Monday, May 30, 2016

Wright Goes Distance, Sox Beat O's (5/30/16)

After the horrid starts of most of the Boston Red Sox pitching staff for much of April and May, it was a breath of fresh air to see Steven Wright (5-4, 2.45 ERA) pitch. The knuckeballer has become the unofficial ace of the staff with his 4 hit, complete game in Camden Yards. Xander Bogaerts extended his hitting streak to 23 games beating the Baltimore Orioles 7-2.
                                          Placido Flamingo approves of the Memorial Day win

The Sox wasted no time scoring in the top of the first against Tyler Wilson. Mr. Mookie Betts singled and advanced to second on the ground out by Dustin Pedroia. Betts made a heads up play when Bogaerts was thrown out on a dribbler up the third base line. Betts noticed Wieters wasn't covering home so he outraced everyone home to score the opening run. David Ortiz walked but Jackie Bradley Jr lined out to end the inning.
                              Mookie says "HEYYYYYY...OHHHHHH...HEYYYYY...OHHH!"

Wright was in command in the bottom of the first. Adam Jones grounded out, Hyun-Soo Kim flied out and Manny Machado grounded out to end the inning.

Wilson matched Wright in the top of the second. Travis Shaw and Blake Swihart struck out before Ryan "Hot Hands" Hanigan grounded out. Wright ran into trouble in the bottom of the second. Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo struck out but Schoop singled. A passed ball on Hanigan moved Schoop to second. Nolan Reimold walked and both advanced on another passed ball. Ryan Flaherty walked to load the bases but Caleb Joseph grounded out to end the inning.

The Sox struck again in the top of the third. Marco Hernandez grounded out but Mr. Mookie singled. Pedroia singled Betts to third and Bogaerts doubled Betts home. Ortiz and JBJ grounded out but the Sox were up 3-0, two of them driven in by Bogaerts.
                                                    X-Man makes it 3-0

 Wright cruised in the bottom of the third. Jones grounded out, Kim struck out and Schoop popped up.

The Sox didn't score in the top of the fourth. Shaw struck out but Swihat singled. Hanigan popped up and Hernandez grounded out to end the inning. Wright continued to dominate in the bottom of the fourth. Davis flied out, Trumbo grounded out and Schoop popped up to end the inning.

The Sox threatened in the top of the fifth. Mr. Mookie grounded out and Pedroia flied out but Bogaerts doubled. Ortiz popped up to end the inning. The O's finally struck back in the bottom of the fifth. Reimold tripled and Flaherty doubled him home. Joseph singled him to third and Ryan scored on the Jones sac fly. Kim walked but Machado flied out. Davis grounded out to end the inning but the O's cut the lead 3-2.

JBJ got one of the runs right back in the top of the sixth with a solo home run. Shaw grounded out but Swihart tripled. Hanigan popped up and Hernandez grounded out to end the inning but the Sox had a 4-2 lead.
                                                 JBJ homers to make it 4-2

Wright returned for the top of the sixth and struck out both Trumbo and Schoop. Reimold flied out to end the inning.

Wilson returned for the top of the seventh. Mr. Mookie grounded out and Pedroia struck out, but Bogaerts walked to chase Wilson. Ashur Tolliver came in and Bogaerts was thrown out at second trying to steal to end the inning. Wright cruised in the bottom of the seventh. Flaherty grounded out, Joseph flied out and Jones whiffed to end the inning.

David Ortiz put himself on the score sheet by blasting a solo home run to make it 5-2 in the top of the eighth. JBJ popped up but Shaw walked. Swihart singled to chase Tolliver and Mychal Givens (no, not David) was brought in. Hanigan popped up but rookie Hernandez smashed his first home run of the year to wrap up the scoring 7-2. Mr. Mookie flied out to end the inning. Way to go Hernandez.
                                         "Wait...is that...is that...gone??" - MH

Wright returned for the bottom of the eighth. Kim and Machado grounded out while Davis struck out to end the inning.

Givens returned for the top of the ninth. Pedroia walked but Bogaerts popped up. Ortiz whiffed but JBJ whiffed. Shaw struck out to end the inning. Wright returned for the bottom of the ninth to finish his job. Trumbo walked but Schoop banged into a double play. Reimold walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. Flaherty grounded out to end the game. The Sox had won 7-2.






Hero of the Night is Steven Wright. His complete game saved the bullpen for better days and he's become the ace of the staff, ironic given they have David Price on the team.
                                           Memorial Day Hero: Steven Wright



The Good:

Mookie Betts was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored.

Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 rbi's.

Blake Swihart was 3 for 4 with a run scored.



The Bad:

Ryan Hanigan was 0 for 4 with several passed balls, he's also hitting .177



The Ugly:

Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4 but walked.

David Ortiz was just 1 for 4 with a walk but the hit was a solo home run.

Jackie Bradley Jr wasjust 1 for 4 with a walk but the hit was a solo home run.

Travis Shaw was 0 for 4 but walked and scored a run.

Marco Hernandez was just 1 for 4 but drove in 3 runs including hitting a 2 run homer.




Final Thoughts:

After the Sox got beat up by Toronto, Wright gave the Sox a much needed lift by going the distance. He's been huge so far after the horrid starts by Red Sox starters through the first two months of the season. The offense picked it up with the home runs and the heads up play by Betts. The win moved the Sox to 31-20, good for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow Eduardo Rodriguez makes his season debut opposite Kevin Gausman in Game 2 of the series.

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