As for the game, this was NOT what the Boston Red Sox needed going into a double-header tomorrow with the New York Yankees. The Sox had a one run lead in the 9th but blew it then dragged on for 7 more innings before the Yankees pounced in the top of the 16th inning. The Yankees bullpen tossed 9 scoreless innings to win this one 4-1 at Fenway Park.
Chris Sale took the mound in the top of the first inning and promptly walked the lead-off man Brett Gardner. Sale recovered to strike out both Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge. Matt Holiday grounded out to end the inning. The Sox accomplished nothing against Luis Severino in the bottom of the first inning. Mr. Mookie Betts whiffed before Dustin Pedroia grounded out. Xander Bogaerts popped up to second base to end the inning.
Sale was immediately greeted by a Starlin Castro double to lead off the top of the second but Chase Headley struck out. Clint Frazier grounded out to second to advance Castro to third but Garrett Cooper struck out to end the inning. The Sox blew their first chance to score some runs in the bottom of the second inning. Mitch Moreland grounded out to second but both Hanley Ramriez and Andrew Benintendi singled. Things then turned sour as Jackie Bradley Jr struck out and Sandy Leon grounded out to short to end the inning. Men left on base count - 2.
Sale did all he could in the top of the third inning as Ronald Torreyes grounded out to short to start. Brett Gardner grounded out to first, Gary Sanchez doubled. Aaron Judge struck out to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the third inning. Tzu-Wei Lin flied out but Mr. Mookie and Pedroia worked back to back walks. Bogaerts beat out an infield single to load the bases and Betts scored on the Moreland sac fly. Ramirez lined out to Headley to end the inning. The Sox took a 1-0 lead but have now left 4 men on base.
Sale turned up the heat in the top of the fourth inning as Holiday and Castro struck out to start. Headley hit a ground ball to Lin who picked it up and tried to punt the ball to first. Moreland waved for the fair catch but Headley was already on first from the error. Sale struck out Frazier to end the inning. Benny The Kid singled but was doubled off first on a smoking liner by JBJ right to Cooper. Leon flied out to right to end the inning.
Sale continued to dominate in the top of the fifth inning as Cooper lined out to Mookie to start. Torreyes hit one up the elevator shaft and Gardner looked at strike three to end the inning. Severino cruised in the bottom of the fifth inning as Lin popped up to third to start. Mr. Mookie popped to first and Pedroia grounded out to third to end the inning.
Sale kept the shut-out in the top of the sixth inning as Sanchez flied out to center, Judge flied out to right and Holiday whiffed to end the inning. Severino matched Sale in the bottom of the sixth as Bogaerts whiffed, Moreland flied out to center and Ramirez whiffed to end the inning.
The Yankees looked like they were in business in the top of the seventh when Castro drew a leadoff walk. Then Sale struck out Headley and got Frazier to fly out to right. Cooper whiffed to end the inning. Severino ended his night with a flourish. Benny The Kid looked at strike three, JBJ flied out to right and Leon whiffed to end the inning. The Sox scored just 1 run off Severino in 7 innings. As pathetic as it sounds, they did better against him than they would the Yankees bullpen the rest of the way.
Sale returned for the top of the eighth and got Torreyes to ground out but Gardner singled. Sale whiffed Sanchez but then Sox manager John Farrell bolted out of the dug-out, screaming to Sale to get off the mound so he could bring in Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel. Sale didn't finish the 8th but he pitched 7 2/3 innings of shut-out ball.
Kimbrel got Judge to fly out to end the inning. Tyler Clippard got the ball in the bottom of the eighth and the Sox let him off the hook. Lin singled to start but Mr. Mookie popped up and Lin was thrown out trying to steal second. Pedroia lined out to second to end the inning.
Kimbrel returned for the top of the ninth but made the mistake of throwing Holiday a first pitch fastball right down Broadway, which Holiday was sitting on, that ended up flying out of the ballpark for a game tying home run. Not only did this cost Sale the game, it ended up costing the Sox the game in the end. Castro then hit a ground ball to Bogaerts who threw it 50 feet over Leon's head at home for no reason, allowing Starlin to reach on the error. Jacoby Ellsbury ran for Castro and promptly swiped second. Kimbrel somehow struck out Headley and pinch hitter Gregorious (for Frazier). Ji-Man Choi pinch hit for Cooper and Kimbrel blew him away to end the inning, but the Yankees had tied it 1-1.
Dellin Betances got the call in the bottom of the ninth and shut down the Sox easily. Bogaerts flied out to center, Moreland looked at strike three and Ramirez grounded out to short to end the inning. It was on to extra innings.
Heath Hembree took over for the top of the tenth inning and got Torreyes to ground out to short to start. Gardner looked at strike three but Sanchez walked. Judge grounded out to second to end the inning.
Chasen Shreve took over for the bottom of the tenth and the Sox looked to have the game won when Benny The Kid singled to start. JBJ singled to put the winning run on second but instead of having Leon bunt, Sox manager John Farrell decided to pinch hit Chris Young to swing away. Yankees manager Joe Girardi countered by bringing in right-hander Adam Warren and guess what happened? Young whiffed on a full count. Lin lined out to right and Mr. Mookie flied out to right to end the inning. The Sox have now left 6 men on base and that was pathetic.
Christian Vazquez took over behind the dish in the top of the eleventh and Hembree returned briefly just to walk the leadoff hitter Matt Holliday. Robby Scott was brought in and got Holliday at second on a force before Headley lined out to right. Gregorious lined to short to end the inning. Jonathan Holder was brought in to pitch the bottom of the eleventh and Pedroia singled to start. He ended up stranded as Bogaerts flied out to center, Moreland whiffed and Ramirez flied out to right to end the inning. 2 innings in a row the winning run was on base and 7 total men have been left on.
Blaine Boyer got the ball in the top of the 12th inning as Austin Romine pinch hit for Choi. Boyer walked Romine but Torreyes somehow bunted into a double play when a hard charging Lin fired to second instead of first to start it. Gardner flied out to left to end the inning. Holder shut the Sox down in the bottom of the 12th as Benny The Kid popped up to third, JBJ flied out to left and Vazquez grounded out to third to end the inning.
The new call-up Brandon Workman was brought in to pitch the thirteenth inning as it was learned Boyer had to be carried out on a stretcher for an unknown reason. Sanchez whiffed but Judge walked. Workman got Holliday to fly out to right and Vazquez gunned down Judge trying to steal to end the inning. Welcome back Workman. Holder once again dominated the bottom of the thirteenth as Lin grounded out to second, Mr. Mookie grounded out to short and Pedroia lined out to short to end the inning.
Fernando Abad was called upon to pitch the top of the fourteenth inning and immediately walked Ellsbury. Headley singled but Gregorious lined out to second. Doug Fister replaced Abad and got Romine to line out to right. Torreyes whiffed to end the inning. The much maligned Aroldis Chapman was brought in to pitch the bottom of the fourteenth but had better success this time. Bogaerts walked but Moreland flied out to center. Bogaerts was erased on the force by Ramirez and Benny The Kid grounded out to end the inning. That's 8 men left on base.
Fister returned for the top of the fifteenth inning and got Gardner to pop up to second to start. Sanchez grounded out to short but Judge walked. Holliday flied out to left to end the inning. Ben Heller replaced Chapman in the bottom of the fifteenth inning and JBJ nearly ended it with a home run ball down the line.....JUST FOUL. Farrell went to the replay but it was clearly foul by inches. JBJ struck out as did Vazquez. Lin walked but Betts whiffed to end the inning. That's 8 shut-out innings by the Yankees bullpen and 8 men left on base by the Sox, pathetic.
The game finally came to a close as the Yankees pounced in the top of the sixteenth inning. Ellsbury stroked a leadoff double and Headley singled him to third. Gregorious singled home Ellsbury to take the lead and a Romine single scored Headley for insurance. Torreyes sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position. Fister intentionally walked Gardner to set up a double play but Sanchez hit a sac fly to left to score Romine. Judge flied out to end the inning but the damage was done with the Yankees leading 4-1.
The Sox had one last chance against Heller in the bottom of the sixteenth inning but gave up. Pedroia grounded out to second, Bogaerts flied out to right and Moreland flied out to center to end the game. Yankees had won it 4-1.
Jackass of the Night is Craig Kimbrel. It should never have come to Doug Fister pitching in the 16th inning if Kimbrel didn't blow it in the ninth.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 3 for 6.
Chris Sale pitched 7 2/3 shut-out innings.
Heath Hembree pitched a full scoreless inning.
Robby Scott pitched a full scoreless inning.
Blaine Boyer pitched a full scoreless inning.
Brandon Workman pitched a full scoreless inning.
The Bad:
Sandy Leon was 0 for 3.
Chris Young was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 2.
Doug Fister took the loss by giving up 3 runs in the top of the 16th inning.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 6 with a walk and a run scored.
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 6 with walk.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 6 with a walk.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 6 but drove in the only run.
Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 6.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 6.
Tzu-Wei Lin was just 1 for 5 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
The pathetic Red Sox offense returned again for sure. The Yankees bullpen threw 9 scoreless innings....NINE. Forget getting dominated by Severino, the Yankees bullpen effectively threw a complete game shut-out. They also tossed 4 scoreless last night before Chapman's meltdown as well. The Yankees definitely have the Sox number this year as it doesn't matter who pitches, the Sox can't score off of them. The worst part about this game was the Sox have a double-header tomorrow and the bullpen is already gassed. The loss dropped the Red Sox to 51-41 on the season, 2.5 ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow Rick Porcello (4-11) takes on CC Sabathia in Game 1 at 1 PM. I bet Sabathia pitches a shutout.
No comments:
Post a Comment