and would remain, only because he drew a walk. Young whiffed on a full count and JBJ popped up to center. Rutledge whiffed to end the inning but the game was tied 2-2.
Pomeranz got a gift to open the bottom of the fourth by freezing Cain on a 3-2 curveball. Bogaerts made a great throw to rob Hosmer of a hit as the pain in the neck (Dave O'Brien's words) Perez walked. Moustakas popped up to end the inning.
The Sox took the lead in the top of the fifth when the Royals made several boo-boo's. Vazquez poked a single to left and Marrero laid down a sacrifice bunt....only Kennedy airmailed the throw to first and both runners moved into scoring position. Mr Mookie scored Vazquez with a sac fly to give the Sox the lead. Benny The Kid hit a 400 foot out to deep center and Marrero moved to third. Bogaerts was intentionally walked and that was it for Kennedy. Lefty Mike Minor was brought in to face the injured Moreland. The Sox caught a break when Minor tried to pickoff Bogaerts at first but Cuthbert never saw the throw coming, it instead cleaned out first base coach Ruben Amaro Jr. With Amaro sprawled out flat on his back, Marrero took the time to run home with another run. Amaro was eventually okay but Moreland lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox up 4-2.
All of a sudden Pomeranz was met on the mound by Farrell and the trainers in the bottom of the fifth but he shooed them away. Drew started out good by blowing away Cuthbert and getting Escobar to ground out. Torres lined out to Moreland at first to end the inning.
Young popped up to begin the top of the sixth inning. JBJ whiffed and Rutledge grounded out to end the inning. Pomeranz was fired up for the bottom of the sixth inning as Merrifield singled to start. Moreland called off Vazquez on a pop up from Bonifacio but Bogaerts bobbled a double play ball by Cain, still managing to get Merrifield at second. Pomeranz responded by blowing away Hosmer to end the inning.
The Sox failed to score in the top of the seventh inning. Vazquez and Marrero both struck out but Mr. Mookie doubled down the left field line. Benny The Kid popped up to end the inning. Once again Pomeranz couldn't get out of the bottom of the seventh. Perez singled but Pomeranz blew away Moustakas. The .195 hitting Cuthbert singled and Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough. Pomeranz was good to toss 6 1/3 innings but failing time and time again to go the full 7 is getting old.
Joe "Machine Gun" Kelly came in and Escobar JUST missed a 3 run home run but Benny snagged it at the wall. Pitching coach Carl Willis sashayed to the mound to tell Kelly about the season finale of Bull before the umpire told him to get lost. Kelly walked Torres to load the bases. Mr. Mookie saved the day by making a leaping catch of Merrifield to end the inning.
Joakim Soria came in to pich the top of the eighth and Bogaerts grounded out. Moreland flied out to left and Young whiffed to end the inning. The Royals took the game due to horrendous relief pitching in the bottom of the eighth. Matt Barnes came in to pitch and he completely crapped his pants, throwing 8 straight balls to walk both Bonifacio and Cain. Sox manager John Farrell wisely yanked his ass and brought in lefty Robby Scott. Scott couldn't find the plate either as he walked Hosmer on 4 pitches. Farrell surprisingly kept Craig Kimbrel in the bullpen and let Scott pitch to the right handed hitting Perez. Scott went 3-2 to Salvador throwing 8 straight fastballs. The 9th fastball was right down the middle and Perez crushed it 400 feet for a grand slam. Just like that the Royals were up 6-4. Thanks a lot Barnes, thanks a lot Scott, thanks a lot Farrell. Moustakas drove home the exclamation point with a single to chase the inept Scott. Heath Hembree came in and pinch hitter Alex Gordon popped up to second. Escobar banged into a double play to end the inning but the Royals had iced it 6-4.
Kelvin Herrera came in to close out the top of the ninth although JBJ showed some balls by doubling to the outfield wall. JBJ moved to third on the ground out by Rutledge. The scared Vazquez ran away from strike three right down the middle. Hanley Ramirez pinch hit for Marrero and flied out to end the game. The Sox deserved to lose this one as they dropped it 6-4.
Jackass of the Night is Robby Scott. Yes, Barnes walked the first two guys but Scott walked the third and gave up a grand slam.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and a home run.
The Bad:
Chris Young was 0 for 4.
Josh Rutledge was 0 for 4.
Hanley Ramirez pinch hit for Marrero and flied out to end the game.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4 but he made it count as it was a solo home run.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Deven Marrero was 0 for 2 but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Justice was served. John Farrell had been managing like complete crap lately and it finally bit him in the ass. That eighth inning was textbook what NOT to do in key situations. Instead of leaving in Barnes and Scott to walk the ballpark, he should have brought in Kimbrel to limit the damage. Nope, he went with Barnes and Scott to give it up. The loss wasted a solid effort from Pomeranz and leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth. The loss dropped the Sox to 40-32, 1/2 game behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow is an off-day and Friday the Sox return home for 3 game set with the Los Angeles Angels, David Ortiz' number 34 will be retired before the game. Wish they could retire the Southwest commercial and Pablo Sandoval while they are at it.
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