Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a sudden roster move. Catcher Kevin Plawecki tested positive for Covid-19 and was placed on the Injured List. Connor Wong was brought up from Worcester for as long as needed.
As for the game, what a complete and total disaster. On a day when Rich Hill (0-1, 7.00 ERA) was honoring his late father, he pitched like absolute garbage against the Minnesota Twins. He allowed 4 runs and was knocked out in the fifth inning. The Red Sox bats left 13 men on base and for some reason Sox manager Alex Cora let an ineffective Kutter Crawford turn a 4-2 game into 8-2 in the eighth inning. In what was supposed to be a day of celebration in the first Boston Marathon since 2019, the Twins smacked the Red Sox 8-3 on Patriots Day at Fenway Park.
The Twins wasted no time getting to Hill in the top of the first although Jorge Polanco struck out swinging on three pitches to start. Carlos Correa ripped a base hit to center but Gio Urshela popped up to center. Kyle Garlick seemed to have doubled high off the wall but when the umpires looked at it, replays showed it was a home run to put the game away four batters into it. Gary Sanchez grounded out to third to end the inning but the Twins were up for good 2-0.
"King Kong" Bundy got the ball in the bottom of the first as Kike Hernadez struck out swinging on three pitches to start. Rafael Devers grounded out weakly to short but Xander Bogaerts got a base hit in the hole at short. JD Martinez flied out to right to end the inning.
Trevor Larnach flied out to center to start the top of the second before Miguel Sano flied out to right. Ryan Jeffers struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox rolled over in the bottom of the second as Alex Verdugo grounded out to short to start. Christian Arroyo popped up to second and Travis Shaw took strike three right down the middle to end the inning.
The Twins pounded Hill in the top of the third as Gilberto Celestino hit a rocket to center for a base hit and Polanco hit a home run to Jupiter to ice the game. Correa walked and Urshela ripped a base hit to life. Verdugo had to climb up the wall to rob Garlick of a double and Sanchez popped up to short. Larnach grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 4-0 Twins.
The Sox didn't even try in the bottom of the third as Christian Vazquez flied out to center to start. Jackie Bradley Jr struck out swinging and Hernandez grounded out to second to end the inning.
Somehow Hill was allowed to return for the top of the fourth and Hernandez had to climb the wall in center to rob Sano of extra bases to start. Jeffers walked but shockingly Celestino banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox didn't even bother in the bottom of the fourth as Devers grounded out to first to start. Bogaerts and Martinez both struck out swinging to end the inning.
Hill returned for the top of the fifth and Polanco grounded out to short to start. Correa flied out to right but Urshela singled to left to chase Hill. Rich got pounded for 4 runs in 4 2/3 innings and Sox manager Alex Cora now was making the bullpen throw another four innings. Phillips Valdez came in to face Max Kepler who was pinch hitting for Garlick and froze him for strike three to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the fifth as Verdugo doubled to left to start. Arroyo ripped a base hit to center to put runners at the corners but Shaw flied out to left, moving Christian to second. All Vazquez could do was ground out to short to score Verdugo and JBJ grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox down 4-1.
Sanchez popped up to first to start the top of the sixth and Larnach grounded out to second. Sano grounded out to third to end the inning. Hernandez struck out swinging to start the bottom of the sixth but somehow Devers got a base hit to left then went sliding into third on a base hit to left by Bogaerts. Xander took second on the throw BUT WAIT! Twins manager Rocco Baldelli challenged that Devers was out on the crazy slide even with third base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt standing right over the play. Thankfully the call was upheld and Joe Smith came in to replace Bundy to face Martinez. Martinez then hit a grounder to third and Sano fired home to get Devers in a rundown but Sanchez tried to get Martinez at first. With Bogaerts heading to third Devers had to came home and was thrown out, but both runners moved into scoring position. Verdugo was intentionally walked and naturally Arroyo flied out to center to end the inning. All that work for absolutely nothing.
Kutter Crawford came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Jeffers walked to start. Celestino struck out swinging and Polanco flied out to left, but Correa moved Jeffers to third with a base hit to right. Urshela flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox got one back in the bottom of the seventh although Shaw struck out looking to start. Vazquez then mashed his first home run of the season to cut the lead in half. JBJ walked to bring the tying run to the plate but Hernandez struck out swinging. Devers struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 4-2.
Naturally the Twins rallied in the top of the eighth when Kepler and Sanchez drew back to back walks to start. Larnarch struck out swinging but Kepler moved to third on the fly out to left by Sano. Luis Arraez pinch hit for Jeffers and Crawford uncorked a wild pitch to score Kepler. Sanchez swiped second and Arraez was intentionally walked. Celestino walked to load the bases and Polanco ripped a base hit to right to score Sanchez and Arraez, breaking the game open. Cora woke up from his nap to pulled the incompetent Crawford for Hiro Sawamura. The first thing Sawamura did was throw a wild pitch to score Celestino to increase the lead. Correa struck out swinging to end the inning but the game was all but over 8-2 Twins.
Griffin Jax took over in the bottom of the eighth and Bogaerts grounded out to short to start. Martinez and Verdugo ripped back to back singles but Arroyo struck out swinging and the 0 for 8 Shaw made it 0 for 9 with a swinging strikeout to end the inning.
Urshela singled to right to start the top of the ninth and moved to second on the Kepler grounder to short. Sanchez popped up to first and Larnach flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox ineptitude with men on base continued in the bottom of the ninth as Vazquez beat out a roller to third to start. JBJ doubled down the left field line but Hernandez lined out to right. Devers popped up to short but Bogaerts singled in the hole at second to score Vazquez. With 2 men on, Martinez struck out swinging to end the game. The Twins won it 8-3.
Jackass of the Night is Kutter Crawford. He was charged with 4 runs in 1 2/3 innings to put the game away.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 5 with an rbi.
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 4 with a home run, 2 total rbis and 2 total runs scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Phillips Valdez tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Travis Shaw was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Rich Hill took the loss by allowing 4 runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 5.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Christian Arroyo was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Hiro Sawamura allowed an inherited runner to score but none of his own in 1 2/3 innings.
Final Thoughts:
Where do begin on this one? One thing is for sure, fans have had enough of what's going on. They were all over social media complaining on why Rich Hill is starting when its clear that the second time through the order, other teams hammer his slow crap. Travis Shaw looks completely lost at the plate and he's not the same hitter he was in 2016-17 clearly. The biggest cataclysm was leaving Kutter Crawford to get shelled when he's pulled Tanner Houck, Michael Wacha, Nathan Eovaldi and how many others in the middle of shutouts and less than 90 pitches? Kike Hernandez is hitting .167 out of the leadoff spot yet Cora refuses to take him out of there. Jarren Duran has four hits in 3 games so far in Worcester and if he shows any improvement at the plate, we may say goodbye to Jackie Bradley Jr or Hernandez by June. The ineptitude of Shaw has fans clamoring for the Red Sox number 1 prospect Triston Casas but he needs more seasoning in Worcester. The problem begins and ends with pitching and Cora continuing to pull guys out of games early. We all saw last year how The A-Team carried the Sox into July but once they started getting hurt, the Sox went 30-31 to finish the season. That can also be blamed on ineffective starting pitching, but that's something Sox GM Chaim Bloom barely addressed. If Bloom honestly thought 42 year old Rich Hill and James Paxton coming off Tommy John surgery was the answer, its a wonder how the Tampa Bay Rays were even competitive under his watch. Banking on Paxton and Chris Sale coming off the Injured List and pitching like studs is insane but that's exactly what he's doing. Its bad news for all of us because none of the other AL East teams look strong this season and the Sox have as good a chance as any to win the division or one of the two wild cards. If you thought this was all bad news, it gets even worse. In about a week the Sox travel to Toronto to face the Blue Jays and Toronto implemented laws stating if you don't have the Covid-19 vaccine, you can't play. The Boston Celtics had to rest players against the Toronto Raptors and the Sox are going to be missing a few guys including scheduled Game 3 starter Tanner Houck who's unvaccinated. I'm not going to bring politics into this other than the Sox are going up against the best offense in the AL without some guys....this ain't good. The Jays actually come here first and tomorrow night Nathan Eovaldi (1-1, 4.50 ERA) gets the start for Boston against Yusei Kikuchi of Toronto. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment