Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! The Boston Red Sox were handed a golden opportunity to jump back into first place but blew it with a loss to the embarrassing Kansas City Royals. Nick Pivetta (6-3, 4.36 ERA) continued Boston's string of starter ineptitude by taking the loss, lasting just 5 innings. The real story of the game was the lack of clutch hitting by the Red Sox. All nine hitters got on base at least once but rarely did somebody get a big hit to drive someone in. Royals "starter" Kyle Zimmer lasted just 2 innings but the rest of the Royals bullpen held the Sox to 3 runs in 7 innings. The Royals jumped ahead for good on a 3 run homer by Adalberto Mondesi and maintained the lead throughout the game. The Sox blew a chance to take back first place by dropping the game 5-3 to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Zimmer got the ball in the top of the first inning and Christian Arroyo struck out swinging to start. Alex Verdugo singled to center but JD Martinez struck out swinging. Xander Bogaerts lined out to center to end the inning. Pivetta got the ball in the bottom of the first as Whit Merrifield doubled to left to start. Carlos Santana walked but Salvador Perez flied out to right. Jorge Soler flied out to left and Adalberto Mondesi grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox blew a chance in the top of the second inning as Rafael Devers struck out swinging to start. Hunter Renfroe and Christian Vazquez got back to back base hits but Marwin Gonzalez banged into a double play to end the inning. Hunter Dozier lined out to left to begin the bottom of the second and Kelvin Gutierrez grounded out to third. Michael A Taylor singled to center but Nicky Lopez flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the third inning with Kris Bubic now on the mound Danny Santana lined a base hit to right before Arroyo also singled to right. Verdugo dropped a base hit to right to score Santana, moving Arroyo to third to give the Sox the lead. The Sox then made the blunder of the night when Martinez hit a double play ball to to third. Gutierrez forced Verdugo at second but Arroyo tried to come home and was thrown out by a mile. Bogaerts grounded into a force to end the inning with the Sox only up 1-0.
Naturally the Royals capitalized on the bad baserunning in the bottom of the third as Merrifield grounded out to third to start. Santana walked and Perez singled to left, but Soler struck out swinging. All of a sudden Mondesi hit a home run all the way to St. Louis to put the Royals up for good. Dozier grounded out to third to end the inning with the Royals up 3-1.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as Devers grounded out to second to start. Renfroe struck out swinging and Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning. Pivetta struck out Gutierrez swinging to start the bottom of the fourth and Taylor also went down hacking. Lopez singled to left but Merrifield flied out to left to end the inning.
The Sox blew another potential tying rally in the top of the fifth as Gonzalez singled to left to start. Santana walked but Arroyo forced Santana at second. Verdugo struck out swinging but Martinez ripped a base hit up the middle to score Gonzalez. Ervin Santana came in to pitch and Bogaerts walked to load the bases. With a chance to be a hero...Devers struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 3-2.
Pivetta returned for one final inning in the bottom of the fifth as Santana singled to right to begin. Perez and Soler both struck out swinging but Mondesi walked. Dozier struck out swinging to end the inning and close the book on Pivetta. Once again Pivetta damn near threw 100 pitches in 5 innings and left after allowing 3 runs in 5 innings.
Not good enough from Nick
The Sox blew another chance to tie the game in the top of the sixth as Renfroe lined out to second to start. Vazquez doubled to right but Gonzalez went down hacking. Vazquez took third on a balk but Santana grounded out to first to end the inning. Matt Andriese came in to crap his pants in the bottom of the sixth as Gutierrez lined out to right to start. Taylor flied out to right but Lopez singled to left. Merrifield then doubled to right to score Lopez with the insurance run. Santana popped up to second to end the inning with the Royals ahead 4-2.
Jake Brentz came in for the top of the seventh inning and Arroyo struck out swinging to start. Verdugo grounded out to first and Martinez struck out swinging to end the inning. The Royals iced it in the bottom of the seventh as Perez hit a home run all the way to Austria to increase the lead. Soler singled to center and Jarrod Dyson pinch ran for him. Mondesi banged into a double play and Dozier took strike three to end the inning with the Sox down 5-2.
The Sox did try to fight back in the top of the eighth with Scott Barlow now in to pitch. Bogaerts popped up to third but Devers clobbered his 17th home run of the season to cut the lead. Renfroe took strike three but Vazquez singled to right to bring the tying run to the plate. Gonzalez grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox down 5-3.
Yacksel Rios came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Gutierrez walked to start. Taylor forced Gutierrez at second but got picked off by Rios. Lopez walked but Merrifield struck out swinging to end the inning.
Royals win
Watch it go, Jackass
Danny Santana was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but the one hit was a home run.
Greg Holland came in to close out the top of the ninth and the Sox went quietly. Santana flied out to center and Arroyo was rung up for strike three on a pitch not even close. Arroyo took a swing at home plate umpire Jim Wolf with a roundhouse right but missed. Arroyo was ejected and hauled off in handcuffs by armed policemen. Verdugo flied out to left to end the game. The Royals had won it 5-3.
Jackass of the Night is Matt Andriese. The two runs he allowed ended up being the difference in the game.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
Christian Vazquez was 3 for 4.
Danny Santana was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Yacksel Rios pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Nick Pivetta took the loss by allowing 3 runs in just 5 innings of work.
The Ugly:
Christian Arroyo was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 but walked.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but the one hit was a home run.
Hunter Renfroe was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Marwin Gonzalez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
This was one of the worst losses of the season due to the ramifications of it. Both the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays lost which would have put the Sox a half game in front of the Rays and 6.5 games in front of the Yankees. The lack of clutch hitting shows what happens when you fall behind almost every game, you can't bop your way back into all of them. Pivetta was painfully average tonight but the story was Andriese coughing up 2 runs and the Sox unable to get more than three. Against the Atlanta Braves it didn't feel like the Sox would lose and they got the big hits when they needed it. Tonight was an entirely different vibe and it never seemed like the Sox could come back. The worst part was losing to Andrew Benintendi's Royals was neither Benintendi nor Franchy Cordero played. The loss dropped the Sox to 42-28, 1/2 game behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon against the Royals when Martin Perez (4-4, 4.52 ERA) takes on Brad Keller of Kansas City. The game begins at 4:10 PM at Kauffman Stadium.
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