One year after the most infamous Boston Marathon of all time, the Sox could not repeat the magic on Patriots Day 2014. Clay Buchholz once again stunk the joint out as its become apparent he's not the same pitcher he was from the first half of 2013.
Nick Markakis led the game off with a ground out to second base. Nelson "pain in the ass" Cruz struck out but Chris Davis walked. Jonny Gomes then made a diving catch to rob Adam Jones of a hit to end the inning. Wei-Yin Chen got Brock Holt to ground out to begin the bottom of the first. Pedroia grounded out but not before nearly taking out Jonathan Schoop at third base when Pedroia lost control of his bat on a swinging strike two. David Ortiz drew a 4 pitch walk but Napoli grounded out to end the inning.
Steve Clevenger grounded out to second to begin the top of the second, Schoop grounded out to short and Ryan Flaherty grounded out to Buchholz to end the inning. In the bottom of the second, last night's comeback starter Jonny Gomes did what he usually does, strike out. Xander Bogaerts popped up to center and Daniel Nava struck out to end the inning.
Steve Lombardozzi started the third inning rally with a single. David Lough singled and after Holt dropped his pop up into the stands, Markakis singled Lombardozzi home. Lough took third and he scored on Cruz' single. The hits kept on coming as Davis singled Markakis home and Cruz took third. Cruz scored on the force at second by Jones. Clevenger then doubled home Jones to make it 5-0 just like that. Not only have the Red Sox trailed in nearly every game they've played this season, they've trailed big. Schoop doubled home Clevenger and Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough. After breezing through the first two innings, Buchholz allowed 7 hits and was replaced by Burke Badenhop. After finishing last night's game less than 12 hours ago, the Sox needed Buchholz to pitch a good game with the rest of the troops tired....well he failed miserably. Luckily Badenhop got Flaherty to bang into a double play to end the inning. Just like that the game was over 2 1/2 innings into it. Could the Red Sox rally? Hell no! David Ross and Jackie Bradley Jr struck out to begin the bottom of the third and Holt grounded out to end the inning.
Picking up where he left off, Lombardozzi led off the top of the 4th with a single. Somehow Badenhop got Lough to line out to center but Markakis walked. Cruz banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox got their first runner of the day on a miracle walk by Pedroia to begin the 4th. Somehow Ortiz singled but Napoli kept up the incompetence with a full count strike out. More basebawful continued when Gomes lined out to short.....who doubled off Pedroia to end the inning.
Badenhop walked Davis to begin the top of the 5th but recovered to strike out Jones and get Clevenger to bang into a double play. 3 double plays by Badenhop, talk about putting out the fire. The Sox finally struck in the bottom of the 5th. Bogaerts worked a lead-off walk and Nava somehow hit one in the hole at short. Ross nearly hit into a double play but beat out the relay throw to first. Somehow Jackie Bradley Jr hit a ground rule double to score Boegarts and advance Nava to third. Holt lined out to center but Ross scored to cut the lead 6-2. Pedroia then cut the lead in half with a double down the line to score Bradley Jr. Ortiz lined one off the glove at second but was thrown out at first to end the inning. Still, a 3 run deficit with 4 innings to go is better than 6.
Badenhop continued his scoreless streak by getting Schoop to ground out to begin the top of the 6th. Flaherty and Lombardozzi both grounded out to first to end the inning. 3 2/3 scoreless innings for Badenhop, great job to keep them in the game. Ryan Webb replaced Chen for the 6th inning and struck out Napoli, Gomes and Bogaerts in short order.
Craig Breslow took over for the top of the 7th and Lough grounded out to first. Markakis flied out but Cruz walked. Cruz was the first base runner since Clevenger's double in the 3rd. He didn't go far as Davis grounded out into the shift to end the inning. Zach Britton took the mound for the bottom of the 7th. Nava flied out to right but David Ross clocked his first home run of the year to make it 6-4. Bradley Jr grounded out but Holt singled to left. Pedroia walked and with the tying runs on.....Ortiz grounded out to end the inning. Inching closer but still trailing.
The O's struck back in the top of the 8th. Jones singled to lead off and Clevenger hit a picture perfect ground ball to Pedroia but Bogaerts botched the relay throw and Steve was safe at first. Schoop flied out to center but Clevenger tagged up and advanced to second. Flaherty singled to center and Bradley Jr threw a hundred feet from home but Ross got Flaherty at second to end the inning. Still, it was back to a 3 run lead for Baltimore. It goes down as an earned run allowed on Breslow but Bogaerts, Clevenger and Bradley Jr were more responsible. Darren O'Day replaced Britton for the bottom of the 8th and Mike Napoli greeted him with a blast to centerfield to cut the lead 7-5. Mike Carp pinch hit for Gomes and grounded out to short, great clutch hitting. Bogaerts lashed a base hit to left to put the tying run at the plate. Nava singled off the glove of O'Day and that was it for him, O's manager Buck Showalter brought in lefty Brian Matusz. For some reason, Sox manager John Farrell pinch hit David Ross for Jonathan Herrera the utility infielder. The Sox then literally ran into a double play as Herrera struck out and Bogaerts stopped halfway to third and allowed himself to be tagged. BASEBAWFUL!
Carp stayed in left, AJ Pierzynski took over at the dish and Andrew Miller took the mound for the top of the 9th. Lombardozzi lined out and Lough popped up. Bradley Jr made a basket catch to rob Markakis of a hit to retire the side. O's closer Tommy Hunter was brought in to finish the game. Bradley Jr grounded out and it looked like Holt did as well....until Lombardozzi threw the ball away. They ruled it a hit but it was clearly an error. Pedroia nearly tied the game but the ball hit the top of the wall for a double. Showalter then made the bold move by intentionally walking Ortiz to load the bases for Napoli, who ended last year's Patriots Day game with a wall ball. This year....he grounded out to second, but Holt scored to make it 7-6. This left it up to Mike Carp, not the master of walkoffs Jonny Gomes, to win the game. As expected, Carp grounded out to end the game. A tough loss but it was great to see the Sox come back after being down 6-0.
THE GOOD:
Burke Badenhop kept the Sox in the game with 3 2/3 scoreless relief. Andew Miller pitched a scoreless 9th. Brock Holt was 2 for 4 with a run and an rbi. Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 3 with 2 walks and an rbi. David Ortiz was 1 for 3 with 2 walks.
THE BAD:
Jackass of the Day is an easy one. With the Sox needing to rest their bullpen, Clay Buchholz went out and pitched miserably, lasting only 2 1/3 while giving up 7 hits and 6 runs that cost the Sox the game. Jonathan Herrera struck out with the tying runs on base in the 8th. Mike Carp came up twice with a chance to win the game and failed both times. Jonny Gomes was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts
THE UGLY:
Craig Breslow allowed the eventual deciding run in the 7th but that was more of heads up baseball by Steve Clevenger than his own fault, especially in 2 innings of relief. Mike Napoli was just 1 for 5 but that included a home run and an rbi groundout in the 9th. Xander Bogaerts countered going 1 for 3 with a walk and run scored by playing horrendous defense and running the bases horribly, leading to the defeat. Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored on his lone hit.
Honorable Mention:
AJ Pierzynski caught the top of the 9th with no problems.
Final Thoughts:
None
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