As for the game, what an unmitigated the disaster. As if scoring only one run in yesterday's game was bad enough, today the Sox didn't score any. The Sox offense has yet to come back from the All-Star break and today's starter Brian Johnson (1-3, 3.81 ERA) suffered for it. Tyler Thornburg still doesn't look right and when all was said and done, the Tigers walked away with a 5-0 victory at Comerica Park. How many runs did the Sox score Dean Wormer?
Tigers starter Mike Fiers began his dominance in the top of the first inning as Mr. Mookie Betts whiffed to start. Andrew Benintendi grounded out to second before Xander Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning. Johnson started strong in the bottom of the first as he struck out Leonys Martin to begin. Niko Goodrum whiffed before Nicholas Castellanos grounded out to third to end the inning.
Mitch Moreland singled to open the top of the second inning but Steve Pearce flied out to left. The returning Rafael Devers whiffed before Eduardo Nunez grounded out to short to end the inning. The Tigers struck first in the bottom of the second although John Hicks grounded out to short to start. Martinez hit a routine grounder to Devers who picked the ball up and lobbed it over his head like a grenade, putting his fingers in his ears waiting for the non-existent explosion while being charged for an error. Jeimer Candelario singled but Ronny Rodriguez struck out. Johnson should have been out of the inning but Jose Iglesias doubled in both runs to give the Tigers the lead. Jacoby Jones flied out to right to end the inning but it was 2-0 Tigers
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the third inning as Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to short to start. Blake Swihart drew a walk but Mr. Mookie lined out to center. Swihart swiped second but Bogaerts grounded out to second to end the inning. Johnson settled down in the bottom of the third as Martin flied out to right to start. Goodrum flied out to center but Castellanos singled to left. Hicks grounded into a force to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth inning as Moreland popped up to short to begin. Pearce drew a walk but Devers whiffed again. Nunez grounded out to second to end the inning. Johnson got in trouble in the bottom of the fourth although Martinez flied out to left to begin. Candelario and Rodriguez stroked back to back singles but Johnson blew away Iglesias. Jones grounded into a force to end the inning.
The Sox threatened in the top of the fifth although JBJ flied out to center to start. Swihart whiffed but Betts and Benintendi both singled to put the tying runs on. Bogaerts whiffed to end the rally and the inning. Johnson came back for one last inning in the bottom of the fifth and got Martin to fly out to center to begin. Goodrum whiffed and Castellanos grounded out to short to end the inning. Johnson went 5 innings and allowed just 2 unearned runs, he deserved some offense.
The Sox threatened again in the top of the sixth although Moreland flied out to left to start. Pearce also flied out to left but Devers singled. Nunez singled but JBJ flied out to left to end the inning. Tyler Thornburg made a mad dash to the mound only to crap his pants as soon as the bottom of the sixth began. Hicks walked and Martinez singled him to third before Candelario scored Hicks with a sac fly to increase the lead. Rodriguez grounded out to short but Iglesias of all people smashed a 10,000 foot bomb to ice the game. Jones looked at strike three to end the inning but it was 5-0 Tigers, game over.
The Sox tried to fight back in the top of the seventh although Swihart grounded out to first to begin. Mr. Mookie and Benintendi stroked back to back singles to chase Fiers. Old pal Alex Wilson came in and got Bogaerts to ground into a double play to end the inning. Ryan Brasier came in for the bottom of the seventh and Martin whiffed badly to start. Goodrum whiffed and Castellanos grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the eighth as Moreland grounded out to first to begin. Pearce flied out to center and Devers grounded out to third to end the inning. Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez came in for the bottom of the eighth and froze Hicks to start. Martinez flied out to center before Candelario grounded out to third to end the inning.
Shane Greene came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Nunez froze for strike three to begin. JBJ whiffed but Swihart singled. Mr. Mookie grounded out to short to end the game. The Tigers had won it 5-0.
Jackass of the Night is Tyler Thornburg. Not that the Sox were going to score any runs anyway but he put the game out of reach in the 6th inning.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 5.
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 3 with a walk.
Blake Swihart was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Hector Velazquez pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Mitch Moreland was just 1 for 4.
Steve Pearce was 0 for 3 but walked.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 4.
Brian Johnson took the loss but only allowed 2 unearned runs in 5 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
That sucked big time. The Sox offense must still be on vacation because they've scored exactly one run in 18 innings to start the second half. Its a miracle they've lost only one of the games they played. Errors on defense and a lack of offense doesn't make for very fun baseball. Still, Johnson battled for 5 innings to save some arms for tomorrow's finale. Hopefully the offense shows up tomorrow because today's performance is not going to cut it. Hopefully Thornburg can fix himself otherwise with Devers hitting .240 and Tyler struggling, the Travis Shaw trade is looking worse every day. The less said of this nonsensical nonsense the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 69-31, 4.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow in the final game of this series as Chris Sale (10-4) takes the mound opposite Blaine Hardy. The game begins at 1:05 PM at Comerica Park.
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