The good news was the Boston Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of their second round NBA playoff series but the Boston Red Sox lost to the Atlanta Braves. The story of the game was the incompetent offense and defense displayed by the Red Sox. The Sox went 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base. Meanwhile Red Sox manager Alex Cora yanked Kutter Crawford after just 87 pitches and six innings. In the bottom of the eighth, Marcell Ozuna and Orlando Arcia drove in two runs against Justin Slaten (2-1, 1.80 ERA) to put the Braves ahead. The Sox failed to score against Raisel Iglesias and the Braves had won the game 4-2 at Truist Park.
Reynaldo Lopez got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren Duran doubled to left to start. Rafael Devers popped up to first and Tyler O'Neill struck out swinging, but Wilyer Abreu walked. Vaughn Grissom grounded out to third to end the inning. Crawford got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Ronald Acuna Jr beat out a roller to third to start. Acuna Jr was thrown out at second trying to steal and Ozzie Albies struck out swinging. Austin Riley flied out to left to end the inning.
Dominic Smith grounded back to the mound to start the top of the second and Garrett Cooper struck out swinging. Reese McGuire got a base hit to right and Ceddanne Rafaela singled to right but Duran flied out to right to end the inning. Matt Olson struck out swinging to begin the bottom of the second but Marcell Ozuna walked. Orlando Arcia grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Devers got a base hit to left to start the top of the third but O'Neill grounded into a double play. Abreu grounded out to first to end the inning. The Braves struck first in the bottom of the third as Michael Harris popped up to third to start. Travis d'Arnaud was hit with a pitch and Jarred Kelenic hit a home run all the way to Cuba to put the Braves up. Acuna Jr flied out to right but Albies walked. riley singled to left but Olson flied out to left to end the inning with the Braves ahead 2-0.
Grissom got a base hit to center to start the top of the fourth but Smith flied out to left. Cooper lined out to right and McGuire popped up to first to end the inning. Ozuna took strike three to begin the bottom of the fourth and Arcia went down hacking. Harris lined out to short to end the inning.
Rafaela grounded out to second to start the top of the fifth but Duran tripled into the right field corner. Naturally Devers and O'Neill both struck out swinging to end the inning. d'Arnaud took stirke three to start the bottom of the fifth but Kelenic got a base hit to right. Acuna lined out to left and Albies flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox rallied in the top of the sixth as Abreu walked to start. Arcia booted a grounder by Grissom for an error but Smith struck out swinging. Cooper walked to load the bases and McGuire walked to score Abreu. That was it for Lopez as Aaron Bummer came in to pitch and Rafaela lined a base hit off his leg to score Grissom. Duran and Devers both struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Crawford returned for one last inning in the bottom of the sixth and Riley flied out to center to start. Olson got a base hit down the third base line but Ozuna was rung up for strike three. Arcia popped up to third to end the inning. As usual, Cora pulled Crawford early after just 87 pitches, however Kutter allowed just 5 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs in his outing.
Good work by Crawford
The Sox blew another rally in the top of the seventh with Jesse Chavez now on the mound. O'Neill doubled to left to begin but Abreu flied out to left. Grissom flied out to right but Smith walked. Cooper flied out to right to end the inning. Brennan Bernardino came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Harris popped up to third to start. d'Arnaud flied out to right and old buddy Adam Duvall pinch hit for Kelenic. Duvall walked and Sox manager Alex Cora lifted Bernardino for Greg Weissert. Weissert got Acuna to ground into a force to end the inning.
Joe Jimenez came in to pitch the top of the eighth and McGuire flied out to left to start. Rafaela struck out swinging and Olson dropped a pop up by Duran. Devers was intentionally walked but O'Neill got robed of extra bases on a great catch by Duvall to end the inning. Justin Slaten came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Albies walked to start. Riley got a base hit to center but Olson struck out swinging. Ozuna then got a base hit up the middle to score Albies. Riley moved to third on the hit and he scored when Arcia beat out a double play ball. Harris flied out to left to end the inning with the Braves ahead 4-2.
Raisel Iglesias came in to close out the top of the ninth and Abreu struck out swinging to begin. Grissom grounded out to third and Smith grounded out to short to end the game. The Braves had won the game 4-2.
Braves win
Justin Jackass
Reese McGuire was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Jackass of the Night is Justin Slaten. He allowed the go-ahead runs to score in the eighth inning.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 2 for 5.
Reese McGuire was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Kutter Crawford tossed 6 innings of 2 run ball allowing 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out six.
Brennan Bernardino got the first two outs of the seventh inning.
Greg Weissert got the final out of the seventh inning.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Tyler O'Neill was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked twice and scored a run.
Vaughn Grissom was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Dominic Smith was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked.
Garrett Cooper was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Final Thoughts:
You're not going to win too many games going 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position and leaving 13 men on base. Its going to take time for Smith, Cooper and Grissom to get adjusted but until then this is going to be a BAD offense. The good news is fresh troops are on the way as Brayan Bello claims he felt no pain during his rehab assignment in Portland while both Romy Gonzalez and Nick Pivetta are expected to be activated for tomorrow. Gonzalez is an upgrade over Zack Short (who might be gone) and Pivetta will push one of the bottom of the pile relievers like Chase Anderson or Naoyuki Uwasawa back to Worcester. The Sox need to get as healthy as they can because in the era of the third wild card, a 90 win team is right there in contention. Hopefully the Sox will be better with runners on base in the next game because they were AWFUL tonight. The Sox now face an old friend tomorrow night in Chris Sale for the Braves and Nick Pivetta (1-1, 0.82) comes off the Injured List to make the start for the Red Sox. The game begins at 7:20 PM at Truist Park.
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