Before the game, the Sox placed Andrew Miller on the 15 day DL and brought up Alfredo "The Vulture" Aceves to take his spot. Hopefully Miller just sprained his ankle or something, he's been their dominant lefty this season. Miller joins Morales, Buchholz, Drew and Ross on the DL...this is quickly turning into M*A*S*H* unit.
The Sox threatened Angels starter Jered Weaver right off the bat when Jacoby Ellsbury singled and Daniel Nava singled him to third. That was as good as it got the rest of the game as Dustin Pedroia lined out to third. All David Ortiz had to do was hit a fly ball but instead he struck out. Mike Napoli struck out too to end the inning. Although no one knew it at the time, the Sox had gotten half their hits for the game already.
The Angels locked up the game 2 batters into the bottom of the first when Mike Trout smashed a 1 out home run to give the Angels a 1-0 lead. John Lackey struck out the final 2 batters but the game was over right then and there.
Mike Carp struck out to lead off the top of the second but Ryan Lavarnway singled. Brock Holt advanced Ryan to second with a ground out but he was stranded there when Jose Iglesias grounded out. 3 hits in 2 innings....they'd only have 2 more the rest of the game. Alberto Callaspo singled with one out in the bottom of the 2nd but Brad Hawpe struck out. Callaspo took off for second and he was thrown out by Lavarnway.
Weaver began to dominate by getting the side in order in the top of the 3rd. JB Shuck singled and stole second with 2 outs in the bottom of the third but Trout struck out to end the inning. Ortiz grounded out to begin the top of the 4th but Napoli walked. Weaver struck out Carp and Lavarnway to end the inning. Lackey kept pace by striking out Josh Hamilton as he retired the side in the bottom of the 4th.
Holt walked to begin the top of the 5th but Iglesias popped up and Ellsbury banged into a double play. They had chances to tie the game but blew every one of them. Lackey struck out Callaspo and got Brad Hawpe to ground out. All of a sudden Hank Conger transformed into Doug Mirabelli and homered to right field to give the Angels a 2-0 lead. Aybar grounded out but that hurt, a home run to the backup catcher hitting 8th? Ugh.
Weaver continued to dominate by retiring the side in order in the top of the 6th. Lackey got the first 2 outs of the bottom of the 6th when Pujols singled and Hamilton walked. Both runners caught the Sox napping by pulling off a double steal but Howie Kendrick grounded out to end the inning. Napoli singled to open the top of the 7th but Carp struck out and Lavarnway flied out. Holt singled to put the tying run on and that was it for Weaver, pulled for Dane De La Rosa. Could Jose Iglesias come up big one more time.........nope. Iglesias flied out to end the inning.
Lackey finished up by pitching a clean bottom of the 7th. He threw 7 innings of 2 run ball, the same as he's been doing the past month but the offense gave him no run support....again.
Scott Downs relieved De La Rosa in the top of the 8th and retired the side. Junichi Tazawa relieved Lackey and crapped himself, allowing a leadoff triple to Aybar who scored on the sac fly by Mike Trumbo. Trout walked and Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough. In came Alfredo "The Vulture" Aceves, fresh up from Pawtucket. Pujols popped up but Hamilton hit a ground rule double. Kendrick grounded out to end the inning. Angels closer Ernesto Frieri came on for the top of the 9th after mowing down the Sox last night. Ortiz grounded out....oh wait, error by Trumbo and Ortiz took second. How did Frieri respond? Napoli....strike out. Carp.....strikeout. Lavarnway.....strikeout, game over. The past 2 nights, Frieri has 8 strikeouts in 3 innings. Good news the Sox are leaving town and don't have to see him again. The Sox put up a goose egg as the Angels win 3-0. That's right, how many runs did the Sox score tonight Mr. Wormer?
THE GOOD:
Not much here at all. Brock Holt was 1 for 2 with a walk. Mike Napoli was 1 for 3 with a walk. John Lackey tossed 7 innings of 2 run ball, normally that should be good enough for a win. Instead he drops to 6-6 but with a 2.80 ERA. Alfredo Aceves worked out of the 8th inning jam.
THE BAD:
In a game like this, everyone could be jackass of the night. I'll go with Mike Carp for the fact he put up a golden sombrero.
Other heels include Dustin Pedroia, Jose Iglesias and David Ortiz who were a combined 0 for 11. Junichi Tazawa faced 3 batters allowing a triple, a sac fly and a walk before he was pulled.
THE UGLY:
Jacoby Ellsbury, Ryan Lavarnway and Daniel Nava were all 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
I was afraid of this. They looked lifeless out there and never seemed into the game. It's a shame they wasted yet another good start from Lackey. There's really not much to say, they couldn't hit. The biggest concern is Tazawa, he's not used to a full year workload and he may be getting tired already. His fastball is down to around 91-92 after hitting 97 earlier in the season. They may need to come up with a reason to DL him pretty soon before his arm falls off. The Sox drop to 54-36, 4.5 games in front of everyone. They should be 5-6 games up right now but now they're in trouble. The team travels to Seattle tomorrow night to play the mariners, Jon Lester is matched up with "King" Felix Hernandez....oh great.
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