Alex Cora Hired as Manager (10/22/17)

It took just 11 days but less than two weeks after John Farrell was fired as manager of the Boston Red Sox, they have found his replacement. Former Red Sox infielder and current bench coach of the Houston Astros, Alex Cora was named as the new manager of the Sox.

                                                 Welcome back Alex

The decision to hire Cora is based on his ability to coach younger players. John Farrell clearly was not getting through to Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and some of the other guys that completely underperformed in 2017. Cora's ability to keep Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and the other Astros in check was a huge reason why he was available as a managerial choice.

When Farrell was first hired in 2013, he was inheriting a team of veterans and some holdovers from the 2007 Red Sox, primarily his former pitchers Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester. In the last 4 years all the veterans and holdovers with the one exception of Dustin Pedroia are gone. The Sox inablity to perform in the playoffs cannot entirely be blamed on Farrell, but it sure didn't help that a lot of players regressed in 2017. Not just Betts and Bogaerts but Hanley Ramirez fell apart as well. Going into the season Andrew Benintendi was supposed to be a shoo-in as rookie of the year but Aaron Judge blew him out of the water. The pitching staff performed admirably but offensively the Sox underperformed and it was time for Farrell to go. Someone had to take the fall for back to back no-shows in the playoffs and it made sense to can him.

The Sox will be banking on Cora to right the likes of Betts and Bogaerts but how he handles the pitchers will be his real challenge. As incompetent as he was with pinch hitters and batting lineups, Farrell has proven he can get through to pitchers. Drew Pomeranz was a huge bust up from the moment he was traded here until the moment Farrell gave Pomeranz a huge tongue lashing against Oakland. After that, Drew became one of the best starters in the American League, winning 17 games. Can Cora get through to him to keep up that kind of streak moving forward?

                                                             Cora at the plate

Whether or not the Sox sign some free agents or make some trades is up in the air at this point, but the Sox had to move on from Farrell and with the Sox going with a young core of Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr, Benintendi, Bogaerts, Christian Vazquez and Rafael Devers, they needed someone they could connect with. With the New York Yankees vastly improving, the Sox need to get their heads out of their collective asses from ownership on down if they want to keep their stranglehold on the AL East title.

Cora was apart of the 2007 Red Sox world championship team and the Astros are on their way to becoming champions so Alex does bring some championship pedigree to the table. If nothing else, 2018 should be interesting to see what he can do. After all, he can't be any worse than Bobby Valentine....right?

John Farrell Fired (10/11/17)

It took just two days but the Boston Red Sox formally announced that John Farrell's services will not be needed after back to back first round exits following back to back last place finishes. It was a long time coming because quite frankly, the Red Sox regressed this season after what was a great bounce back 2016. The loss of David Ortiz hurt and injuries to David Price, Tyler Thornburg and Steven Wright didn't help, but the evaporation of the Red Sox offense in 2017 was frightening. It all starts up top and Dave Dombrowski refusing to sign Edwin Encarnarcion and trading away Travis Shaw was a death knell. Still, Dombrowski did his best to fix things by trading for bits and pieces along the 2017 season to at least attempt to fix it. Farrell, on the other hand, refused to change his ways and time and time again did things that were more harmful than good. Now he's on the unemployment line and well deserved.

Back in 2013 he was hired because he was familiar with the holdovers of the 2007 team when he was the pitching coach. He supposedly was going to help Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and John Lackey pitch well and work with the relievers as well. The 2013 team was built on low cost, low risk free agents that overachieved beyond anyone's wildest expectations. Mike Napoli, Jonny Gomes, Shane Victorino, David Ross and especially Koji Uehara helped the holdovers Dustin Pedroia, Ortiz, Lester, etc win 97 games and the World Series. The criticisms of Farrell were few and far between in 2013 but not much went wrong that year.

The following season was a much different story. The 2014 season was more or less what was supposed to happen in 2013. The magic was gone and the offense evaporated as nobody performed as well as they had the year earlier. Still, Farrell didn't help matters when he took Xander Bogaerts out of the shortstop spot and handed it to the .200 hitting Stephen Drew. Bogaerts didn't hit effectively for pretty much the remainder of the season. Sox general manager Ben Cherrington torpedoed the team by trading Felix Doubront, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Jake Peavy and Jonny Gomes before the trade deadline for Joe Kelly, Allen Craig, Yoenis Cespedes, Edwin Escobar and Heath Hembree. As of this writing Jon Lester is trying to strong arm the Chicago Cubs to back to back world titles while Heath Hembree and Joe Kelly are mere relievers in the Red Sox bullpen. Still, the moves Farrell made as an in-game manager started to be questioned as the losses piled up. Why did he bring in this guy? Why didn't he pinch hit that guy? Why did he leave this guy in too long or pull him too early? The 2014 team was doomed to fail but if Farrell was as good as he was, you'd think they would have done better than last place.

The 2015 team was almost as bad as the previous. Cherrington eventually lost his job because rather than overpay to bring Jon Lester back, the starting rotation turned into a hodge podge. Buchholz, Kelly, Wade Miley, old friend Justin Masterson and Rick Porcello weren't exactly Lester and Lackey. The Sox plummeted out of contention and once again in last place. This time, grumblings about Farrell being replaced were louder as back to back last place finishes angered fans. Then Farrell was felled by a devastating strain of cancer and had to take a sabbatical from the team. In his place Torey Lovullo rallied the Sox to a respectable finish in August and September. Younger stars such as Jackie Bradley Jr, Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Blake Swihart along with improved pitching by Porcello, Kelly and rookie Eduardo Rodriguez damn near brought the Sox out of last place. This was the clue that something was wrong because it appeared that Lovullo had been able to bring out the best in the youngsters that Farrell couldn't.

The team greatly improved in 2016 but the warts in Farrell's managing were exposed. The Sox had a great season, finishing with 93 wins and their first division title since 2013 but there were warts. His in game decisions were head scratchers but for the most of the season, casual fans didn't notice. The first sign of trouble was when he sent ace pitcher Steven Wright to pinch run in a National League rules game. Wright ended up injuring his shoulder and being lost for the year. The Sox may have won 100 games had that not happened. Also at the end of the season, the Sox lost 5 of the season's final 6 games and got swept out of the playoffs by the Cleveland Indians. It appeared that Farrell took his foot off the gas after the team won 11 in a row to take a stranglehold of the AL East and it carried over into the playoffs where they failed to turn the switch on.

By 2017 everything fell apart for Farrell as the Sox endured their most frustrating season in 25 years. The Sox had arguably the best pitching staff in baseball and arguably the worst offense. Every game was a grinding struggle where the offense would average 5 hits while other teams including the Yankees would average 5 runs or so. Also Farrell had absolutely no idea when and where to pinch hit playrs, completely disregard scouting reports when it came to his pitchers and rode ace pitcher Chris Sale to death until he had nothing left. For example, Matt Barnes was struggling pitching on the road and Farrell kept sending him out there to fail. Xander Bogaerts took a fastball to the wrist and everyone in the country knew he wasn't the same but Farrell went on record saying Xander "Needed to play through it" rather than sit him down to let the wrist heal. Bogaerts didn't hit effectively again the rest of the year. Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez stats both went to hell because they were swinging for the fences on every pitch to replace the retired David Ortiz. Rather than sit them down and tell them to play their game and not try to be Ortiz, Farrell let them go and neither one of them contributed much by the end. It became apparent by the end of the season that there was something wrong between Farrell and the younger guys on the team. Then it came crashing to a halt because once again the team stumbled to the finish line, backing into the AL East division title. This time they at least won a game in the ALDS against the Houston Astros, but Farrell made a grand exit when he was thrown out of the final game he ever managed for the Red Sox.

So what happened? Many say that when he was hired, he was taking over a veteran team with pitchers he was familiar with when he was pitching coach years earlier. Once the transition happened from the 2013 Bearded Brothers to 2017's version, those pitchers were gone and Pedroia was the only veteran left. Its become apparent Farrell couldn't get through to Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts and Rafael Devers. All those guys have the potential to be all-stars and we've seen Betts and Bogaerts play a lot better. Those four could be a force if handled right and hopefully the next manager can get them to play to their potential. As for the pitchers, that's where the concern is. Even though Chris Sale ran out of gas he was Pedro Martinez-esque in the first half, Drew Pomeranz had a hell of a breakout season, the bullpen was about as lights out as it got. Farrell did have a track record of getting the most of his pitchers, so that's a quality that may not be duplicated by his replacement. The bottom line is he had to go, but whoever they bring in better be able to get through to everyone that Farrell couldn't while maintaining the pitching staff.

O's Outslug Sox (6/1/16)

The one thing you don't want to do is get in a slugfest with the Baltimore Orioles. They have too much offensive talent and will turn out your lights real quick. The Boston Red Sox found that out the hard way as they scored 9 runs but it wasn't enough as the potent Baltimore offense pounded Red Sox pitching for 13 runs for a 13-9 shellacking at Camden Yards.

                                               "CAN SOMEBODY PITCH WELL???"

Things started out well for the Sox in the top of the first against Baltimore starter Mike Wright. Mr. Mookie Betts did it again as he began the game with a solo blast to right center. Dustin Pedroia punched a single in the hole at second but Xander Bogaerts whiffed on an 83 mph change. David Ortiz then whiffed on a 96 mph fastball. Hanley Ramirez popped up to second to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.

                                                        Betts is something else

The problem was the Red Sox starter Joe Kelly pooped himself in the bottom of the first inning. Adam Jones singled over the head of Bogaerts on a full count and Hyun Soo Kim singled past a diving Pedroia. Manny Machado missed a home run by inches but the alert baserunners both tagged up on the fly out. Chris Davis walked and Mark Trumbo lashed a 2 run single to give Baltimore the lead. Matt Wieters hit a sac fly to score Davis and Jose Alvarez doubled into the gap to score Trumbo. Jonathan Schoop struck out on an 89 mph fastball to end the inning but it was now 4-1 Baltimore.

                                                                     Nice going Kelly

The Sox clawed back in the top of the second. Travis Shaw doubled down the left field line on a 3-2 fastball right down the middle before moving to third on the groundout by Blake Swihart. Chris Young then smashed a 2 run home run to left to cut the deficit to one. Ryan Hanigan lined out to first and that brought up Mr. Mookie. Wright then threw behind Mookie's head which drew the ire of the home plate umpire who warned both benches. Sox manager John Farrell came out to ask why the Sox were warned because they hadn't done anything yet. Care to guess what Mookie did next? He swatted a solo home run to left field as Sox analyst Jerry Remy taunted the Baltimore dugout. Pedroia flied out to end the inning but the Sox had tied it 4-4.

                                               5 homers in 7 at bats

Kelly couldn't hold the fort in the bottom of the second. Flaherty walked but was erased on the force by Jones. Kim smacked a ground rule double over the head of Young and Flaherty scored on the sac fly by Machado. Davis walked but Trumbo grounded out to first to end the inning with the O's up 5-4.

The Sox struck back in the top of the third although Bogaerts grounded out to third to start. Ortiz then blasted a solo home run, the fourth by the Sox, to tie the game. Ramirez popped up to third but Shaw singled to left to chase Wright. Vance Worley walked both Swihart and Young to load the bases. Hanigan hit a ground ball up the middle to score Shaw and Swihart to give the Sox the lead. Mr. Mookie walked amidst a chorus of boos from the Sox fans in the crowd looking for the home run. With a chance to add to the lead, Pedroia grounded out to second to end the inning but the Sox were up 7-5

                                            Ortiz ties it up before the Sox take the lead

The lasted two seconds in the bottom of the third although Wieters tried to bunt his way on but the alert Hanigan threw him out at first. Alvarez singled to center and Schoop doubled over the head of Young in center to chase the incompetent Kelly. He lasted just 2 1/3 innings on a night the Sox offense was rolling, thanks for nothing.

                                            "I sucked tonight!" - Joe Kelly

Tommy Layne came in and wasn't any better as Flaherty struck a base hit to score Schoop with the tying run. Jones flied out to center but Kim walked. Machado slammed a single to left to score Flaherty to give the O's the lead. Davis popped up to Bogaerts in foul territory to end the inning but the O's had re-taken the lead 8-7.

                                              "I suck too Joe" - Tommy Layne

The Sox ran themselves out in the top of the fourth although Bogaerts popped up to short to start. Ortiz singled but was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. Ramirez watched strike three go by to end the inning. Clay Buchholz (3-6, 6.34 ERA) was summoned to pitch the bottom of the fourth inning. Trumbo popped up to shallow center but Wieters drew a walk. Bogaerts ran into foul territory to nab a pop up by Alvarez and Schoop flied out to center to end the inning.

Worley returned for the top of the fifth and to Shaw to ground out to second to begin. Swihart grounded out to second and Young flied out to right to end the inning. Buchholz returned for the bottom of the fifth and struck out Flaherty to start, but Jones hit a ground rule double to right. Kim flied out to center but Jones motored his way to third. Machado popped up to short to end the inning.

The Sox tied it up in the top of the sixth inning. Hanigan got lucky when Machado slipped while fielding a ground ball up the middle and chucked it into the stands for a hit and an error. There was no magic for Mr. Mookie this time as he grounded out to short on the first pitch. Pedroia singled to right and Hanigan chugged all the way home for the tying run. That was it for Worley as O's manager Buck Showalter brought in Brad Brach. Brach uncorked a wild pitch to move Pedroia to second. Bogaerts increased his hitting streak to 25 games with a flare to center but Pedroia remained at third. What turned out to be the play of the game occurred when Ortiz banged into a double play to end the inning. A sac fly would have given the Sox the lead but it still was an 8-8 game

                                             Hanigan scores to tie it up

The O's roared back in the bottom of the sixth. Davis and Trumbo worked back to back 4 pitch walks before Wieters hit a routine ground ball to Pedroia....who dropped an elbow on the ball before getting up and posing for the crowd while Davis motored home to re-take the lead for Baltimore. Alvarez singled past the diving Pedroia to load the bases. Schoop hit a grounder to Shaw who fired home for the force but Flaherty hit a grounder off the glove of Ramirez, but Pedroia fielded it and threw it back to Hanley for the out which allowed Wieters to score to increase the lead. Jones flied out to right to end the inning but the O's were up 10-8.

                                             James can't believe Pedroia made an error

The Sox failed to score in the top of the seventh as Ramirez flied out to right, Shaw grounded out to first and Swihart whiffed to end the inning. For some reason Buchholz came back out for the bottom of the seventh and crapped his pants. Kim singled through the shift but Machado lined out to center. Davis walked again on a borderline pitch and that was it for Buchholz. Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough and finally got Clay out of there, much to Clay's despair.

                                              "Nice job Clay, ya bum!" - Farrell

Matt Barnes came in and walked Trumbo to load the bases. Joey Rickard pinch ran for Trumbo as Sox analyst Jerry Remy began to question where the strike zone was when the umpire failed to ring up Wieters on a borderline pitch. Right on cue Wieters lined the next pitch into center for a base hit to score Kim and Davis to put the game out of reach. Alvarez whiffed but Schoop singled up the middle to score Rickard. A wild pitch moved both runners over but Flaherty hit a squibber back to the mound to end the inning with the O's ahead for good 13-8.

                                                    Wieters puts it out of reach

The Sox did manage to get a run back quickly in the top of the eighth when Young blasted another solo home run off Darren O'Day. Hanigan grounded out to first as Josh Rutledge began warming in the bullpen....yes, the infielder. Remy reminded us the last position player to pitch for the Sox was Mike Carp against the Yankees in the disaster on April 24, 2014. Mr. Mookie worked a walk and Pedroia singled to put the pressure on, but Bogaerts looked at strike three. Showalter wasted no time and brought in Zach Britton to pitch to Ortiz. Ortiz drew a walk to load the bases for Ramirez as Rusney Castillo came in to run for Ortiz. Ramirez grounded out to short to end the inning on the first pitch to end any kind of threat. Still, the Sox got one back to trail 13-9.

                                                 Young with his second homer of the night

Barnes, not Rutledge, came back to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Barnes struck out Jones before getting both Kim and Machado to ground out to short to end the inning.

Mercifully the game ended in the top of the ninth. Shaw watched strike three go by and Swihart grounded out to short, but Young hit a ground rule double past Jones just to piss the O's fans off. Hanigan grounded out to third to end the game and the O's had won 13-9.

Jackass of the Night is Clay Buchholz. Yes Joe Kelly laid an egg and the other relievers weren't much help, but if he had shut down the O's attack the Sox may have won the game. Instead he allowed 4 runs to put the game out of reach.

                                           The unhappy Jackass


The Good:

Mookie Betts was 2 for 3 with 2 walks and 2 solo home runs.

Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 5 with an rbi.

David Ortiz was 2 for 4 with a walk and a solo home run.

Travis Shaw was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored.

Chris Young was 3 for 4 with a walk, a two run homer and a solo homer.

Ryan Hanigan was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.



The Bad:

Hanley Ramirez was runner up for Jackass by going 0 for 5 with a strikeout and leaving the bases loaded in the 8th.

Joe Kelly was terrible giving up 7 runs in just 2 1/3 innings off 7 hits and 3 walks.

Tommy Layne gave up a run in just 2/3 of an inning.

Matt Barnes allowed an inherited runner to score and 1 of his own in 1 2/3 innings.



The Ugly:

Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5.

Blake Swihart was 0 for 4 but walked and scored.



Honorable Mention:

Rusney Castillo pinch ran for Ortiz in the 8th.




Final Thoughts:

Great offense....terrible, terrible pitching. The one thing the Sox don't want to do is get into a slugfest with the Orioles because they have too many power threats. Machado, Jones, Trumbo, Davis....any one of them can launch one at any time. It was great to see Betts stay hot, Young go yard twice and Bogaerts increase his hitting streak...but that's about it. The Sox pitching was atrocious and Kelly needs to step it up to where he was at the end of last year. The loss dropped the Sox to 32-21, still 2 games ahead of Baltimore for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night Rick Porcello (7-2, 3.68 ERA) goes for the Sox opposite Ubaldo Jimenez. Maybe Rick can get someone out at 7:05 PM at Camden Yards.

O's Shock Sox in 10th (4/25/15)

Before the game Shane Victorino was placed on the 15 day disabled list and the Boston Red Sox called up Matt Barnes from Pawtucket. Victorino's hamstring was acting up and the Sox didn't want to wait around to see if it would heal, needing the roster spot immediately. Barnes made his ML debut last year and throws fire, maybe he can help in the bullpen.

                                                                     OUT

                                                              IN

As for the game, protesters surrounded Camden Yards as yet another unarmed man was killed by police and the O's responded by overcoming a 10th inning deficit to stun Koji Uehara and the Red Sox. The Sox had fought back to tie the game in the 9th and take the lead in the 10th, but an uncharacteristic meltdown by Uehara led to a 5-4 O's victory at Orioles Park in Camden Yards.

Wei-Yin Chen took the mound in the top of the first inning and Mookie Betts led off by watching strike three go by. Dustin Pedroia grounded out to third and David Ortiz struck out to end the inning. Justin Masterson got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and crapped his pants. Alejando De Aza greeted him with a double over the head of Mr. Mookie. Jimmy Paredes doubled home De Aza and took third on the comebacker by Adam Jones. Chris Davis hit a sac fly to score Paredes and Travis Snider grounded out to short to end the inning but the O's led 2-0.

                                                 Chen loves pitching with a 2-0 lead

The Sox immediately struck back in the top of the second. Hanley Ramirez led off with a four pitch walk and Mike Napoli clocked his first home run of the year off the right field foul pole to tie the game. Pablo Sandoval flied out to left, Allen Craig grounded out to short and Xander Bogaerts popped up to second to end the inning but it was now tied 2-2.

                                                  Napoli's homer ties it up

The O's wasted no time getting on base in the bottom of the second as Manny Machado doubled into the gap on the first pitch. Rey Navarro popped up to short as Sox commentator Don Orsillo mistook Buck Showalter for Buck Martinez. Guess he needs to play some Tri-Tri-Triple Play 99. Caleb Joseph advanced Machado to third with a ground-out to short. Everth Cabrera also grounded out to short to end the inning.

The Sox mustered nothing in the top of the third. Ryan Hanigan led off by popping up to right before Mr. Mookie whiffed on a high fastball. Machado made a diving stab to rob Pedroia of a hit to end the inning. Pedroia got his revenge by jumping to rob De Aza of a hit to begin the bottom of the third inning. Paredes singled to left and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Masterson, but couldn't move on the flare to right by Jones. Davis hit a bullet but Napoli knocked it down and flipped it to Masterson for the out. Snider was rung up for strike three to end the threat and the inning.

The Sox threatened in the top of the fourth as Ortiz popped up on a full count but Ramirez singled to right. Napoli singled past the diving Machado but Sandoval popped up to right. Craig singled to left but Ramirez foolishly tried for home, getting thrown out by a mile to end the inning.

                                                     Yeah you're out Hanley, now beat it!

Masterson remained tough in the bottom of the fourth. Machado hit a squibber in front of the mound but Masterson threw him out. Justin whiffed Navarro and froze Joseph to end the inning.

The Sox failed to score in the top of the fifth as Bogaerts whiffed to start. Hanigan grounded out to short and Mr. Mookie flied out to deep center to end the inning. The O's struck back in the bottom of the 5th. Cabrera tried to bunt his way on but was thrown out by Justin on the first pitch. De Aza grounded out to second on 3 pitches but Paredes belted a home run just over the fence in right to give the O's the lead. Jones flied out to deep center but the O's now led 3-2.

                                                    O's take the lead

The Sox failed to answer in the top of the sixth as Pedroia grounded out to second, Ortiz hit a 400 foot out to center and Ramirez was rung up for strike three to end the inning. Ramirez had to be restrained by Sox manager John Farrell from attacking the umpire. Masterson returned for the bottom of the sixth and got Davis to ground into the shift to start. Snider grounded out to second but Machado walked. Navarro flied out to left to end the inning.

The Sox did nothing in the top of the seventh as Napoli grounded out to third, Sandoval grounded out to short and Craig lined one to the wall in right for the third out to end the inning. Masterson returned for the bottom of the seventh and got Joseph to ground out to third to start. Cabrera popped up to center but De Aza was hit with a pitch. The pain in the ass Paredes singled up the middle knocked down by Bogaerts. Jones popped up to right to end the inning. Masterson had gone 7 innings and had given up just 3 runs, normally that would be good enough to win.

                                        Masterson did what he could to keep the Sox in it

Chen returned for the top of the eighth and got Bogaerts to ground out to short to start. Hanigan flied out to right and Mr Mookie popped up to shallow center to end the inning. Chen had retired the last 12 men he faced in a row. Matt Barnes made his season debut taking over for Masterson in the bottom of the eighth inning. Davis greeted him with a single up the middle but was erased when Snider beat out a double play ball. David Lough pinch ran for Snider as Machado singled him to third. Barnes whiffed Navarro for a big second out and got Joseph to ground out to third to end the inning on a big throw by Sandoval.

The Sox somehow tied the game in the top of the ninth against closer Zach Britton. Pedroia drew a leadoff walk but Ortiz struck out. Ramirez hit one up the middle that Navarro dove to grab. He tried to backhand the throw to the shortstop but missed wide and everyone was safe. Napoli hit a sure double play ball but it went off the glove of Britton and once again everyone was safe. The breaks went both ways as Sandoval hit a grounder to Machado who stepped on the bag to force Ramirez at third and THREW THE BALL AWAY! Pedroia scored but Napoli was held at third because a fan touched the ball. Had the fan not touched it, Napoli would have scored the go-ahead run. As it was, the game was tied on 3 straight mistakes by Baltimore. Craig swung at air to end the inning but it was tied 3-3.

                                           Machado makes a boo-boo and its a tied game

Barnes returned for the bottom of the ninth and got Cabrera to ground out to second to start. De Aza grounded out to first and Paredes flied out to left to end the inning, on to extras we go.

The Sox looked to have put the game away in the top of the tenth inning when Bogaerts took Brad Brach's first pitch and launched it over the left field fence for a home run. Hanigan singled to right and was sacrificed to second by Mr. Mookie. Pedroia walked but Ortiz banged into a double play to end the inning. Still the Sox led 4-3 and were 3 outs away from stealing this one.

                                               Bogaerts briefly gives the Sox the lead

With Koji Uehara on the mound, 9 times out of 10 the game is over. This happened to be the tenth time as Jones poked one into right, Craig dove and missed the catch allowing Jones to reach third with a triple. Davis did his job with a sac fly to score Jones to tie the game. Lough was brought in as a pinch runner for Snider and he ended up ending the game with a monsterous home run to right. What should have been a stolen victory turned into a bitter defeat.

                                                               Ugh


Jackass of the Night is Koji Uehara. Sure Craig should have made the catch but giving up a homerun to Lough is inexcusable.

                                                    Uehara is a Jackass



The Good:

Justin Masterson went 7 innings and gave up just 3 runs while striking out 3.

Matt Barnes tossed 2 scoreless innings.

Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.

Mike Napoli was 3 for 4 including a 2 run home run.



The Bad:

Mookie Betts was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

David Ortiz was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.



The Ugly:

Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 3 but walked twice and scored a run.

Pablo Sandoval was 0 for 4 but somehow was credited with an rbi.

Allen Craig was just 1 for 4.

Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but made the hit count as it was a solo home run in the tenth.

Ryan Hanigan was just 1 for 4.




Final Thoughts:

Turnabout is fair play. The Sox had no business being in the game apart from a few lucky breaks in the ninth inning and the O's finally put it away in the tenth. Seriously, apart from two swings by Napoli and Bogaerts the Sox offense was completely shut down by Chen and company. The sad part was Masterson actually pitched well and a producing offense would have won this game going away. With Victorino on the disabled list, offense is going to be hard to come by. Tomorrow afternoon is the rubber game of this three game set with Wade Miley going up against Bud Norris at 1:35 PM in Baltimore.