Sale took the mound in the top of the first inning and got Whit Merrifield to fly out to center to begin. Jorge Soler doubled and advanced to third on the ground out but Cheslor Cuthbert. Salvador Perez whiffed to end the inning. Junis was unstoppable in the bottom of the first as Andrew Benintendi flied out to left to start. Hanley Ramirez grounded out to third but JD Martinez singled to right. Mitch Moreland grounded out to second to end the inning.
Jon Jay singled to lead off the top of the second but Abraham Almonte banged into a double play. Lucas Duda singled to left but Alcides Escobar grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as Xander Bogaerts watched strike three go by. Somehow Rafael Devers doubled but Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to right. Christian Vazquez whiffed to end the inning.
Sale was tough in the top of the third as Alex Gordon grounded out to third to begin. Merrifield flied out to center but Soler was plunked. Cuthbert grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox threatened but did not score in the bottom of the third as Tzu-Wei Lin grounded out to first to begin. Benintendi singled but Ramirez popped up to first. Martinez walked and Moreland singled to load the bases....but Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning.
Perez hit a routine ground ball to Devers to start the top of the fourth but Devers kicked it into centerfield and threw his glove at it for an error. Sale struck out Jay but walked Almonte and hit Duda to load the bases. Escobar hit a fly ball to left that Martinez caught. Perez broke for home and the throw came but Vazquez ran away from the throw screaming with his arms flailing over his head for an error that scored Perez. Gordon grounded out to short to end the inning with the Royals up 1-0.
The incompetent Red Sox offense failed to respond in the bottom of the fourth as Devers looked at strike three, JBJ whiffed and Vazquez grounded out to second to end the inning,
Sale whiffed Merrifield and froze Soler to start the top of the fifth but Cuthbert walked. Perez popped up to short to end the inning. The miserable Red Sox offense did nothing in the bottom of the fifth as Lin grounded out to first, Benintendi flied out to left and Ramirez grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Royals struck again in the top of the sixth inning as Jay singled to start. Almonte lined out to right but Duda singled. Bogaerts made a great diving stop on a ball hit by Escobar to force Duda at second but there were runners at the corners. The Royals then caught the Sox asleep as Escobar took off for second, rather than eat the ball Vazquez threw to second as Escobar stopped to get caught in a rundown. Foolishly Bogaerts tried to tag out Escobar and Jay scored, they eventually got Escobar out but it was now 2-0 Royals.
The Sox began their comeback in the bottom of the sixth although Martinez lined out to right to start. Moreland stepped up and smashed a solo home run to cut into the lead. Bogaerts grounded out to short but Devers doubled. JBJ singled home Devers to tie the game. Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning but the game was tied.
Sale came back for one final inning in the top of the seventh inning. Gordon whiffed, Merrifield grounded out to short and Soler watched strike three go by to end the inning. Sale had gone 7 innings and allowed just two runs, he deserved the win.
Tim Hill took over for Junis in the bottom of the seventh and the Sox took advantage of shoddy defense. Eduardo Nunez pinch hit for Lin and popped up to second. Benintendi doubled to chase Hill as Brad Keller came in to pitch. A wild pitch moved Benintendi to third but Ramirez whiffed. Martinez didn't have to do anything as another wild pitch scored Benintendi to give the Sox the lead. Martinez grounded out to third to end the inning but it was 3-2 Red Sox.
Matt Barnes came in to pitch the top of the eighth inning and Cuthbert grounded back to the mound to start. Perez singled and Jay caught the Sox defense napping with a bunt single. Almonte looked at strike three as Bogaerts made an ill-advised throw to allow both runners to advance on his error. Duda flied out to right to end the inning. Old pal Blaine Boyer took the mound in the bottom of the eighth and Moreland flied out to left to start. Bogaerts grounded out to second but Devers walked. JBJ whiffed to end the inning.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in for the save in the top of the ninth and Mookie Betts took over for Martinez but playing right. Escobar popped up to first....but Gordon hung the first blown save of the season on Kimbrel with a solo home run to tie the game. Merrifield grounded out to third and Soler whiffed to end the inning but the Royals had tied it 3-3.
Kevin McCarthy shut down the lifeless Bruins in the bottom of the ninth inning. Vazquez grounded out to short, Nunez whiffed and Benintendi grounded out to first to end the inning.
Carson Smith came on to pitch the top of the tenth inning as Mike Moustakas pinch hit for Cuthbert. Moustakas grounded out to second but Perez and Jay stroked back to back singles. Ryan Goins pinch ran for Perez but Almonte struck out. Another error by Vazquez advanced both runners but Duda grounded out to first to end the inning. Drew Butera came in to catch the bottom of the tenth but the Sox did nothing. Ramirez flied out to center, Betts grounded out to third and Moreland whiffed to end the inning.
Heath Hembree got the ball in the top of the eleventh and Escobar whiffed to start. Gordon grounded out to first but Merrifield walked. Soler grounded out to third to end the inning. Still nothing in the bottom of the eleventh as Bogaerts grounded out to third, Devers lined out to right and JBJ grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Royals seemed to have put the game away in the top of the 12th inning. Butera doubled and Goins singled him to third. Jay scored Butera with a sac fly to give the Royals the lead. Almonte grounded out to short and Duda grounded out to second to end the inning with the score 4-3 Royals.
Royals closer Kelvin Herrera came in to close out the game in the bottom of the 12th. Vazquez popped up to second but Nunez saved the day with a solo home run to left to tie the game. Benintendi singled to put the winning run on first but Ramirez popped up to third. Betts whiffed to end the inning but the Sox had tied it 4-4.
Brian Johnson (1-1, 6.00 ERA) came in to pitch the top of the 13th and he crapped his pants. Escobar grounded out but Gordon and Merrifield stroked back to back singles. Soler then smashed a 50,000 foot home run into the Atlantic Ocean to give the Royals a commanding lead. Butera flied out to right and Goins whiffed but it was all but over 7-4.
Somehow the Sox refused to go quietly in the bottom of the 13th inning against Burch Smith. Moreland singled and Bogaerts was hit with a pitch. Devers beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners and Brian Flynn was brought in to pitch to JBJ. Bradley grounded out but Moreland scored and Bogaerts moved to second. Vazquez finally did something good when he singled to left to score Bogaerts. Suddenly it was a one run game and Nunez hit a bullet to dead center. If it went 10 feet further it was off the wall but Almonte made a great jumping catch to end the game. The Sox showed some life but the deficit was too much to overcome, the Royals had won 7-6.
Jackass of the Night is Brian Johnson. He allowed the deciding 3 run home run to take the well earned loss.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 3 for 6 with a run scored.
JD Martinez was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Mitch Moreland was 3 for 6 with 2 total runs scored and a home run.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 5 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Chris Sale tossed 7 innings of 2 run (1 earned) ball while striking out 6.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Carson Smith pitched a scoreless 10th inning.
The Bad:
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 6 with a strikeout.
Mookie Betts was 0 for 2 after coming in for Martinez.
Tzu-Wei Lin was 0 for 2.
Craig Kimbrel blew the save in the 9th inning.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts but was hit with a pitch.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 6 but drove in 2 runs.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 6 with 2 errors but drove in a run.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 4 but made the hit count as it was a solo home run.
Heath Hembree gave up a run in two innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
That was one of the most frustrating losses of the season considering the Sox bullpen gave up the lead or tie THREE times during the course of the game. The Royals kept attacking and the Sox just couldn't put them away. For most of the game the offense was asleep but did what it could to keep the game close. Once again the Royals pounded out 15 hits, everything they seem to hit finds a hole. Sale must be ready to take a shotgun to the clubhouse because he can't seem to find a way to win. The less said of this game the better. The only good news is Joe Kelly's suspension is over and he'll be available for tomorrow's game. The loss drops the Sox to 21-8, just 2 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow afternoon is the finale of this three game set with Drew Pomeranz going for the Sox against Danny Duffy at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment