Rodriguez actually cruised in the top of the first inning. Tim Beckham looked at strike three, Manny Machado flied out to center and Jonathan Schoop lined out to left to end the inning. Gausman began his domimance in the bottom of the first inning. Eduardo Nunez popped up to second but Mookie Betts doubled. He was stranded at second as Andrew Benintendi lined out to third and Hanley Ramirez grounded out to first to end the inning.
Rodriguez vomited up his intestines in the dreaded second inning of doom. Adam Jones doubled but Rodriguez made the heads up play to get him out at third on a comebacker by Trey Mancini. Chris Davis walked and Mark Trumbo singled home Mancini to give the O's the lead. Caleb Joseph whiffed but Craig Gentry singled in Davis. Beckham then blasted a 3 run bomb to ice the game early as Fenway Park began to clear out in world record time. Machado struck out but the game was over already 5-0.
The lifeless Sox gave up after that as Rafael Devers popped up to second to begin the bottom of the second inning. Xander Bogaerts popped up to short and Mitch Moreland lined out to left to end the inning.
Schoop singled to open the top of the third but Rodriguez settled down to get Jones to pop up to short. Rodriguez got Mancini looking and Davis to ground to second to end the inning. It was whiff or walk in the bottom of the third inning. Chris Young walked but Christian Vazquez struck out. Nunez struck out but Betts walked. Benintendi struck out to end the inning.
Rodriguez made quick work of the O's in the top of the fourth inning although Trumbo started it with a single. Joseph struck out and Gentry banged intoa double play to end the inning. Gausman cruised in the bottom of the fourth as Ramirez looked at strike three and Devers flied out to left. Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning.
Rodriguez had another clean inning in the top of the fifth inning. Beckham grounded out to short, Machado hit a comebacker to Rodriguez and Schoop whiffed to end the inning. The Sox had their only chance to get back in it wasted in the bottom of the fifth. Moreland singled but was erased on the force by Young. Vazquez walked but Nunez banged into a double play to end the inning.
Rodriguez returned for the top of the sixth and got Jonesto fly out to center to start. Mancini singled but Davis looked at strike three. Trumbo grounded out to first to end the inning. The Sox mustered nothing in the bottom of the sixth as Betts popped up to short, Benintendi grounded out to third and Ramirez popped up to first to end the inning.
Rodriguez showed some balls by coming back for the top of the seventh inning. Rodriguez got Joseph to fly out to right and Gentry grounded out to second. Suddenly sleeping Sox manager John Farrell woke up and saw Rodriguez still on the mound so he ran out of the dugout to make a pitching change. Rodriguez angrily handed him the ball as he thought he was going 7. Still, Rodriguez pissed himself in the second inning but did make it this far, a little credit is due. Brandon Workman replaced Eduardo and got Beckham to line out to center on the first pitch to end the inning.
The Red Sox finally got a base runner in the bottom of the seventh inning. Devers groumded out to second and Bogaerts grounded out to first, but Moreland singled. Young lined out to short to end the inning.
The O's struck again in the top of the eighth inning. Machado grounded out to third but Schoop blasted a solo home run off Workman to increase the lead. Jones struck out and Mancini grounded out to end the inning although it was now 6-0 Baltimore.
Gausman returned for the bottom of the eighth and got Vazquez to ground out to short to start. Nunez flied out to right but Betts singled to chase Gausman after 7 2/3 brilliant innings. Richard Bleier replaced Gausman and got Benintendi to ground out to first to end the inning.
Fernando Abad had mop up duty in the top of the ninth although he crapped on the floor as well. Davis struck out but Trumbo singled. Joseph struck out but Gentry doubled home Trumbo to wrap up the scoring. Beckham hit a comebacker to the mound to end the inning with the O's up by a touchdown 7-0.
Darren O'Day closed out this disaster in the bottom of the ninth inning. Ramirez grounded out to short and Devers struck out. Bogaerts walked but Moreland popped up to short to end the game. The O's had won it 7-0.
Jackass of the Night is Eduardo Rodriguez. Once again a lousy second inming doomed him although he did fight back to toss 6 2/3 innings to save the bullpen some work.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 3 with a walk.
Mitch Moreland was 2 for 4.
The Bad:
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Fernando Abad gave up a run in the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 with a walk.
Chris Young was 0 for 2 with a walk.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 2 with a walk.
Brandon Workman gave up a run in 1 1/3 innings.
Final Thoughts:
What is there to say at this point besides the fact that the Red Sox completely suck at the moment. They are not pitching well, they are not hitting well and they are not even managing well. This comes at a very bad time with the New York Yankees suddenly coming to life. The Sox still have a month left to turn it back around to where they were at in the first 3 weeks of August, but it's going to be a struggle if they can't score runs. If Eduardo Nunez and Rafael Devers cool off, then they are the exact same offense that sleptwalked through the first four months. That's not a good thing if they hope to repeat as division champions. The loss dropped the Sox to 73-56, 3.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow afternoon the Sox look to salvage the series with Doug Fister taking on old pal Wade Miley at 1:35 PM at Fenway Park.
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