Out of the 14 losses on the season for the Boston Red Sox, this may be one of the most frustrating. Martin Perez was cruising after 5 innings, allowing just 1 run and throwing 74 pitches. The Sox were in a 1-1 deadlock with Jorge Lopez dealing. Sox manager Alex Cora pulled the plug on not only Perez but the game when he sent in Matt Andriese (1-2, 4.67 ERA) to pitch the sixth. Trey Mancini hit one of the longest home runs in recorded history and 2 innings later the O's pounced on him as Cora left him out to take a beating. By the time Phillips Valdez cleaned up the mess, Andriese had given up 3 runs and the Sox trailed big time. Still, it didn't matter what Andriese did because the Sox only mustered 4 measly hits against Lopez and the Baltimore bullpen. Perez could have pitched 8 innings but it wouldn't have mattered as the O's avoided a sweep with a 4-1 win at Camden Yards.
Lopez got the ball in the top of the first inning and Marwin Gonzalez led off by striking out swinging. Alex Verdugo grounded back to the mound but JD Martinez singled to left. Xander Bogaerts grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Perez got the ball in the bottom of the first and Cedric Mullins grounded out to third to start. Austin Hays took strike three and Trey Mancini flied out to center to end the inning.
Rafael Devers struck out swinging to begin the top of the second and Christian Vazquez took strike three. Hunter Renfroe lined out to short to end the inning. The O's struck first in the bottom of the second as Ryan Mountcastle hit a home run all the way to Athens, Greece to give Baltimore the lead. Pedro Severino singled to left but was forced at second by Freddy Galvis. Maikel Franco walked but Pat Valaika struck out swinging. Ryan McKenna struck out swinging to end the inning with the O's up 1-0.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the third as Franchy Cordero grounded out to second to start. Bobby Dalbec popped up to short and Gonzalez grounded out to first to end the inning. Perez rebounded in the bottom of the third as Mullins grounded out to first to start. Hays popped up to short and Mancini grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox fought back in the top of the fourth inning although Verdugo grounded out to second to start. Martinez singled to left and Bogaerts was plunked before a wild pitch moved both runners over. Devers scored Martinez with a sac fly to tie the game but Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Mountcastle grounded out to third to open the bottom of the fourth but Severino singled to right. Galvis popped up to second and Franco flied out to right to end the inning.
The miserable bottom of the order blew a rally in the top of the fifth when Renfroe doubled to right to start. Cordero moved Renfroe over to third with a grounder but Dalbec naturally struck out swinging. Gonzalez also went down hacking to end the inning. Valaika lined out to right to begin the bottom of the fifth but McKenna singled to center. Mullins flied out to right and Hays struck out swinging to end the inning. Perez was dealing through 5 innings at just 74 pitches but Sox manager Alex Cora pulled the plug and paid dearly for it.
Verdugo grounded out to second to start the top of the sixth before Martinez grounded out to short. Bogaerts doubled to left to chase Lopez from the game. Tanner Scott came in and a wild pitch moved Bogaerts to third, but Devers struck out swinging to end the inning. Matt Andriese came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Mancini hit a home run all the way to the Indian Ocean to put the Orioles up for good. Mountcastle singled in the hole at second but Severino grounded into a double play. Galvis struck out swinging to end the inning with the O's up 2-1.
Travis Lakins came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Vazquez whiffed to start. Renfroe grounded out to short and Cordero flied out to center to end the inning. Andriese came back for the bottom of the seventh and Franco grounded out to second to start. Valaika struck out swinging and McKenna grounded out to second to end the inning.
Paul Fry came in and cruised in the top of the eighth as Dalbec whiffed to start. Gonzalez took strike three and Verdugo grounded out to short to start. For some reason the same guy that pulled Perez too early left Andriese in for a third inning and the O's made Cora pay. Mullins then hit a routine pop up to short but Bogaerts dropped it. With Devers out to back him up, Mullins made it all the way to third with nobody covering for a 75 foot triple. Hays walked and Mancini singled home Mullins to ice the game. NOW Cora came out to get Andriese but it was too little, too late. Phillips Valdez came in and struck out Mountcastle swinging but Severino hit one in the hole at short to load the bases. Galvis hit a sac fly to score Hays to wrap up the scoring and Franco grounded out to short to end the inning with the O's ahead 4-1.
Rio Ruiz took over at third with Cesar Valdez in to close out the top of the ninth. Martinez struck out swinging, Bogaerts lined out to center and Devers took strike three to end the game. The O's had won it 4-1.
Jackass of the Night should be Alex Cora but I'll go with Matt Andriese. He was charged with 3 runs in 2 plus innings to put the game out of reach.
The Good:
JD Martinez was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Hunter Renfroe was 1 for 3.
Martin Perez tossed 5 innings of 1 run ball, allowing just 4 hits and a walk while striking out 4.
The Bad:
Marwin Gonzalex was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Franchy Cordero was 0 for 3.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch but dropping that pop up led to Baltimore putting the game out of reach.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Phillips Valdez allowed an inherited runner to score but none of his own in an inning of work.
Final Thoughts:
What a disaster. As much as I blame Cora for taking out Perez and I do, the bottom line was the offense only had 4 hits. Perez could have gone 7 or 8 innings but the Sox weren't going to get another run in this game. The explanation Cora gave after the game was more or less a slap in the face to Perez. Cora's reason was the O's had right handed batters coming up and he felt Andriese had a better chance to get them out. Perez had only thrown 74 pitches and it was the sixth inning. If this was the seventh inning I could live with that, but not when he was cruising. It would be easy to say this mistake cost them the game, but the true reason was the lack of offense. Lopez and the Baltimore bullpen rank close to last in ERA and they held the Sox to just 1 run on 4 hits. Once again the bottom of the order was atrocious with the 6-9 hitters going for a combined 1 for 12 with 4 strikeouts. Cordero and Dalbec's days are numbered once Hernandez and Arroyo are healthy. The Sox really screwed the pooch by trading Benintendi although to give up on Dalbec right now is unfair. After all a rookie second basemen in 2007 named Dustin Pedroia was struggling in early May so let's see if Dalbec can figure it out. It was one of those nights where nothing went right and the Sox better shake it off when they come home tomorrow. The loss dropped the Sox to 23-14, 3 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox return home for their first real test on the season. The AL West leading Oakland A's are in town with Chris Bassitt going for them against Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 4.62 ERA) of the Red Sox. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment