Remember that episode of Supernatural where people that made deals with the devil had ten years to enjoy it before the demons came to collect? Well whatever devil John Henry made his deal with in 2003 for 15 years of success has come to collect as the Boston Red Sox embarrassed themselves again in today's Patriots Day game against the Cleveland Guardians. Once again Sox manager Alex Cora pulled a starter early and the team fell apart directly after. Kutter Crawford was pulled after 5 2/3 shutout innings and things fell apart in the seventh. Greg Weissert gave up a 2 run homer to pinch hitter Will Brennan and Tyler O'Neill collided with Rafael Devers to knock Tyler out of the game. The Guardians then pounced on bad defense to score four runs off Josh Winckowski and Chase Anderson. Meanwhile Xzavion Curry and the Cleveland bullpen held the Sox to no runs and just three pitiful singles. It all added up to a disgraceful 6-0 win by the Guardians at Fenway Park. How many runs did the Sox score on Patriots Day, Dean Wormer?
Crawford got the ball in the top of the first and Steven Kwan took an 88 mph cutter right down the middle for strike three to start. Andres Gimenez struck out swinging on an 87 mph cutter and Wilyer Abreu made a jumping catch at the right field wall to rob Jose Ramirez of a home run to end the inning.
Crawford appreciates the effort
Curry got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jarren Duran grounded out to second to start. Rafael Devers popped up to center and Tyler O'Neill ripped a base hit to left. Triston Casas grounded out to short to end the inning.
Josh Naylor popped up to center to start the top of the second and Bo Naylor took strike three right down middle. Tyler Freeman flied out to left to end the inning. Masataka Yoshida struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Abreu struck out swinging on a pitch in the dirt. Enmanuel Valdez grounded out to short to end the inning.
Estevan Florial struck out swinging to start the top of the third but Gabriel Arias tripled off the centerfield wall. Brayan Rocchio grounded out to second to hold the runner at third and Kwan grounded out to short to end the inning. Reese McGuire took strike three down the middle to start the bottom of the third before Ceddanne Rafaela flied out to center. Duran dumped a base hit to right but Devers lined out to center to end the inning,
Gimenez lined out to a running Duran to start the top of the fourth before Ramirez grounded out to short. Josh Naylor popped up to center to end the inning. O'Neill flied out to center to start the bottom of the fourth before Casas flied out to right. Yoshida popped up to left to end the inning.
Bo Naylor took strike three on a sweeper to start the top of the fifth before Freeman struck out swinging on a slider in the dirt. Florial grounded out to short to end the inning. Abreu walked to start the bottom of the fifth but Valdez flied out to center. Abreu swiped second before moving to third on the grounder to first by McGuire. Rafaela flied out to the left field warning track to end the inning.
The Guadians finally got to Crawford in the top of the sixth as Arias ripped a base hit to center to start. Duran made a leaping catch at the bullpen wall to rob Rocchio of a double. Kwan flied out to left and as usual that was it for Crawford early. He pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings allowing just 2 hits and no walks while striking out six. Brennan Bernardino came in and Gimenez lined out to a diving Duran to end the inning.
Tim Herrin came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Duran grounded out to second to start. Devers just watched strike three go by on the outside corner but O'Neill walked. Casas popped up to left to end the inning.
Jose Ramirez pulled a Hanley Ramirez and swung and missed at strike three while getting hit with a pitch to start the top of the seventh. Josh Naylor fisted a bloop single to left and Bo Naylor moved his brother to second with a grounder to second and that was it for Bernardino. Greg Weissert came in to pitch to pinch hitter Will Brennan and naturally Brennan hit a home run all the way to Idaho to put the O's up for good. Things went from bad to worse as Devers collided with O'Neill on a pop up by Florial, knocking each other out and busting O'Neill open. Both staggered off the field and the Sox trailed 2-0.
The wind were out of the sails as Yoshida grounded out weekly to first to start the bottom of the seventh. Abreu took strike three and Valdez was rung up for strike three to end the inning.
David Hamilton replaced O'Neill after he was knocked goofy and Josh Winckowski took over on the mound for the top of the eighth. Arias struck out swinging but Rocchio walked. Rocchio stole second and moved to third on the base hit to flare to left by Kwan. Gimenez hit a bullet to Casas then Ramirez hit a ball off the glove of Casas into left field. Rocchio scored and Abreu had Ramirez dead at second....if he didn't throw the ball in the dirt and Hamilton failed to catch it. Kwan ended up scoring on the error and Fenway erupted in boos. Josh Naylor lined out to Casas to end the inning with the Sox down 4-0.
Nick Sandlin came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and McGuire grounded out to second to start. Rafaela flied out to the centerfield wall and Duran looked at strike three to end the inning.
The comedy of errors continued in the top of the ninth with Chase Anderson now on the mound. Bo Naylor hit a line drive to Abreu who looked confused and let the ball drop in for an easily catchable single. Brennan hit a double play ball to Valdez who flipped to Hamilton who threw the ball directly in the dirt for a "force". Florial dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Naylor to second and Arias jacked a ball off the Monster. Duran threw to second and Hamilton dropped the ball allowing Arias to take second, scoring Brennan. Arias stole third easily and Rocchio punched a single to left to score him. Kwan grounded out to second to end the inning with the Guardians up 6-0.
Eli Morgan came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Arias threw high on a grounder by Devers for a "single" to start. Hamilton struck out swinging on a fastball right down the middle, Casas flied out to the left field warning track and Yoshida popped up to left to end the game. The Guardians won the game 6-0.
Jackass of the Night is Greg Weissert. He allowed the backbreaking home run to Brennan that opened the floodgates.
The Good:
Tyler O'Neill was 1 for 2 with a walk before leaving the game.
Kutter Crawford tossed 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball allowing 2 hits and no walks while striking out six.
The Bad:
David Hamilton was 0 for 1 at the plate and couldn't field at all.
Triston Casas was 0 for 4.
Masataka Yoshida was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Enmanuel Valdez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Reese McGuire was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 3.
Brennan Bernardino took the loss by getting charged with a run in a full inning of work.
Josh Winckowski allowed 2 runs in an inning of work.
Chase Anderson allowed 2 runs in an inning of work.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts and an error but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Just when you think things couldn't get any worse, they do. Not only did the Sox defense once again have no idea what they were doing but they couldn't even hit the ball hard. They had 2 bloop hits and a "single" by Devers in the ninth but otherwise accomplished absolutely nothing again. The entire team except for O'Neill and Duran look lost at the plate and its not going to get any better with Trevor Story out for the season. Speaking of O'Neill, there's no telling how long he's going to be out after getting knocked flat by Devers. That's just on the offensive side of the ball, defensively they are by far the worst defense in the league for the second year in a row. I'll get to the main reason why in a second but a 2-0 game turned into 6-0 in a blink of an eye because nobody can catch or throw. No team or pitcher can win under defense that's THIS bad and basically it all falls on the manager. Alex Cora simply cannot manage the Red Sox this season. How many games is he going to pull the starter early only for the bullpen to blow it this year? How many times is he going to play guys out of position then wonder why they can't field? He took Crawford out when he was pitching a shutout and the bullpen allowed six runs in the next three innings. Even with the bad defense, Weissert gave up a jack to an ice cold pinch hitter and Anderson/Winckowski clearly had nothing. Now if you want to go above Cora's head, let's do that too. Breslow is the one who put this roster together of 4A players playing out of position because of freak accidents to Story, Nick Pivetta, Lucas Giolito, Rob Refsnyder and Vaughn Grissom. Still, not having enough depth is on your GM and when you have guys like Chase Anderson pitching and Abreu/Hamilton/Valdez/Rafaela looking like deer in the headlights. If you want to go above Breslow's head as well, you can do that too. John Henry went cheap the past few years and the franchise crumbled like a graham cracker. CEO Sam Kennedy admitted publicly Breslow was on a "budget" and moneyball only works if you have high end talent.....which they don't have. We're only 17 games into the season and Sox fans are already tired of the product on the field. 33,000 people packed Fenway today and paid the highest prices in the league to witness THAT. As the saying goes, "Zero f*cks were given as money as made". Henry is counting the gate receipts and laughing maniacally as we speak. Its going to be a long year for sure. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow night against the Guardians when Garrett Whitlock (1-0, 1.26 ERA) goes up against Tanner Bibee of Cleveland. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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