It was bad news all around as the Boston Bruins were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in Game 6 of their second round NHL playoff series and the Boston Red Sox lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. Sox fans might have jumped the gun when it comes to anointing Brayan Bello (4-2, 3.96 ERA) as the ace of the Red Sox. Bello has been average this season including tonight's miserable start against the Cardinals. Bello got rocked for 5 runs in 4/23 innings to put the Sox in a hole. The Sox did fight back but it was after they got bested once again by Kyle Gibson. The normally reliable Sox bullpen melted down. Cam Booser and Chase Anderson allowed five runs combined with the St. Louis bats pounding out 14 hits and 10 runs. It all added up to the Cards outslugging the sox 10-6 at Busch Stadium.
Gibson got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren Duran walked to start. Wilyer Abreu forced Duran at second but Connor Wong got a base hit to left. Rafael Devers grounded into a double play to end the inning. The Cards wasted no time getting to Bello in the bottom of the first inning. Brendan Donovan ripped a ground rule double down the left field line and Lars Nootbaar hit a home run all the way to Central America to put the Cards on top. Paul Goldschmidt struck out swinging but Nolan Arenado got a base hit to center but Alec Burleson grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Cards up 2-0.
The Sox struck back in the top of the second as Tyler O'Neill got a base hit to center to start. Dominic Smith doubled to left but Garrett Cooper struck out swinging. Vaughn Grissom struck out swinging but David Hamilton tripled down the right field line to tie the game. Duran walked and stole second but Abreu flied out to center to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
The Cards answered in the bottom of the second as Ivan Herrera lined out to short to start. Nolan Gorman hit a home run all the way to Finland to put St. Louis back on top. Masyn Winn grounded out to second and Michael Siani flied out to right to end the inning with the Cards up 3-2.
The Sox fought back in the top of the third as Wong grounded out to third to start. Devers then bashed his seventh home run of the season to tie the game. O'Neill flied out to center and Smith grounded out to first to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
Donovan struck out swinging to start the bottom of the third before Nootbaar grounded out to second. Grissom booted a grounder by Goldschmidt but Arenado popped up to short to end the inning.
Cooper grounded out to third to open the top of the fourth before Grissom struck out swinging. Hamilton grounded out to second to end the inning. The Cards went up for good in the bottom of the fourth as Burleson hit a home run all the way to Rome to start. Herrera took strike three, Gorman struck out swinging and Winn grounded out to second to end the inning with the Cards up 4-3.
Duran got a base hit to center to start the top of the fifth but Abreu hit into a double play. Wong got a base hit to right but Devers forced him at second to end the inning. The Cards finally knocked out Bello in the bottom of the fifth as Siani grounded out to first to start. Donovan doubled to left but Nootbaar flied out to center to move Donovan to third. Goldschmidt singled to center to score Donovan and Sox manager Alex Cora finally yanked Bello. Brayan was batting practice, allowing 5 runs in 4 2/3 innings off 7 hits including 3 home runs. Cam Booser was brought in and Arenado singled to center to move Goldschmidt to third. Burleson flied out to left to end the inning with the Cards up 5-3.
O'Neill flied out to left to start the top of the sixth before Smith flied out to center. Cooper flied out to center as well to end the inning. The Cards got another run in the bottom of the sixth as Herrera singled to left to start. Gorman flied out to center but Winn hit a home run all the way to Wales to increase the lead. Siani struck out swinging and Donovan popped up to first to end the inning with the Cards up 7-3.
The Sox did fight back in the top of the seventh as Grissom walked to start. Hamilton doubled to left to chase Gibson and JoJo Romero came in to pitch. Duran grounded out to short to score Grissom and Rob Refsnyder pinch hit for Abreu. Refsnyder struck out swinging but Wong doubled to right to score Hamilton. With a chance to tie the game...Devers grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox down 7-5.
Chase Anderson came in to take a beating in the bottom of the seventh as Nootbaar walked to start. Goldschmidt got a base hit to center but Arenado flied out to left. Burleson got a base hit to center to score Nootbaar and Herrera got a base hit to center to score Goldschmidt. Gorman struck out swinging and Winn forced Herrera at second to end the inning with the Cards up 9-5.
Cards pour it on
Andrew Kittredge came in to pitch the top of the eighth and O'Neill grounded out to second to start. Smith walked but was forced at second by Cooper. Grissom got a base hit to right but Hamilton lined out to left to end the inning. The Cards got another run in the bottom of the eighth as Siani grounded out to first to start. Donovan grounded out to second but Nootbaar walked. Goldschmidt walked and Arenado got a base hit to center to score Nootbaar. Burleson popped up to third to end the inning with the Cards up 10-5.
Arenado with another rbi
John King came in to close out the top of the ninth and Duran grounded back to the mound to start. Refsnyder hit a roller to King who threw the ball away for an error to allow Rob to reach second. Wong got a base hit to center to move Refsnyder to third and he scored when Devers beat out a double play ball. O'Neill lined out to center to end the game. The Cards had won the game 10-6.
Cardinals win
Jackass Bello
Rob Refsnyder was 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 5 but hit a home run and drove in two total runs.
Jackass of the Night is Brayan Bello. He put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of by allowing 5 runs off three home runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, a stolen base and an rbi.
Rob Refsnyder was 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Connor Wong was 4 for 5 with an rbi.
Dominic Smith was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Vaughn Grissom was 1 for 3 with a walk and a runs scored.
David Hamilton was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
The Bad:
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 3.
Garrett Cooper was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Cam Booser allowed 2 runs in 1 1/3 innings.
Chase Anderson allowed 3 runs in 2 innings.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 5 but hit a home run and drove in two total runs.
Tyler O'Neill was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Finally the Sox scored more than five runs and it just happens to be in a game where the pitching completely fails against a sub .500 team like the Cardinals. The Cards couldn't miss getting 14 total hits and Bello didn't look good at all. The problem is Sox fans are hyping him up to be the next Sox ace similar to Felix Doubront back in 2012 only to find out in 2013 that he wasn't. Losing to Kyle Gibson is a tradition worse than bellowing Sweet Caroline trailing in the eighth inning at Fenway Park. At least the offense looks like it can score a run now, that's one silver lining to the game. Devers got his power stroke back and Wong went 4 for 5. Other than that, the less said about this game the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 22-23, 8.5 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to rebound tomorrow night against the Cardinals when Kutter Crawford (2-2) takes the hill against Miles Mikolas of St. Louis. The game begins at 7:15 PM Eastern time at Busch Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment