Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. It was discovered that Kelly Shoppach was the one who blew the whistle on how horrible Sox manager Bobby Valentine is to the media so Sox GM Ben Cherrington shipped him to the New York Mets for a player to be named. It would have been a lot easier for Cherrington just to fire Valentine but oh well, bye bye Kelly. In his place the Sox finally activated closer Andrew Bailey off the Disabled List. Its too little, too late with the Sox hopelessly out of the AL East race but at least he can show something for next year.
As for the game, with tensions buzzing over another media blowup, the Boston Red Sox found a new way to lose tonight against the Baltimore Orioles. The Sox as a team pounded out 11 hits....but only scraped out one run. A lot of guys got hits but none of them when it mattered. Josh Beckett (5-10, 5.19 ERA) continued his career nosedive by getting knocked out in the sixth inning after allowing 6 runs. Andrew Bailey made his too little, too late Red Sox debut by striking out the only man he faced, but by that point the O's already had a commanding lead. Reports of the Red Sox players hating Bobby Valentine are coming out and it shows as the Sox dropped another game 7-1 to the O's at Camden Yards.
Cody Ross grounded out to second to start the top of the second inning but Ryan Lavarnway singled to right. Carl Crawford beat out a fielder's choice and Mike Aviles struck out swinging to end the inning. Adam Jones popped up on the infield but Avilies sprinted past Beckett to make the catch. Matt Wieters walked and Chris Davis singled to right, but Mark Reynolds hit one up the elevator shaft. Manny Machado popped up to third in foul territory to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the third as Machado made a good play to rob Danny Valencia of a hit to start. Ellsbury grounded out to first but Ciriaco doubled down the left field line. Pedroia walked but Gonzalez flied out to left to end the inning. The O's struck first in the bottom of the third as Omar Quintanilla clobbered a home run all the way to the Red Sea to start. Markakis grounded out to short, Hardy popped up to first and McLouth popped up to first to end the inning with the O's up 1-0.
The Sox fought back in the top of the fourth when Ross hit a ground rule double to the left field stands to start. Ross moved to third on a grounder to first by Lavarnway and scored on the Crawford base hit to center. Avilies struck out swinging and Valencia flied out to center to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Beckett cruised in the bottom of the fourth as Jones struck out swinging to start. Wieters lined out to center and Davis flied out to left to end the inning.
Ellsbury grounded out to second to start the top of the fifth and Ciriaco grounded out to short. Pedroia tripled into the right field corner but Gonzalez grounded out to second to end the inning. The O's retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth as Reynolds hit a home run to Jupiter to start. Machado popped up to short, Quintanilla lined out to left and Markakis flied out to center to end the inning with the O's up 2-1.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the sixth and Ross singled to left to start. Lavarnway lined out to left but Crawford singled to right. Aviles struck out swinging and Valencia flied out to center to end the inning. The O's finally knocked out Beckett in the bottom of the sixth as Hardy got a base hit to left to start. McLouth popped up to third but Jones walked. A wild pitch moved both runners over and Jones hit a Baltimore chopper over all 3 defenders to score Hardy with another run. Davis lined a base hit to center to score Jones and chase Beckett. Josh would be charged with 6 runs before the inning was over. Mark Melancon came in to pitch and naturally he served up a 3 run homer to Reynolds all the way to Jacksonville, Florida to ice the game. Machado grounded out to short and Quintanailla struck out swinging to end the inning but the game was all but finished 7-1.
Ellsbury dropped a base hit to right to start the top of the seventh and chase Chen. Darren O'Day came in and Ciriaco struck out swinging. Pedroia doubled to right and Gonzalez walked to load the bases, but Ross struck out swinging. Lavarnway took strike three to end the inning, what a waste. Melancon got Markakis to grounded out to second to start the bottom of the seventh and Hardy struck out swinging. McLouth grounded out to first to end the inning.
Old friend JC Romero came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Crawford flied out to center to start. Aviles also flied out to center but Valencia singled to left. Ellsbury grounded out to first to end the inning. Scott Posednik came in to play center for the bottom of the eighth and Jones struck out swinging to start. Wieters grounded back to the mound and that was it for Melancon. Andrew Bailey made his Red Sox debut by walking Chris Davis but striking out Reynolds swinging to end the inning.
Matt Lindstrom came in to close out the top of the ninth and Ciriaco lined out to left to start. Pedroia flied out to right and Gonzalez grounded out to short to end the game. The O's had won it 7-1.
Jackass of the Night is Josh Beckett. He got hammered for 6 runs in 5 1/3 innings to put the Sox in a hole too deep to climb out of.
The Good:
Jacoby Ellsbury was 2 for 5.
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4 with a walk.
Cody Ross was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Carl Crawford was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Andrew Bailey struck out the only man he faced.
The Bad:
Mike Aviles was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Pedro Ciriaco was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Adrian Gonzalez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked.
Ryan Lavarnway was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Danny Valencia was just 1 for 4.
Mark Melancon allowed the 3 run homer to Reynolds in 2 1/3 innings.
Honorable Mention:
Scott Posednik played centerfield in the bottom of the eighth.
Final Thoughts:
Not only is the season going down the drain, but if that wasn't bad enough,......this happened. Yessire bob, the players themselves have revolted against Valentine. Its been a long time coming to after the lackadaisical play as of late. Tensions have been bad virtually all season with incidents popping up here and there but now that its in full print in the media for the whole world to see, there's no denying it now. Its been a bad year anyway with long term injuries to David Ortiz, Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury, Will Middlebrooks and John Lackey missing the season with Tommy John surgery, but anyone that's left clearly has no love for Valentine. Its almost guaranteed Valentine won't be back next season to manage this team and hopefully the next guy in can get the most out of Gonzalez, Crawford, Pedroia, etc thast Bobby couldn't. A picture surfaced of Bobby Valentine sleeping in his office with Pedroia sarcastically saying "Here's our manager making the starting lineups" Its gotten pretty ugly around here. As for this game, how the heck do you crank out 11 hits but only 1 run? The O's only had 7 as a team but still plated 7 runs. Chen is a good pitcher but it wasn't like he was working on a 3 hit shutout. Once again the Sox are finding new ways to lose and the season can't end fast enough. The loss dropped the Sox to 57-60, 12.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night Aaron Cook (3-5) looks to stop the bleeding against Miguel Gonzalez of the Orioles. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Camden Yards.
