The miserable month of April for the Boston Red Sox concluded with one final "you gotta be kidding me" loss to the lowly Baltimore Orioles. The historically bad offense continued its downward trend by scoring just 1 run on just 7 hits against a team more suited for AAA than MLB. Spenser Watkins gave up a run on two hits in the first inning before he and the Orioles bullpen shut out the Sox the rest of the game. Nathan Eovaldi did what he could by tossing 7 shutout innings but as usual the Sox bullpen blew it as Matt Barnes coughed up the lead in the bottom of the eighth. 2 innings later Hiro Sawamura threw a sacrifice bunt away for an error to win the game for the Orioles. The Sox are now the official laughingstock of baseball as they dropped the game 2-1 to the Orioles in 10 innings at Camden Yards.
Watkins got the ball in the top of the first inning and Trevor Story led off with a double to right. Story moved to third on the grounder to second by Rafael Devers. Xander Bogaerts ripped a base hit to center to score Story to put the Sox on top. Alex Verdugo lined out to right but Kike Hernandez walked. Christian Arroyo flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Eovaldi got the ball in the bottom of the first and Cedric Mullins struck out swinging to start. Anthony Santander and Ryan Mountcastle both struck out swinging to end the inning.
Jackie Bradley Jr struck out swinging to begin the top of the second inning but Bobby Dalbec was hit with a pitch. Kevin Plawecki struck out swinging and Story popped up to third to end the inning. Bogaerts threw a grounder by Austin Hays away for an error to start the bottom of the second but Rougned Odor popped up to third. Ramon Urias flied out to left and Tyler Nevin flied out to center to end the inning.
Devers grounded out to short to start the top of the third before Bogaerts lined out to left. Verdugo singled to left but Hernandez forced him at second to end the inning. Robinson Chirinos struck out swinging to start the bottom of the third before Chris Owings grounded out to short. Mullins popped up to short to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as Arroyo grounded out to second to begin. JBJ flied out to right and Dalbec whiffed to end the inning. Santander struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fourth before Mountcastle grounded out to second and Hays lined out to right to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the fifth as Plawecki singled to center to start, but Story banged into a double play. Devers singled to right to chase Watkins. Felix Bautista came in to pitch to Bogaerts and Xander walked. Verdugo popped up to short to end the inning. Odor flied out to center to start the bottom of the fifth before Urias took strike three. Nevin grounded out to short to end the inning.
Bryan Baker came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Hernandez took strike three to start. Arroyo lined out to right and JBJ lined out to short to end the inning. Chirinos grounded out to third to start the bottom of the sixth before Owings struck out swinging. Mullins broke up the no-hitter with a ground rule double to left but Santander grounded out to third to end the inning.
Joey Krehbiel came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Dalbec struck out swinging to start. Plawecki grounded out to third but Story got a base hit to center to chase Krehbiel. Cionel Perez came in to pitch to Devers and Rafael singled in the hole at second to move Story to third. Bogaerts grounded out to second to end the inning. Eovaldi came back for the bottom of the seventh but Mountcastle singled to left to start. Hays singled to left but Eovaldi recovered to get Odor to fly out to center. Urias lined out to right but a wild pitch moved both runners over. Nevin struck out swinging to end the inning and Eovaldi was finished after 7 shutout innings and 95 pitches. He was outstanding.
Verdugo grounded out to second to start the top of the eighth but Dillon Tate came in to pitch to Hernandez. Kike flied out to center and Arroyo grounded out to third to end the inning. Matt Barnes came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Chirinos flied out to center to begin. Owings flied out to left but Mullins doubled to center. Naturally Santander ripped a base hit to center to score Mullins with the tying run, ruining Eovaldi's work. Mountcastle lined out to left to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Jorge Lopez cruised in the top of the ninth as JBJ lined out to first to start. Dalbec grounded out to first and Plawecki flied out to left to end the inning. The bottom 5 through 9 were 0 for 18 with a walk and 5 strikeouts, pathetic. Ryan Brasier came in for the bottom of the ninth and Hays flied out to center to start. Odor grounded out to second and Urias struck out swinging to send the game to extras.
Kevin Plawecki was supposed to start at second to begin the top of the tenth but Jaylin Davis made his Sox debut by running for him. Naturally Story struck out swinging and Davis only moved to third on the grounder to short by Devers. Bogaerts walked but Verdugo grounded out to second to end the inning. The O's walked it off in the bottom of the tenth with Christian Vazquez behind the plate, Hiro Sawamura on the mound, Jorge Mateo pinch running for Urias and Ryan McKenna pinch hitting for Nevin. Sox manager Alex Cora had Sawamura intentionally walk McKenna and Chirinos dropped down a bunt. Sawamura ended up throwing the ball 100 feet into left field for an error to score Mateo to win the game. The last place Os defeated the Sox 2-1 in 10 innings.
Jackass of the Night is Matt Barnes. It wouldn't have come to Sawamura in the tenth if he didn't cough up the game in the eighth inning.
Nice going Jackass
The Good:
Trevor Story was 2 for 5 with a run scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 5.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and an rbi.
Nathan Eovaldi shut out the Orioles and allowed just 3 hits in 7 innings.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 4.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Hiro Sawamura took the loss by throwing the game away in the tenth.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 5.
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but was hit with a pitch.
Kevin Plawecki was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Honorable Mention:
Jaylin Davis pinch ran in the top of the tenth.
Christian Vazquez caught the bottom of the tenth.
Final Thoughts:
The 1992 Red Sox are murderer's row compared to this group. They are dead last in the league in home runs, batting average and runs scored and the worst part is its entirely their fault. They made the decision to trade Hunter Renfroe for Jackie Bradley and Bradley is hitting his usual 100 while Renfroe has 5 home runs for the Brewers. It should be noted that the Sox as a team has 12 home runs while Renfroe has 5 by himself. JD Martinez being out doesn't help but literally apart from him, Devers and Bogaerts the ENTIRE TEAM is hitting under .239. Bobby Dalbec, Christian Arroyo, Kike Hernandez and Christian Vazquez have completely evaporated and we all knew JBJ wasn't going to hit. The real shame is Alex Verdugo and Trevor Story falling off cliffs when there's really no explanation why. Compunding this is the bullpen that Alex Cora destroyed last year never recovered. For once he finally let a starter go seven innings but Barnes blew it anyway. Its too early in the season to blow it all up and go with Jarren Duran, Triston Casas and Jeter Downs, but something has to be done. They've scored just four runs in the past three games and fans are upset. The only good thing you can say about the Sox is their rotation appears to be headed in the right direction. Eovaldi and Wacha have been pitching well and the trio of Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck and Rich Hill (apart from the one game where his dad had just died) have been solid. Once James Paxton and Chris Sale come back, the Sox may move some of those guys to the bullpen and it'll be interesting to see who does what. The Sox need to make a stand soon before they fall out of contention early. The loss dropped the Sox to 6-13, 6.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to rebound tomorrow afternoon when they send Nick Pivetta (0-3, 8.27 ERA) to the mound against Jordan Lyles of Baltimore. The game begins at 1:05 PM at Camden Yards.
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