The Sox wasted no time getting to McCarthy in the top of the first as Mr. Mookie Betts walked to start. Mr. Mookie swiped second but Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to center. A wild pitch moved Betts to third and he scored on the Xander Bogaerts sac fly to center. Dustin Pedroia flied out to the left field warning track to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Price got the ball in the bottom of the first and Howie Kendrick popped up to right to start. Corey Seager and Justin Turner both grounded out to short to end the inning.
Travis Shaw led off the top of the second by flying out to left but Brock "The Hitman" Holt walked. Bryan Holoday made his Red Sox debut...by grounding into a double play to end the inning.
Adrian Gonzalez lined out to center to start the bottom of the second and Enrique Hernandez walked. Josh Reddick flied out to left but Yasmani Grandal got a base hit to left. Rob Segedin made his ML debut with a grounder to third to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the third as Andrew Benintendi got a base hit to left to start. Price popped up the bunt to third but Benintendi stole second. Mr. Mookie got hit with a pitch and JBJ walked to load the bases. Bogaerts grounded into a double play to end the inning. McCarthy took strike three to start the bottom of the third and Kendrick was retired on a nubber in front of the plate to start. Seager struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fourth as Pedroia flied out to left to start. Shaw grounded out to second but Holt walked. Holaday walked and Benintendi drilled a base hit to right to score Holt with his first ML rbi. That was it for McCarthy as Josh Fields came in to pitch to Price. David struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.
The Dodgers pounced on Price in the bottom of the fourth as Turner hit a home run into Chavez Ravine to start. Gonzalez doubled to center but Hernandez struck out swinging. Reddick hit a grounder to short and Bogaerts threw low to third...bobbled by Holt for an error. The Dodgers made Holt pay as Grandal walked and the rookie Segedin doubled to center to score Gonzalez and Reddick to put the Dodgers up for good. Scott Van Slyke pinch hit for Fields and was intentionally walked. The gamble worked as Kendrick grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Dodgers ahead 3-2.
Jesse Chavez came in to pitch the top of the fifth and Mr. Mookie grounded out to first to start. JBJ took strike three and Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning. The Dodgers finished off Price in the bottom of the fifth as Seager walked to start. Turner forced Seager at second but Gonzalez got a base hit to left to move Turner to third. Hernandez hit a routine grounder to short and Bogaerts...overthrew Pedroia at second for an error to score Turner. Reddick flied out to center but Grandal walked to load the bases. Segedin got a base hit to right to score Gonzalez and Hernandez but Grandal was thrown out at third to end the inning with the Dodgers up 6-2. That was it for Price who got rocked for 6 runs in 5 innings
Suddenly the Sox rallied in the top of the sixth as Pedroia grounded out to short and that was it for Chavez. Luis Avilan came in to face Shaw but he got a base hit to left. Aaron Hill pinch hit for Holt and doubled to left to score Shaw. Holaday struck out swinging but Benintendi singled to right to score Hill. Bryce Brentz was sent in to pinch hit for Price but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought in Joe Blanton to face him with Chase Utley in for Segedin. Sox manager John Farrell countered by pinch hitting David Ortiz for Brentz and David walked. Mr. Mookie got a base hit to left to score Benintendi to put the tying run at second. For some baffling reason Sox manager John Farrell sent Steven Wright to pinch run for Ortiz and he immediately hurt his shoulder sliding back into second on a pickoff throw. JBJ took strike three to end the inning but Wright left the game with his shoulder hanging and the Sox down 6-5.
Fernando Abad came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Utley struck out swinging to start. Kendrick grounded out to short and Seager grounded out to first to end the inning.
Bogaerts struck out swinging to start the top of the seventh and Pedroia grounded out to first. Pedro Baez came in to face Shaw and struck him out swinging to end the inning. The Dodgers iced the game against Junichi Tazawa in the bottom of the seventh as Turner popped up to first to start. All of a sudden Gonzalez and Hernandez hit back to back jacks to put the game away. Reddick struck out swinging but Grandal walked again. Baez flied out to left to end the inning with the Dodgers up 8-5.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the eighth as Hill flied out to right to start. Holoday grounded out to short and Benintendi flied out to center to end the inning. Clay Buchholz came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Utley hit a comebacker to start. Kendrick got a base hit to center as Sox analyst Dave O'Brien claimed former Sox closer Lee Smith had the biggest hands he'd ever seen. Seager flied out to center and Turner forced Kendrick at second to end the inning.
Kenley Jansen came in to close out the top of the ninth with Joc Pederson in for Kendrick. Hanley Ramirez pinch hit for Buchholz and struck out swinging. Mr. Mookie struck out swinging and JBJ took strike three to end the game. The Dodgers had won it 8-5.
Dodgers win
Nice game, Jackass
Jackass of The Night is David Price. He got lit up for 6 runs although only 3 were earned off 6 hits and 5 walks. He also popped up a bunt that could have gotten an early run.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 1 for 3 with a walk, hit by pitch, rbi, a stolen base and a run scored.
Aaron Hill was 1 for 2 with an rbi and a run scored.
Andrew Benintendi was 3 for 4 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
David Ortiz walked in his only at-bat.
Fernando Abad pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Clay Buchholz tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 4.
Hanley Ramirez struck out as a pinch hitter.
Junichi Tazawa allowed 2 runs in the seventh inning.
The Ugly:
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts and an error but walked.
Travis Shaw was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Brock Holt committed an error but walked twice and scored a run.
Bryan Holaday was 0 for 3 with a strikeout and an error but walked.
Honorable Mention:
Steven Wright pinch ran in the top of the sixth.
Bryce Brentz "pinch hit" in the top of the sixth.
Final Thoughts:
This might have been the worst loss of the season on principle alone. Not only can Price not pitch anymore but Wright might be done for the season. If that's the case, you can kiss this year goodbye because the Sox can't afford to lose Wright the way Price is pitching. That was an inexcusable move by Farrell to risk Wright like that in a one run game in the sixth inning. You have the best offense in baseball, you don't think Ortiz or someone else can hit a bomb of THESE pitchers? Clay Buchholz is already out of the rotation while Drew Pomeranz and Eduardo Rodriguez looks awful. The Sox might have to call up Henry Owens the way things are going, and that's not a good thing. Still, the Sox still have one of the best offenses in baseball that can bop their way back into games, but without Wright and Price, Pomeranz and Rodriguez struggling, the Sox might be kissing their AL East dreams goodbye. The loss dropped the Sox to 60-50, 3 games behind the Orioles for first place in the AL East. If this wasn't bad enough, the Sox now come home to face the New York Yankees in a three game set beginning on Tuesday night. "Slick" Rick Porcello (14-3) takes on Luis Severino of the Yankees Tuesday night at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
