The Sox were schizophrenic defensively in the top of the first inning with Josh Osich as the "opener". Amed Rosario hit a routine grounder to Jose Peraza who dove on the ball and dryland swam with it for an error. Pete Alonso lined out to center and Jeff McNeil hit a bullet off the glove of Rafael Devers. Xander Bogaerts picked it up and chased down Rosario although the umpires called him safe at third. Sox manager Ron Roenicke challenged the call and sure enough, replays showed Bogaerts got him on the heel and Rosario was out. McNeil then got picked off by Osich to end the inning.
Michael Wacha got the ball in the bottom of the first and Andrew Benintendi put down a drag bunt. He would have been out had Wacha not thrown the ball away, allowing Benintendi tor each. JD Martinez whiffed badly on a curve in the dirt before Rafael Devers also whiffed badly on a fastball right down the middle. Benintendi swiped second but Xander Bogaerts popped up to right to end the inning.
The Mets struck first in the top of the second as JD Davis walked to start. Michael Conforto effortlessly pounded a 2 run home run over the bullpen to put the Mets up for good. Somehow Osich struck out Wilson Ramos swinging and got Robinson Cano to ground out to second. Dominic Smith popped up to right to end the inning but the Sox were down 2-0.
As usual when the Sox fell behind, they didn't come back as Wacha easily cruised in the bottom of the second. Mitch Moreland weakly grounded out to first, Christian Vazquez weakly grounded to short and Alex Verdugo grounded into the shift to end the inning.
Jeffrey Springs made his Red Sox debut in the top of the third and Brandon Nimmo popped up to short to start. Rosario dumped a base hit to center and Alonso effortlessly pounded a home run off the Monster Seats to ice the game. Devers then threw a routine grounder by McNeil away for an error, but Springs somehow struck Davis out swinging. Conforto took strike three to end the inning but the game was over 4-0.
Jackie Bradley Jr drew a 4 pitch walk to open the bottom of the third before Jose Peraza somehow singled to left but naturally Benintendi waived at a pitch nowhere near the plate and Martinez banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Mets tacked it on in the top of the fourth inning as Ramos hit a double off the centerfield wall one handed to start. Cano drew a full count walk and Smith blasted a 3 run bomb as the Mets dugout burst out laughing. Nimmo grounded out to first and finally Sox manager Ron Roenicke got Springs out of there. Springs was considered one of the worst pitchers last year so naturally the Sox signed him and also naturally he gives up 5 runs in 1 1/3 innings. Heath Hembree came in and Rosario grounded out to short before Alonso whiffed to end the inning with the Mets ahead 7-0.
The Sox finally showed some life in the bottom of the fourth although Devers lined out to short to start. Bogaerts gave up on strike three but Moreland pounded his second home run of the year to right to put the Sox on the board. Vazquez weakly popped up to right to end the inning with the Sox down 7-1.
Zack Godley made his Red Sox debut in the top of the fifth and somehow struck out McNeil on a full count. Davis hit a chopper in front of the plate that both Godley and Vazquez booted for a "hit." Conforto was rung up on a check swing for strike three and Ramos grounded into a force to end the inning. Somehow Verdugo beat out an infield single to short to open the bottom of the fifth. Somehow JBJ singled up the middle to put two on and none out but naturally Peraza popped up to center. Benintendi hit a piece of crap grounder to Wacha to advance the runners but Martinez popped up weakly to right to end the inning. Say what you want about the pitching, but the Sox offense has scored fewer runs in three games than they did in two innings of Opening Day.
Godley returned for the top of the sixth and Cano popped up to first to start. Smith popped up to short but Nimmo singled to right. Rosario hit a seeing eye single to right but Alonso whiffed to end the inning. Devers showed how out of shape he was by failing to run out a booted grounder to start the bottom of the sixth against new pitcher Chasen Shreve. Bogaerts did give a glimmer of hope with his first home run of the season to cut the lead. Moreland tried to drag bunt but Shreve snuffed it out to retire him. Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning but it was 7-2 Mets.
Godley came back for the top of the seventh and McNeil grounded out to first to start. Davis grounded out to second and Conferto whiffed to end the inning. If Roenicke had brought in Godley instead of Springs, maybe the Sox would have a chance now. The Sox offense failed to respond in the bottom of the seventh anyway as Jake Marisnick took over for Davis in center with Nimmo moving to right. Verdugo grounded out weakly to second, JBJ grounded out weakly to the mound and Peraza lined out to center to end the inning.
Godley cruised in the top of the eighth although Ramos singled to right to start. Godley struck out both Cano and Smith swinging before Nimmo was rung up to end the inning. Outstanding effort by Godley who struck out 7 in 4 innings of work.
Meanwhile Benintendi continued to struggle by grounding out into the shift to start the bottom of the eighth against Jeurys Famillia. Martinez drew a walk and Devers finally broke out of his slump with an opposite field double off the Monster. Bogaerts could only score Martinez with a grounder to third. Moreland lined a base hit up the middle to score Devers to cut the lead. That was it for Famillia as Seth Lugo was brought in to pitch to Vazquez. On a full count...Vazquez swung and missed at a fastball down the middle to end the inning with the Sox down 7-4.
Phillips Valdez came in for the top of the ninth and froze Rosario for strike three to start. Alonso grounded back to the mound but McNeil singled to center. Marisnick popped up to Devers to end the inning. The game finally ended in the bottom of the ninth as Verdugo grounded out to second again to start. JBJ also grounded out to second and Peraza grounded out to short to end the game. The Sox drop their third straight game with a 7-4 loss.
Jackass of the Night is Jeffrey Springs. He lasted just 1 1/3 innings and put the game out of reach by allowing 5 runs.
The Good:
Mitch Moreland was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis and a run scored including a solo home run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Heath Hembree retired the only two men he faced.
Zack Godley struck out 7 in 4 shutout innings pitched.
Phillips Valdez pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Bad:
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Josh Osich took the loss by allowing 2 runs in 2 innings.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4 but stole a base.
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 but walked and scored a run.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with an error but scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but drove in 2 runs including a solo home run.
Ryan Verdugo was just 1 for 4.
Jose Peraza was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
When notorious Red Sox buttkisser Dan Schaughnessy says the Sox gave up on this season, you know its serious. The Sox are trotting out pitchers that have no business being in the majors day after day and the only explanations are either Rachel Phelps secretly owns the team or they're tanking. If they're tanking, they sure picked the right year to do it with MLB in complete chaos with Covid cases popping up left and right. The Sox aren't even competitive at this point because the dumpster pitching puts the offense in a 5 run hole before they can even blink, and the offense presses to get something going because they have no choice. The Sox are going to have to score 8 runs a game in order to compete and that's damn near impossible. Tomorrow night the Sox lose to the Mets again with somebody named Matt Hall going for the Sox against nobody knows at 7:35 PM at Fenway Park.
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