Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a few roster moves. 25 year old pitcher Michael Bowden was traded to the Chicago Cubs along with a Player To Be Named Later in exchange for 34 year old outfielder Marlon Byrd. Byrd was an All-Star two years ago and with Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford out, the Sox needed better outfield depth than Jason Repko.
It was embarrassing news all around as the Boston Bruins gagged to the Washington Capitals in Game 5 of their first round NHL playoff series and the New York Yankees erased a 9-0 deficit and humiliated the Boston Red Sox by blowing THEM out in today's game. Felix Doubront held the Yankees to just 1 run in 6 innings while the Sox built a 9-1 lead. All of a sudden the Yankees exploded with 7 runs in the top of the seventh to pull within a run against Vicente Padilla and Matt Albers. Then the Yankees scored another 7 runs against Franklin Morales, Alfredo Aceves and Justin Thomas to put the game out of reach. The entire bullpen with the exception of Junichi Tazawa and Scott Atchison was humiliated as the Yankees went from being blown out to blowing out the Red Sox 15-9 at Fenway Park.
Doubront got the ball in the top of the first inning and Derek Jeter led off with a base hit to right. Nick Swisher grounded into a double play but Robinson Cano drew a walk. Cano took second on a passed ball but Alex Rodriguez grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox shelled Yankees starter Freddy Garcia in the bottom of the first as Mike Aviles flied out to left to start. Ryan Sweeney stroked an opposite field double to left but Dustin Pedroia hit one up the elevator shaft. Adrian Gonzalez pounded a ground rule double into the right field stands to score Sweeney and David Ortiz doubled down the left field line to score Adrian. Kevin Youkilis grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.
Mark Teixeira led off the top of the second by grounding out to second before Curtis Granderson took strike three. Andruw Jones drew a walk but Russell Martin struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the second as Jarrod Saltamacchia was retired on a slow roller to first to start. Cody Ross dropped a base hit to left and Darnell McDonald doubled off the Monster, Ross scoring on the base hit to center by Aviles. McDonald moved to third on the hit and Sweeney hit a sac fly to right to score Darnell. Aviles swiped second and Pedroia scored him with a base hit to right. That was it for Garcia as Clay Rapada came in to get Gonzalez to fly out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-0.
Eduardo Nunez grounded out to short to start the top of the third before Jeter grounded out to second. Swisher singled to left but Cano flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox were relentless in the bottom of the third as Ortiz singled through the shift to chase Rapada. David Phelps came in to take a beating as Youkilis was hit on the left hip. Saltalamacchia drilled a base hit to right to load the bases but Ross struck out swinging. McDonald hit a sac fly to center to score Ortiz and Aviles drilled a base hit to right to score Youkilis. Saltalamacchia moved to third on the hit but Sweeney forced Aviles at second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-0.
A-Rod grounded out to short to start the top of the fourth inning and Teixeira took strike three. Granderson took strike three on the inside corner to end the inning. Pedroia flied out to right to start the bottom of the fourth before Gonzalez grounded out to first. Ortiz walked and Nate Spears pinch hit for Youkilis who apparently was more hurt by the HBP than it seemed. Spears struck out swinging to end the inning.
Jones grounded out to short to start the top of the fifth before Martin struck out swinging. Nunez walked and Jeter singled Eduardo to third with a base hit to center but Swisher grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fifth as Saltalamacchia hit a double off the Monster to start. Ross blasted his third home run of the season to increase the lead. McDonald flied out to Swisher at the warning track and Aviles flied out to center. Sweeney flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 9-0.
Ross with the two run shot
The Yankees began their comeback in the top of the sixth as Cano struck out swinging to start. A-Rod struck out swinging but Teixeira hit a home run all the way to New Hampshire to cut the lead. Granderson popped up to short to end the inning. Doubront pitched his best game of the season allowing just the home run in 6 innings of work as the Sox enjoyed a 9-1 lead,
Pedroia tried to start a rally in the bottom of the sixth with a base hit to center to start. Gonzalez banged into a double play but Ortiz got a base hit to center. Spears grounded out to first to end the inning.
Suddenly the Yankees exploded against Vicente Padilla in the top of the seventh. Jones took strike three and at this point the Sox were just eight outs away from a blowout win.....instead Martin singled to right, Nunez beat out a roller to third and Jeter walked to load the bases. Swisher than pounded a grand slam to the outer reaches of Mongolia to make it a game again. Cano doubled to left and that was it for Padilla as Matt Albers came in to stop the bleeding. A-Rod hit a routine grounder to short...BOOTED BY AVILES FOR AN ERROR! Teixeira took advantage by sending a home run into outer space to cut the lead to just one run just like that. Franklin Morales came in and Granderson singled to right, but Jones struck out swinging. Martin forced Granderson at second to end the inning with the Yankees only down 9-8 in a blink of an eye.
Rafael Soriano came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Saltalamacchia tried to start a rally with a ground rule double into the right field stands. Ross grounded out to short, McDonald popped up to Teixeira in foul territory and Aviles took strike three to end the inning.
The Yankees humiliated the Sox in the top of the eighth as Nunez singled to left to chase Morales. Alfredo Aceves was brought in for the six out save....and Jeter walked. Swisher doubled to right to score both runners and the Yankees had come all the way back to take the lead. But wait there's more! Cano was intentionally walked and A-Rod drew a conventional walk to load the bases. Teixeira pounded a ground rule double down the right field line to score two more runners and Granderson was intentionally walked. That was it for Aceves who didn't record an out. Justin Thomas came in and Ibanez hit a rocket to Gonzalez who doubled off Granderson. At this point a 3 run deficit would not be too much to overcome with two innings to go....but Martin doubled to center to score A-Rod and Teixeira. Nunez singled in the hole at short to move Martin to third and Valentine had enough of him. Junichi Tazawa came in and Nunez promptly stole second. Jeter hit a routine grounder to Aviles who fell down making the play to score Martin. Swisher flied out to center to end the beat down with the Yankees ahead 15-9.
Boone Logan came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Sweeney flied out to left to start. Pedroia struck out swinging as Fox broadcaster Tim McCarver brought up the Sox' collapse last year and how they needed to get off to a good start this season only to end up "woeful". Ken Rosenthal brought up the very real power struggle that Larry Lucchino overruled Sox GM Ben Cherrington by hiring Bobby Valentine to manage the team. Gonzalez popped up to shallow right to end the inning.
Tazawa returned for the top of the ninth and Cano grounded back to the mound to start. Rodriguez grounded out to third and Teixeira popped up to third to end the inning. Ortiz got a base hit to right to start the bottom of the ninth and Cody Eppley came in to pitch. Nick Punto pinch hit for Spears and naturally lined out to Teixeira who doubled off Ortiz. Saltalamacchia singled to center and took second on a wild pitch, but Ross took strike three to end the game. The Yankees completed one of the biggest comebacks in major league history and humiliated the Red Sox 15-9.
Jackass of the Night is Alfredo Aceves. The entire bullpen imploded but he could have slammed the door in the eighth, instead he allowed an inherited runner to score and was charged with 5 runs of his own without getting an out.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
David Ortiz was 4 for 4 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Kevin Youkilis was hit with a pitch and scored a run before leaving the game.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 4 for 5 with a run scored.
Cody Ross was 2 for 5 with a 2 run homer and 2 total runs scored.
Darnell McDonald was 1 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.
Felix Doubront tossed 6 solid innings and allowed just the one run. He allowed 4 hits and struck out 7.
The Bad:
Nate Spears was 0 for 2.
Nick Punto hit into a double play as a pinch hitter.
Vicente Padilla was charged with 5 runs in just 1/3 of an inning.
Matt Albers was charged with 2 runs without recording an out.
Franklin Morales was charged with a run in 2/3 of an inning.
Justin Thomas was charged with a run in 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Mike Aviles was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis, a stolen base and a run scored but he made a huge fielding error that allowed the Yankees comeback to continue.
Ryan Sweeney was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored a run.
Adrian Gonzalez was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run and scored a run.
Junichi Tazawa allowed an inherited runner to score but none of his own in 1 1/3 innings.
Final Thoughts:
The Red Sox have officially hit rock bottom. The Red Sox are officially 11-30 since September of last season and today was the microcosm of everything wrong with them. After not hitting at all for most of the season the Sox scored 9 runs today. After the rotation didn't look good to start the season Felix Doubront looked good today. Then the bullpen completely implodes to hand the Sox one of their most ignominious defeats of all time. They had an 8 run lead with 8 outs to go after Padilla struck out Jones and then collapsed. When you look at the bullpen, its not that good. They let Jonathan Papelbon walk and replaced him with Mark Melancon only for him to have one of the worst meltdowns since Michael Rappaport in the movie The Scout. Alfredo Aceves, Vicente Padilla and Justin Thomas haven't gotten it done and Franklin Morales is better suited as a starter or long man than a late inning guy. If its not the bats that are asleep, its the rotation. If its not the rotation, its the bullpen. Nothing has gone right since the end of August last year and clearly the problem wasn't Terry Francona and Theo Epstein. There's plenty of time to turn things around but fans are becoming increasingly impatient. Bobby Valentine ripped Youkilis to fire him up only for the opposite to happen, he let Daniel Bard rot against Tampa and there's rumors he's upset the core of the team in other ways. Its all giving off a bad vibe to a team that was under a microscope to begin with and they've remained flat on their face. If today wasn't bad enough, now the Sox have to face Yankees ace CC Sabathia tomorrow night on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Daniel Bard (0-2) is tasked with ending the Yankees dominance over Boston at 8:30 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment