Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a trade, sending a bag of cash to the Philadelphia Phillies for 28 year old struggling relief pitcher James Norwood. Norwood has a hideous 8.31 ERA this season and a career ERA over 5 so this is going to be one of those "I bet we can fix him" projects. This is what the Sox did with Yacksel Rios last year and he had his career best season.
In
As for the game, what an unmitigated disaster. After the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for four runs in the ninth inning of last night's game, they picked up right where they left off. The Cards pounded the Red Sox for 14 hits and 11 runs to show why they're leading the NL Central division. Kutter Crawford (1-2, 6.41 ERA) got hammered for 4 runs in just 4 innings although the Sox trailed just 4-2 going into the sixth inning. The Cards pounced on the ineffective Hiro Sawamura and Hansel Robles for six runs to put the game away. The Cards got a run in the ninth off Austin Davis to wrap up their offense while Dakota Hudson held the Sox to just 2 runs in 5 innings. Boston had just 5 hits in the game as the Cards dominated the Sox 11-2 at Fenway Park.
Crawford got the ball in the top of the first inning and Tommy Edman flied out to center to start. Brendan Donovan struck out swinging but Paul Goldschmidt singled to left. Nolan Arenado then hit a home run to Greece to put the Cardinals up for good four batters into the game. Nolan Gorman grounded out to first to end the inning with the Cardinals up 2-0.
Hudson got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jarren Duran grounded out to second to start. Rafael Devers grounded back to the mound and JD Martinez flied out to center to end the inning.
Tyler O'Neill got a base hit to right to start the top of the second and Dylan Carlson doubled into the right field corner to score Tyler to ice the game. Harrison Bader popped up to Bobby Dalbec in foul territory but Andrew Knizner popped up to Devers. Edman grounded out to short to end the inning with the Cardinals up 3-0.
Xander Bogaerts got a base hit to left to start the bottom of the second but Trevor Story struck out swinging on a pitch not even close. Franchy Cordero drew a walk and Dalbec blooped a single to center to score Bogaerts plus move Franchy to third. Jackie Bradley Jr banged into a double play to end the inning with the Sox down 3-1.
Donovan took strike three to start the top of the third before Goldschmidt popped up to Devers. Arenado struck out swinging to end the inning. Kevin Plawecki drew a walk to start the bottom of the third but was forced at second by Duran. Devers flied out to center and Martinez grounded out to third to end the inning.
Gorman led off the top of the fourth with a home run into the Charles River to increase the lead. O'Neill grounded out to third before Carlson grounded out to second. Cordero dropped a "double" by Bader but Knizner grounded out to short to end the inning with the Cardinals up 4-1. That was it for Crawford who got hit hard, allowing 4 runs in 4 innings.
Bogaerts took strike three to start the bottom of the fourth but Story blooped a base hit to right. Cordero hit a double play ball to first but Goldschmidt hit Story in the back on the throw. Dalbec and Bradley walked to load the bases then Plawecki walked to score Story. Duran grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox down 4-2.
Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the top of the fifth and Edman grounded out to second to start. Donovan walked bit Goldschmidt struck out swinging. Arenado flied out to center to end the inning. Devers struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fifth and Martinez grounded out to short. Bogaerts singled off the glove of Donovan but Story forced him at second to end the inning.
The Cardinals struck again in the top of the sixth against Hansel Robles although Gorman struck out swinging to start. O'Neill hit a home run all the way to San Jose and Carlson walked. Bader beat out a roller to third and Knizner walked to load the bases. Hiro Sawamura came in and Edman ripped a base hit to center to score Carlson followed by Bader. Donovan hit a routine grounder to first and Dalbec booted it for an error to reload the bases. Goldschmidt made Dalbec pay with another 2 run single to center and Arenado got a base hit to right to score Donovan. Gorman flied out to center to move Goldschmidt to third and O'Neill walked to reload the bases again. Carlson took strike three to end the inning but the Cards rallied for six runs to put the game out of reach and lead 10-2.
Zack Thompson came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Cordero flied out to center to start. Dalbec grounded out to third and JBJ struck out swinging to end the inning.
Austin Davis came in to pitch the top of the seventh inning and Bader flied out to left to start. Knizner walked but Edman grounded into a double play to end the inning. Plawecki took strike three to start the bottom of the seventh before Duran also watched strike three go by. Devers grounded out to first to end the inning.
Donovan went down hacking to start the top of the eighth before Goldschmidt flied out to center. Arenado walked and Albert Pujols pinch hit for Gorman. Pujols struck out swinging to end the inning. Martinez grounded out to short to start the bottom of the eighth and Bogaerts struck out swinging. Story grounded out to second to end the inning.
Davis got tagged in the top of the ninth as O'Neill got a base hit to left to start. Carlson struck out swinging but Bader got a base hit to right. Knizner hit a ground rule double into the bullpen to score O'Neill but Edman took strike three. Donovan flied out to left to end the inning with the Cards up 11-2.
Ivan Herrera took over behind the plate, Edmundo Sosa took over at third and TJ McFarland came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth. Rob Refnsyder pinch hit for Cordero and got a base hit to left before moving to second on the grounder to short by Dalbec. JBJ grounded out to short to move Rob to third but Plawecki flied out to left to end the game. The Cards had won it 11-2.
Cards win
Nice going Jackass
Rob Refsnyder singled as a pinch hitter.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless fifth inning.
Jackass of the Night is Hiro Sawamura. He turned a 5-2 game into 10-2 by allowing all three inherited runners to score and two of his own.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Rob Refsnyder singled as a pinch hitter.
Kevin Plawecki walked twice in four plate appearances and scored a run.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless fifth inning.
The Bad:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
JD Martinez was 0 for 4.
Kutter Crawford allowed 4 runs in 4 innings of work to take the loss.
Anthony Robles was charged with 4 runs in just 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Trevor Story was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Franchy Cordero was 0 for 2 but walked.
Bobby Dalbec was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi but struck out and made a big error.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Austin Davis allowed a run in 3 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
Some days just aren't yours and this was one of them for the Red Sox. This was their first ass kicking in almost 3 weeks as they got dominated on both sides of the ball. Crawford, Sawamura and Robles got their brains beat in and the offense only had 5 hits against a team they should have competed better against. Hell, not that they were going to score much anyway but if Sawamura and Dalbec were better in the sixth inning they might have had a chance. The good news is the Kutter Crawford experiment is pretty much over as the Sox may turn to Josh Winckowski and a now healthy Connor Seabold as long as Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock are out. Rumors are Chris Sale is just about ready to start his rehab so hopefully we've seen the last of Crawford as a starter. This was only JD Martinez second game where he did absolutely nothing so that shows you just how well he's played this year. The less said about this game, the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 35-31, good for fourth place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon when they take on the Cardinals in the rubber game of the series. Nick Pivetta (6-5) gets the start for Boston against Andre Pallante of St. Louis. The game begins at 1:35 PM at Fenway Park.
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