Saturday, May 25, 2024

Brewers Five Run Third Sinks Sox (5/25/24)

Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. The Pablo Reyes era has come to the end as he was sent to the New York Mets for a bag of cash....probably the same bag they sent for Zack Short. Either way the emergence of David Hamilton has made Reyes expendable. See you on the other side, Reyes.
                                                                   Bye bye Reyes

The good news was the Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals but the bad news was the Boston Red Sox slipped back to .500 with another embarrassing loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. For some reason the Sox just can't seem to get it going at home this season and lost yet another series. Jared Koenig became just the third pitcher in ML history to start consecutive games and the Brewers bullpen held the hapless Sox bats hitless for 7 innings. The Brewers did most of their damage in the third inning when they hammered Nick Pivetta (2-3, 4.20 ERA for five runs to put the game away early. The Sox did rally for two runs in the seventh but Milwaukee got the insurance run in the eighth against Zack Kelly. The Sox rallied in the ninth but it wasn't enough as the Brewers won the game 6-3 at Fenway Park.
                                                                       Sad fan

Pivetta got the ball in the top of the first inning and Brice Turang took strike three to start. William Contreras struck out swinging and Christian Yelich lined out to second to end the inning. Jared Koenig got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jarren Duran struck out swinging to start. Connor Wong's bunt attempt was snuffed out by Koenig and Tyler O'Neill took strike three to end the inning.

William Contreras doubled to start the top of the second before Jake Bauers flied out to center. Gary Sanchez walked and Sal Frelick singled to left to load the bases. Joey Ortiz popped up to short and O'Neill made a jumping catch at the wall to rob Blake Perkins to end the inning. Rafael Devers struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second and that was it for Koenig. Colin Rea came in to pitch and Romy Gonzalez struck out swinging. Wilyer Abreu flied out to left to end the inning.

Turang flied out to right to start the top of the third before Contreras struck out swinging. Yelich hit a ground rule double down the left field line and stole third on the Adames walk. Bauers got a base hit to center to score Yelich to put the Brewers up for good early. Sanchez got a base hit to left to score Adames and Frelick got a base hit to left to score Bauers. Ortiz doubled to center to clear the bases and ice the game. Perkins lined out to left to end the inning with the game all but over with the Brewers up 5-0.
                                                               Brewers ice it early

The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the third although Dominic Smith walked to start. Ceddanne Rafaela grounded out to short to move Smith to second and Hamilton walked. Duran flied out to center and Wong lined out to center as well to end the inning.

Turang walked to start the top of the fourth but Contreras popped up to second. That was it for Pivetta as Sox manager Alex Cora yanked him after allowing 5 runs in just 3 1/3 innings, awful. Cam Booser came in to pitch and Turang promptly stole second. Yelich grounded back to the mound to move Turang to third but Adames struck out swinging to end the inning.
                                             "Why do you mock me, lord??" - Pivetta

O'Neill took strike three to start the bottom of the fourth before Devers grounded out to first. Gonzalez lined out to left to end the inning.

Bauers got a base hit to right to begin the top of the fifth but Sanchez struck out swinging. Frelick took strike three but Ortiz singled to right. Perkins lined out to center to end the inning. Abreu lined out to right to start the bottom of the fifth before Smith drew a walk. Rafaela flied out to right and Hamilton grounded back to the mound to end the inning.

Zack Kelly came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Turang struck out swinging to start. Contreras doubled to left but Yelich grounded out to short to move William to third. Adames grounded out to third to end the inning. Duran lined out to right to start the bottom of the sixth before Wong flied out to right. O'Neill flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox still didn't have a hit yet.

Bauers grounded out to second to start the top of the seventh before Sanchez went down hacking. Frelick grounded out to first to end the inning. Finally the Sox woke up in the bottom of the seventh when Devers doubled to right to begin. Gonzalez lined out to right and Abreu doubled to right to score Devers. Smith lined out to left but Rafaela got a base hit to right to score Abreu. Hamilton grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox down 5-2.
                                                     Sox get on the board

As usual, once the Sox scored the other team immediately returned the favor in the top of the eighth with Rob Refsnyder in for O'Neill. Ortiz flied out to center and Kelly snuffed out Perkins' bunt attempt, but Turang hit a home run all the way to New Hampshire to increase the lead. Contreras lined out to right to end the inning with the Brewers up 6-2.
                                                          "This sucks" - Wong

Hoby Milner came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Duran grounded out to second to start. Wong grounded out to short and Refsnyder grounded out to short as well to end the inning.

Greg Weissert came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Yelich walked to start. Adames grpunded into a double play and Bauers flied out to left to end the inning. Somehow the Sox rallied in the bottom of the ninth as Devers singled to center to start. Gonzalez lined out to right and Garrett Cooper pinch hit for Abreu. Cooper took strike three and Devers took second on defensive indifference. Smith walked to chase Milner as Trevor Megill came in to face Rafaela. Ceddanne responded with a base hit to left to score Devers and put Smith at third. With the game on the line....Hamilton struck out swinging to end the game. The Brewers had won it 6-3.
                                                         Brewers win


Jackass of The Night is Nick Pivetta. He got rocked for 5 runs in 3 1/3 innings to put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of.
                                                   Pivetta The Jackass


The Good:

Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.

Wilyer Abreu was 1 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.

Dominic Smith walked three times in four plate appearances.

Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis.

Cam Booser tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

Greg Weissert tossed a scoreless ninth inning.



The Bad:

Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.

Connor Wong was 0 for 4.

Tyler O'Neill was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.

Rob Refsnyder was 0 for 1.

Romy Gonzalez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.

Garrett Cooper struck out as a pinch hitter.



The Ugly:

David Hamilton was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.

Zack Kelly allowed a run in 3 innings of work.




Final Thoughts:

As the season continues to get worse, the Sox seem to invent new ways to lose. Pivetta getting rocked is going to happen sometimes but to be utterly dominated by the Brewers bullpen two days in a row is embarrassing. The worst is the bottom of the order has been a black hole all season but at least Rafaela got a couple hits in this one. Another thing is what was Cora thinking pinch hitting Cooper for Abreu? Abreu is one of their only power threats and Cooper hasn't performed well at all. Naturally he struck out and the at-bat looks awful. As usual, fans at Fenway don't care as long as they get to bellow Sweet Caroline and take selfies. The season is only 52 games old and already people want it to end. The loss dropped the Sox to 26-26, 10 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to avoid the series sweep tomorrow afternoon when Tanner Houck faces Tobias Myers of Milwaukee. The game begins at 1:35 PM at Fenway Park.

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