Of all the ways to lose a game, the Boston Red Sox were upended by not only the Minnesota Twins but mother nature as well. Mostly it was due to Alex Cora's pure stupidity but the facts are the Sox were trailing 2-0 when "Big" Dick Fitts escaped a bases loaded jam in the fourth. Despite being down Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman, Sox manager Alex Cora still yanked him after four and after the bullpen tossed nearly 5 full innings yesterday. Alex Bregman put the Sox on top with a 3 run bomb in the fifth but Cora had Jorge Alcala pitch the sixth, where the Twins tied the game. The Sox took the lead in the top of the ninth on a Roman Anthony rbi single, but then the rains came. 90 minutes later Jordan Hicks was thrust into the closer's role and he fell apart. Brooks Lee drove in the winning runs to win the game 5-4 at Target Field.
The Sox blew a rally immediately in the top of the first against Woods-Richardson as Roman Anthony singled off of Simeon. Woods threw the ball away allowing Roman to take second and Anthony took third when Alex Bregman lined one off of Woods as well. Jarren Duran had a 3-0 count but struck out swinging and Trevor Story popped up to left. Masataka Yoshida struck out swinging to end the inning. Fitts got the ball in the bottom of the first and Trevor Larnach lined out to short to begin. Willi Castro lined out to right and Carlos Corrrea lined out to short to end the inning with Fitts throwing just 6 pitches.
Carlos Narvaez grounded out to third to start the top of the second before Wilyer Abreu flied out to left. Ceddanne Rafaela flied out to center to end the inning. Kody Clemens got a base hit to right to begin the bottom of the second but Royce Lewis flied out to center. Matt Wallner struck out swinging and Ty France forced Clemens at second to end the inning.
Abraham "El" Toro grounded out to first to start the top of the third but Anthony walked. Bregman popped up to second and Duran flied out to left to end the inning. Naturally the opposing team scored first as old pal Christian Vazquez walked to start the bottom of the third. DaShawn Keirsey Jr then hit a home run all the way to Seattle to put the Twins up. Larnach walked but Castro forced him at second. Correa grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Twins up 2-0.
Story struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth but Yoshida got a base hit to center. Narvaez lined out to left but Abreu got a base hit to right to move Yoshida to third. Abreu stole second but Rafaela struck out swinging to end the inning. Fitts got in trouble in the bottom of the fourth as Clemens walked to start. Lewis got a base hit to left and Wallner singled to center to load the bases with nobody out. France struck out swinging and Vazquez grounded into a double play to end the inning. Fitts pulled the Houdini but was out after just 4 innings and 2 runs allowed.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fifth as El Toro singled to center to start. Anthony walked and Bregman pulverized his 14th home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Duran doubled to center but Story struck out swinging. Yoshida grounded out to second to move Duran to third and Justin Topa came in to face Narvaez. Carlos grounded out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-2.
Chris Murphy came in to pitch the bottom of the fifth and Keirsey Jr took strike three to start. Larnach grounded out to third but Castro was hit with a pitch. Castro swiped second but Correa struck out swinging to end the inning.
Abreu got a base hit to right to start the top of the sixth and moved to second on the Rafaela grounder to third. Toro grounded out to second to move Abreu to third but Anthony struck out swinging to end the inning. Sox manager Alex Cora struck again in the bottom of the sixth as Clemens flied out to center to start. Lewis got a base hit to center and Harrison Bader pinch hit for Wallner. Rather than let Murphy finish, Cora brought in Jorge Alcala to face him. A wild pitch and a passed ball moved Lewis to third and Bader walked. Bader stole second and France walked to load the bases. Vazquez hit a sac fly to center to score Lewis but Keirsey Jr struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
Griffin Jax came in to dominate the top of the seventh as Bregman struck out swinging to start. Duran struck out swinging and Story grounded out to third to end the inning. Brennan Bernardino came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and old pal Mickey Gasper pinch hit for Larnach. Gasper walked but Castro flied out to left. Correa got a base hit to left and Brooks Lee pinch hit for Clemens. Lee struck out swinging and once again Cora overmanaged by bringing in Greg Weissert. Lewis popped up to first to end the inning.
Brock Stewart came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Yoshida grounded out to second to start. Narvaez struck out swinging but Lewis missed a pop up by Abreu for a "double". Rafaela grounded out to short to end the inning. Bader popped up to first to start the bottom of the eighth before France flied out to center. Vazquez grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Jhoan Duran came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Toro walked to start. David Hamilton ran for Toro and stole second. Hamilton stole third and Anthony drilled a base hit to center to score him to put Boston on top. All of a sudden it started raining and Bregman flied out to center. Anthony was thrown out at second trying to steal and Duran walked. Duran stole second but Story struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 4-3. Then it started raining....and raining....
After nearly a ninety minute long rain delay, Jordan Hicks came in to close out the bottom of the ninth with Romy Gonzalez now in for Anthony. Naturally Keirsey Jr got a base hit to right to start and Gasper was hit with a pitch. Castro was hit with a pitch to load the bases with nobody out, but Correa forced Keirsey Jr at home on a grounder to third. Lee did the honors with a 2 run single to walkoff the Red Sox 5-4.
Jackass of The Night is Jordan Hicks. He got shelled in the ninth inning to lose the game.
The Good:
Roman Anthony was 2 for 3 with 2 walks, an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Alex Bregman was for 5 with a 3 run home run.
Wilyer Abreu was 3 for 4 with a stolen base.
Abraham Toro was 1 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.
David Hamilton stole two bases and scored a run as a pinch runner.
Brennan Bernardino got the first two outs of the seventh inning.
Greg Weissert tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Trevor Story was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Carlos Narvaez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Chris Murphy was charged with a run in 1 1/3 innings of work.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with a walk and a stolen base.
Masataka Yoshida was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Dick Fitts allowed just 2 runs but in just 4 innings of work.
Jorge Alcala allowed an inherited runner to score but none of his own in 1/3 of an inning.
Honorable Mention:
Romy Gonzalez played first base in the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
This one was on Cora as it was the bullpen. The Sox were down Aroldis Chapman (bad back) and Garrett Whitlock (stomach bug) and Cora STILL pulled Fitts after 4 and asked his depleted bullpen to throw another 5 innings. Jorge Alcala and Jordan Hicks failing isn't surprising because that's why they had ERAs over 6. The injury to Justin Slaten and the ineffectiveness of Luis Guerrero has Alcala in this position even if its unfair. Some fans are saying Hicks getting up and down to warm up multiple times due to the rain delay screwed up his rhythm but still, he couldn't find the plate at all. The offense is still lost apart from Bregman and Anthony but this was a very winnable game. That's the difference in winning another series 2 out of 3 and a five game win streak. Bottom line is Cora can't be blamed for trying to make due with the roster of backups and cheap relief options, but managing every game like its Game 7 of the world series is not sustainable. The Sox better make some moves at the deadline because this team is going to crash and burn if they don't. The loss dropped the Sox to 57-51, 6 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to rebound tomorrow night when Lucas Giolito (6-2, 3.97 ERA) takes on rookie Pierson Ohl making his ML debut. The game begins at 7:40 PM Eastern time at Target Field.
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