All the injuries the Boston Red Sox have suffered reared it's ugly head in today's game against the Cleveland Guardians. Chase Anderson (0-1, 5.52 ERA) was forced to start today's game due to injuries to the rotation and he left trailing 5-0 mostly due to a grand slam from Jose Ramirez. The depleted Sox bats fought bravely, erasing most of the deficit to pull within 5-4 going into the eighth inning. Then the bats went quiet and two throwing errors by Reese McGuire led to an insurance run scoring. Emmanuel Chase slammed the door and the Guardians took 2 of 3 in Cleveland 6-4 at Progressive Field.
Tyrone McKenzie got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren Duran took strike three to start. Rafael Devers got a base hit to right but Rob Refsnyder struck out swinging. Wilyer Abreu popped up to third to end the inning. Anderson got the ball in the bottom of the first and immediately was docked a ball because Abreu and Refsnyder went to the wrong parts of the outfield. It didn't matter as Steven Kwan popped up to short, but Tyler Freeman walked. Jose Ramirez got a base hit to right but Josh Naylor popped up to short. David Fry grounded out to third to end the inning.
Pablo Reyes led off the top of the second by drawing a walk but Bobby Dalbec struck out swinging. David Hamilton dumped a pop up base hit in no mans land between short and center before Reese McGuire walked. Ceddanne Rafaela struck out swinging and Duran went down hacking again to end the inning. Andres Gimenez flied out to right to start the bottom of the second but Will Brennan hit a home run all the way into Lake Eerie to put the Guardians up for good. Gabriel Arias was hit with a pitch but Brayan Rocchio lined out to third. Arias stole second and Kwan walked. Freeman walked to load the bases and Ramirez pounded a grand slam to ice the game already. That was it for Anderson who allowed 5 runs in 1 2/3 innings. Brennan Bernardino came in and got Naylor to fly out to center to end the inning with the Guardians up 5-0.
The Sox answered in the top of the third as Devers lined a base hit to left to start. Refsnyder tripled into the left field corner and scored on the Abreu sac fly to left. Reyes struck out swinging but Dalbec singled off the glove of Arias. Hamilton grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox down 5-2.
Fry walked to start the bottom of the third but Gimenez grounded into a double play. Brennan doubled to center and Arias flied out to right to end the inning.
McGuire singled to left to start the top of the fourth but Rafaela grounded into a double play. Duran earned the hat trick by striking out swinging to end the inning. Cam Booser came in to pitch the bottom of the fourth and Rocchio struck out swinging to begin. Kwan caught the Sox infield asleep with a bunt single to Hamilton but Freeman flied out to center. Ramirez flied out to center to end the inning.
Tim Herrin came in to pitch the top of the fifth and Devers singled to right to start. Refsnyder got a base hit to center but Abreu lined out to right. Nick Sandlin came in to face Reyes but Sox manager Alex Cora pinch hit Masataka Yoshida. Yoshida grounded back to the mound to move the runners over and Enmanuel Valdez pinch hit for Dalbec. Valdez struck out swinging to end the inning. Connor Wong took over for Yoshida to start the bottom of the fifth and Naylor flied out to right to start. Fry walked but Gimenez forced him at second. Brennan flied out to left to end the inning.
The Sox rallied in the top of the sixth as Hamilton was plunked to start. McGuire singled to right and both runners moved over on a wild pitch. Rafaela grounded out to second but Hamilton scored and McGuire went to third. Hunter Gaddis came in to face Duran and Jarren got a base hit to left to score McGuire. Devers flied out to right and Refsnyder grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox down 5-4.
Greg Weissert came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Arias grounded out to short to start. Rocchio dropped down a bunt that fooled Weissert for a single then stole second. Kwan hit a bullet to Duran who doubled off Rocchio at second to end the inning.
Scott Barlow came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Abreu grounded out to second to start. Wong grounded out to third and Valdez struck out swinging to end the inning. Chris Martin came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Freeman greeted him with a base hit to right. Freeman got thrown out at second trying to steal but Ramirez singled to center. Ramirez took off for second base and McGuire threw the ball over the first baseman's head for no reason for an error, Jose moving to third. Naylor was intentionally walked and he took off for second and McGuire spiked the ball like a football for another error to score Ramirez. Naylor went to third and tried for home on a fly ball to Abreu by Fry. Abreu gunned down Naylor at home to end the inning but the Guardians were up 6-4.
Cade Smith came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Hamilton lined out to center to start. McGuire watched strike three go by and Rafaela went down hacking to end the inning. Kenley Jansen came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Gimenez struck out swinging to open. Brennan grounded out to short and Arias grounded out to second to end the inning.
Emmanuel Chase came in to close out the top of the ninth and Duran grounded out to second to start. Devers struck out swinging and Refsnyder popped up to third to end the game. The Guardians had won it 6-4.
Jackass of The Night is Chase Anderson. He gave up the grand slam that put the game out of reach.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 3 for 5 with a run scored.
Rob Refsnyder was 2 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.
Bobby Dalbec was 1 for 2.
David Hamilton was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch and a run scored.
Pablo Reyes walked in two plate appearances.
Brennan Bernardino tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Cam Booser tossed 2 scoreless innings.
Greg Weissert pitched a scoreless inning.
Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Masataka Yoshida was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Connor Wong was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Enmanuel Valdez was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
Reese McGuire was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored but committed two costly errors.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Chris Martin allowed an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox were THIS close to pulling off the win of the year but couldn't get it done. Being down 5-0 in the second inning of a bullpen game but coming back to win would be epic, but it didn't happen. Anderson put them in a hole and McGuire poured dirt on it with his errors at the end. There's no shame in the heart they displayed to get back in the game, but being without 3 of their guns came back to gaunt them. Vaughn Grissom walked 3 times in yesterday's Worcester Red Sox game so he might be back soon. All things considered, it was a game that simply slipped away. The less said of it, the better. The Sox now come back home for a three game set with the Chicago Cubs. Japanese sensation Shota Imanaga goes for the Cubs against Kutter Crawford (1-0, 0.66 ERA) of the Red Sox. The game begins tomorrow night at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment