As for the game, rarely do umpires decide games but this was one of them. An absolute travesty of justice in the ninth inning robbed the Boston Red Sox of a victory against the last place New York Yankees. In the end, Ron Kulpa, the same man Carl Everett headbutted 16 years ago, was the deciding factor as the Yankees literally stole a 3-2 victory at Yankee Stadium.
The Sox wasted no time scoring in the top of the first inning off Michael "Pine Tar" Pineda. Mr. Mookie Betts flied out to center as Dustin Pedroia flied out to left. Bogaerts lashed a double down the first base line. The Yankees shifted for David Ortiz and Bogaerts jogged to third clean for a stolen base. Turns out he didn't have to go anywhere as Ortiz blasted a 2 run shot to right, number 510, to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. Hanley Ramirez and Travis Shaw hit back to back singles, but Brock "Hitman" Holt struck out to let Pineda off the ropes to end the inning. That proved huge later.
Unfortunately "Slick" Rick Porcello (5-1, 2.95 ERA) couldn't protect the lead in the bottom of the first. He walked Jacoby Ellsbury on 4 straight balls but struck out Brett Gardner on 3 straight strikes. Ellsbury stole second base when Vazquez dropped the pitch out from Porcello. Teixeira whiffed as Ellsbury swiped third when Vazquez dropped another one, but hurt himself in the process. Brian McCann cut the lead 2-1 with a double down the line. Porcello struck out Carlos Beltran to end the inning.
Dustin Ackley replaced Jacoby Ellsbury in the batting order but was in right field, Aaron Hicks moved to center to start the top of the second inning. Jackie Bradley Jr looked at strike 3, Christian Vazquez grounded out but Mr. Mookie walked. Betts swiped second but Pedroia grounded out to end the inning. Porcello then puked on himself in the bottom of the second. Starlin Castro beat out an infield single to short and moved to second on the sacrifice bunt by Hicks. Didi Gregorious hit a 5 foot swinging bunt that did not advance Castro as Didi was thrown out at first. Ronald Torreyes walked and the Yankees tied it on the base hit by Ackley, although Torreyes was thrown at third to end the inning. Just like that it was 2-2.
The rejuvinated Pineda cruised in the top of the third as Bogaerts popped up, Ortiz flied out and Ramirez lined out to end the inning. "Slick" Rick struggled in the bottom of the third inning. Gardner led off with a double but Teixeira flied out. McCann whiffed on a full count but Gardner swiped third. Vazquez is having an off night as well as Porcello. Beltran popped up to end the inning.
Pineda continued to dominate the top of the fourth. Shaw whiffed, Holt grounded out but JBJ somehow singled. Vazquez looked at strike 3 to end the inning. Castro flied out to begin the bottom of the fourth. Hicks flied out but Gregorious singled. Torreyes grounded out to end the inning.
Pineda cruised in the top of the fifth as well. Mr. Mookie grounded out, Pedroia grounded out and Bogaerts lined out to end the inning. The Sox had Pineda on the run in the first but let him off the hook, that proved fatal by this point. Porcello did his best in the bottom of the fifth. Ackley grounded out, Gardner flied out and Teixeira grounded out to end the inning.
Pineda returned for one more inning in the top of the sixth. Ortiz grounded out but Ramirez reached on a swinging bunt. Shaw and Holt hit back to back singles to load the bases.....and JBJ banged into a double play to end the inning. Once again Pineda was let off the hook.
Porcello came back for the bottom of the sixth and struck out McCann. Beltran flied out and Castro grounded out.
It was up to the Yankees bullpen to save this one as Chasen Shreve came in to pitch the top of the seventh. Vazquez greeted him with a double but Mr. Mookie popped up the bunt to McCann.
Kirby Yates replaced Shreve and Pedroia lined out, then Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning.
Right on cue, after so many Red Sox misfires, the Yankees cashed in immediately in the bottom of the seventh when Aaron Hicks launched his first homer of the year off Porcello to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. Porcello recovered to get Gregorious to ground out, Torreyes to ground out and Ackley to fly out to end the inning. Porcello had gone 7 and had given up 3 runs, a quality start wasted by the inability to get a clutch hit.
It was time for the 1-2 punch of Delin Betances and Andrew Miller in the top of the eighth. Ortiz lined out to right and Ramirez struck out, but Shaw singled to chase Betances. Miller came in and issued his first walk of the season to pinch hitter Chris Young (for Holt). Once again with a chance to do some damage...JBJ looked at strike 3 to end the inning. That's 5 left on base for Jackie, brutal. Tommy Layne came to pitch the bottom of the eighth as Young stayed in left. Gardner walked but Teixeira banged into a double play. McCann grounded out to end the inning.
The Sox then got robbed in the top of the ninth with one bad call after another. Josh "Razor" Rutledge pinch hit for Vazquez and singled. Mr. Mookie looked to have walked but the pitch out of the zone was called a strike. Betts whiffed and had words for umpire Ron Kulpa. It would get worse.
Pedroia lashed a single to left and Bogaerts lofted a ball that Gregorious fell down trying to chase and just like that the bases were loaded. Miller's pitch count was rising and in stepped David Ortiz. Ortiz ran the count to 3-1 and Miller fired a pitch that McCann caught in the dirt....strike 2. Wait, what?? STRIKE 2? Ortiz and everyone else in the world including Sox analyst Steve Lyons thought it was a ball, not Kulpa. John Farrell sprinted out of the dug-out and got the heave ho by Kulpa.
The sad part was, the 3-2 pitch was even worse than the 3-1. At least the 3-1 pitch was on the outside corner, bungled by McCann but at least in the zone. The 3-2 pitch was down at Ortiz ankles.....strike 3. Kulpa rang up Ortiz out of personal spite and Ortiz responded....well....look.
Ortiz was ejected and Farrell stayed long enough to heckle Kulpa some more. It was up to Ramirez now but his body language said it all. He swung and missed at 3 straight curveballs with a half-hearted swing to end it. The Yankees stole one 3-2.
Jackass of the Night is Jackie Bradley Jr for failing in the clutch repeatedly. The double play in the 6th when a fly ball would have given the Sox the lead, the strikeout with two men on.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 5 with a run scored and stolen base. Travis Shaw was 3 for 4. Brock Holt was 1 for 3. Chris Young pinch hit for Holt and walked. Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3. Josh Rutledge pinch hit for Vazquez and singled. Tommy Layne pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Ron Kulpa. Look at this pitch graph and tell me the Sox didn't get screwed on the 3-2 pitch.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 4 but walked and stole a base. Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 5. David Ortiz launched a 2 run home run but was 1 for 5 total, although he was screwed out of a bases loaded walk in the ninth. Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 5 but struck out with the bases loaded in the ninth. Rick Porcello took the loss but hardly pitched like a loser. He went 7 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5.
Final Thoughts:
As Gorilla Monsoon would say, this was a miscarriage of justice. Still, the Sox did themselves no favors before the ninth by failing to hit in the clutch for most of the game. As bad as Kulpa was, he didn't have anything to do with Bradley hitting into a double play or Ramirez waiving at 3 straight curveballs. Porcello didn't have his best stuff either. Still, the positive to come out of this was the Sox were fired up. They wanted this win and they wanted it bad. The way Farrell and Ortiz reacted was a fire that hadn't been seen in years. The loss dropped the Sox to 17-12 on the season and a half game behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place. The Sox look to take their frustrations out on Nathan Eovaldi and the Yankees at 1 PM with David Price on the mound.
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