Perez immediately crapped his pants in the top of the first inning as Austin Hays effortlessly singled to right to start. Hanser Alberto doubled to left but somehow Perez punched out Jose Iglesias. Anthony Sandtander hit a liner to right that wasn't deep enough to score Hays, but Renato Nunez pounded a double off the Monster to put the O's up for good 5 batters into the game. A wild pitch moved Nunez to third and Pedro Severino hit a routine grounder to third. Rafael Devers dove on the ball and wrestled it for an error to score Nunez. Chris Davis grounded into a force to end the inning but the O's had iced the game early 3-0.
Alex Cobb mowed the Sox down in the bottom of the first inning as Andrew Benintendi took strike three to start. JD Martinez lashed a base hit to left but Devers watched strike three go by and Mitch Moreland made his season debut by grounding out to short to end the inning.
The beating continued in the top of the second as Pat Valaika singled to right to start. Cedric Mullins walked but somehow Perez got Hays to pop up to second. Naturally Alberto singled home Valaika and Iglesias singled home Mullins. Red Sox pitching coach Dave Bush made a mad dash to the mound to remind Martin that Dangerous Liaisons was on in the clubhouse. Perez got so excited he induced a pop up from Santander that was ruled an infield fly. Alberto somehow forgot the rule and ran to third, getting tagged up on second for the double play to end the inning with the O's ahead 5-0.
Cobb cruised in the bottom of the second as Jose Peraza grounded out to short to start. Alex Verdugo made his Red Sox debut by hitting a bullet to Iglesias but Jackie Bradley Jr beat the shift with a base hit to center. Kevin Plawecki made his Red Sox debut by getting hit with a pitch but Tzu-Wei Lin grounded into a force to end the inning.
Somehow Perez settled down in the top of the third inning as Nunez popped up to first to start. Severino flied out to JBJ but Davis walked. Valaika lined out to third to end the inning. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the third as Benintendi lined out to third to start. Martinez took strike three and Devers grounded out to first to end the inning.
Perez cruised in the top of the fourth inning as Mullins lined out to second to start. Hays flied out to left and Alberto lined out to center to end the inning. The Sox blew a chance to come back in the bottom of the fourth as Moreland reached on a strike three passed ball to start. Peraza lined out to left but Verdugo got his first hit of the season with a line driver to left. JBJ beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners but Plawecki grounded out to second to end the inning.
Perez returned for one final inning in the top of the fifth and got Iglesias to ground out to third. Santander grounded out to short and Nunez whiffed to end the inning. Perez stunk the joint out the first two innings and it cost the Sox dearly as he allowed 5 runs in 5 innings of work.
Cobb cruised in the bottom of the fifth as Lin flied out to left to start. Benintendi whiffed and Martinez grounded out to second to end the inning.
Heath Hembree made his season debut in the top of the sixth, getting Severino to fly out to left to begin. Davis and Valaika both flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox sprang to life in the bottom of the sixth although Devers whiffed again to start. Moreland then belted his first home run of the season to put the Sox on the board. That was it for Cobb who blinded the Sox for 5 1/3 innings, allowing just the home run just seconds before he was lifted. Paul Fry came in and Peraza lined out to center but Verdugo singled to right. JBJ singled to left but Santander airmailed the throw which allowed both runners to advance into scoring position. Plawecki beat out an infield dribber to score Verdugo to cut the lead. Miguel Castro was brought in to pitch as Sox manager Ron Roenicke sent in Xander Bogaerts to pinch hit for Lin. Representing the tying run....Bogaerts whiffed on 3 pitches to end the inning but the Sox were back in it 5-2.
Just when the Sox were back in it, Dylan Covey pissed it away in the top of the seventh in his Red Sox debut. Mullins grounded out to second but Hays singled to left. Hays was erased on the force by Alberto but Iglesias blooped a single to right. Santander pounded a double off the Monster to score both runners to ice the game. Nunez lined out to center to end the inning but the game was out of reach 7-2.
Andrew Velazquez took over in left with Richard Bleier on the mound for the bottom of the seventh. Benintendi grounded out to second but Martinez was plunked. Devers whiffed to earn a hat trick and Moreland grounded out to first to end the inning.
Covey returned for the top of the eighth and Severino struck out swinging to start. Davis grounded back to the mound and Valaika went down hacking to end the inning. Peraza lined out to center to start the bottom of the eighth but Verdugo got a base hit to center. Verdugo moved to second on a wild pitch but JBJ whiffed. Mychal Givens came in to pitch to Plawecki and got him to line out to center to end the inning.
Josh Osich made his Red Sox debut in the top of the ninth and Mullins grounded out to third to start. Hays took strike three but Alberto singled to left. Iglesias grounded into a force to end the inning. The game ended in the bottom of the ninth as Bogaerts struck out swinging to start. Benintendi flied out to center but Martinez got a base hit to center. Fittingly, Devers earned a golden sombrero to go with his error as he struck out swinging to end the game. The lowly Orioles beat up Martin Perez and won the game 7-2.
Jackass of the Night is Martin Perez. The below average pitcher was exactly that, putting the Sox in a 5 run hole early that they couldn't come out of.
The Good:
JD Martinez was 2 for 4 with a hit by pitch.
Alex Verdugo was 3 for 4 with a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4.
Kevin Plawecki was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Josh Osich tossed a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 5 with a golden sombrero of 4 strikeouts and an error.
Jose Peraza was 0 for 4.
Tzu-Wei Lin was 0 for 2.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Dylan Covey allowed 2 runs in 2 innings of work.
The Ugly:
Mitch Moreland was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a solo home run.
Final Thoughts:
THIS is what the Sox fans were expecting for this season and its going to be a long two months for sure. Sox general manager Chaim Bloom pretty much said to hell with this season by dumping Rick Porcello and having no backup plan in case of injury or illness. Perez and Covey were laughed at by Sox fans last season and the Sox ended up signing them for pennies on the dollar because they were cheap. The problem is the Sox have so much money invested in dead money such as Pablo Sandoval, Dustin Pedroia, Rusney Castillo, Hanley Ramirez and Chris Sale that they had to trade Mookie Betts just to stay under the luxury tax. After this season is over they'll be out from under Castillo, Hanley and Sandoval plus hopefully Dustin Pedroia officially retires. Until then they're stuck with the Triple A pitching staff that they have. The Sox offense that couldn't miss last night couldn't get a clutch hit against Alex Cobb and Devers & Benintendi not only look lost at the plate, but can't field either. Not much to stay about this disaster apart from the loss dropped them to 1-1 on the season. The Sox look to take the series tomorrow afternoon when Ryan Weber makes his season debut against Wade LeBlanc of the Orioles at 1:35 PM at Fenway Park.
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