With all the injuries the Boston Red Sox have suffered, the only thing keeping them afloat have been the starting pitching. Well tonight the starting pitching failed as well. Kutter Crawford (1-1, 1.35 ERA) looked mortal for the first time all season as the Chicago Cubs pounded him for 10 hits and 4 runs in six innings. The Cubs jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Tyler O'Neill hit a home run. That was the highlight as Crawford departed after allowing a fourth run and Joely Rodriguez allowed 3 runs by himself in the seventh inning to put the game on ice. Crawford got pounded and the AAA lineup failed to score as the Cubs had won the game 7-1 at Fenway Park.
Crawford the ball in the top of the first inning and Nico Hoerner who beat out a roller to second to start. Mike Tauchman flied out to center, Ian Happ took strike three and Christopher forced Hoerner at second to end the inning. Imanaga got the ball in the bottom of the first as Jarren Duran lined out to him to start. Tyler O'Neill grounded out to short. Rob Refsnyder struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Cubs struck first in the top of the second as Michael Busch doubled to center to start. Dansby Swanson got a base hit to center and Matt Mervis singled to right to score Busch, putting Chicago up for good. Miguel Amaya hit a bullet to Bobby Dalbec who doubled off Mervis for a double play. Pete Crow-Armstrong originally ruled as being hit with a pitch but Sox manager Alex Cora appealed that he wasn't actually hit. The good news was the umpire ruled he wasn't hit, the bad news was Armstrong ripped a base hit to left to score Swanson to ice the game. Hoerner popped up to second to end the inning but the Cubs were up for good 2-0.
The Sox laid down in the bottom of the second as Rafael Devers struck out swinging to start. Connor Wong was retired on a squibber in front of the plate and Pablo Reyes grounded out to third to end the inning.
Tauchman struck out swinging to start the top of the third and Happ struck out swinging. Morel doubled to center an Busch struck out swinging to end the inning. Bobby Dalbec struck out swinging to start the bottom of the third before Enmanuel Valdez struck out swinging as well. Ceddanne Rafaela flied out to right to end the inning.
The bungling Sox appeared again in the top of the fourth as Swanson singled to left to start. Mervis flied out to center and Amaya hit a routine grounder to Reyes who spiked the ball like a football for an error to move Swanson to third. Armstrong then scored Swanson with a safety squeeze to increase the lead. Hoerner grounded out to short to end the inning with the Cubs up 3-0.
The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fourth although Duran's bunt attempt was snuffed out. O'Neill belted his eighth home run of the year to cut the lead and Refsnyder walked. Devers singled to right but was forced at second by Wong. Reyes lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox down 3-1.
The Cubs took the run scored personally in the top of the fifth as Tauchman singled to center to start. Happ singled to right to move Tauchman to third but Morel popped up to first. Busch hit a sac fly to left to score Tauchman and Swanson grounded out to second to end the inning with the Cubs ahead 4-1.
Dalbec struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fifth before Valdez flied out to center. Swanson threw a grounder by Rafaela away for an error to put Ceddanne at second but Duran flied out to right to end the inning.
Mervis flied out to center to start the top of the sixth before Amaya flied out to left. Armstrong singled to center but Hoerner grounded out to short to end the inning. That was it for Crawford who allowed 4 runs in 6 innings off TEN hits.
O'Neill tried to start a rally with a base hit down the third base line but Refsnyder popped up to second. Devers took strike three and Reyes went down hacking to end the inning.
Joely Rodriguez came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Tauchman walked to start. A wild pitch moved Mike to second but Happ grounded out to third. Tauchman stole third and scored on the Morel base hit to left. Busch reached on a swinging bunt in front of the plate but Swanson struck out swinging. Patrick Wisdom pinch hit for Mervis and hit a double to the Monster to score both runners but Amaya grounded out to first to end the inning with the Cubs up 7-1.
Somehow Dalbec got a base hit down the third base line to start the bottom of the seventh but Valdez flied out to right. That was it for Imanaga as Keegan Thompson came in to face Rafaela. Ceddanne lined out to second and Duran struck out swinging to end the inning.
Zack Kelly came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Armstrong flied out to center to start. Horner grounded out to first and Tauchman grounded out to first to end the inning. O'Neill popped up to first to start the bottom of the eighth but Refsnyder walked. Devers grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Happ flied out to left to start the top of the ninth and Morel took strike three. Busch got a base hit to left but Swanson popped up to short to end the inning. Nick Madrigal came in to play third in the bottom of the ninth and Wong flied out to center to start. Reyes singled to left but Dalbec struck out swinging. Valdez pounded a ground rule double down the right field line but Rafaela lined out to center to end the game. The Cubs had won it 7-1.
Jackass of The Night is Joely Rodriguez. He allowed 3 runs in the seventh inning to put the game completely out of reach.
The Good:
Tyler O'Neill was 2 for 4 with a home run.
Rob Refsnyder walked twice in four plate appearances.
Zack Kelly tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Ceddanne Rafaela was0 for 4.
Kutter Crawford took the loss by allowing 4 runs in 6 innings of work. He allowed 10 hits and struck out four.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Connor Wong was just 1 for 4.
Pablo Reyes was just 1 for 4 with an error and a strikeout.
Bobby Dalbec was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Enmanuel Valdez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Final Thoughts:
Another dreary loss in a game that was over before the second inning was over. The lack of offense and defense is appalling but tonight the pitching let them down. The worst part is there's nothing the Sox can do about it. Most of the lineup doesn't belong in the big leagues but injuries have AAA backups starting in MLB. Joely Rodriguez also has no business on the team but again, the 40 man roster is decimated. Just have to hang on until some of the guys that can come back, do. In the era of the third wild card where you can make the playoffs with a mediocre record, the Sox are not out of anything yet. Hopefully Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock and Vaughn Grissom come back soon. One last thing to squawk about is Masataka Yoshida was 6 for 11 against Imanaga in Japan and he was benched for tonight's game. Not that he was going to go 4 for 4 with 4 home runs but the fact he had success wasn't a good look for Sox manager Alex Cora. The grumbling is that Cora doesn't want to play him because he's not a good defender and isn't a true power threat as DH. Sox are paying 18 million dollars for a pinch hitter, gotta love it. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon against the Cubs in the second game of this set when Josh Winckowski (1-1, 4.20 ERA) takes on Ben Brown of Chicago. The game begins at 4:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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