For the second straight game the Boston Red Sox tried to get into a shoot-out with the Baltimore Orioles and for the second straight game, they lost. This time the bullpen was obliterated by the red hot O's offense. One night after scoring 13 runs on 14 hits, the O's pounded out 12 runs on 11 hits and SEVEN home runs to hang a 12-7 defeat on the Red Sox at Camden Yards.
Ubaldo Jimenez got the start for Baltimore and Mr. Mookie Betts greeted him with a ground out to short to begin the top of the first inning. Dustin Pedroia grounded out to second and Xander Bogaerts was robbed of a hit by a lunging Manny Machado to end the inning. "Slick" Rick Porcello got the start for the Sox and Adam Jones led off the bottom of the first by striking out swinging. Hyun Soo Kim singled to left but Machado popped up to center. Chris Davis grounded into a force to end the inning.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the second as David Ortiz grounded out to second, Hanley Ramirez grounded out to third and Travis Shaw grounded out to first to end the inning. It was Baltimore's turn to beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the second as Mark Trumbo grounded out to third to start. Pedro Alvarez grounded out to short but Porcello plunked Jonathan Schoop in the ribs. Ryan Flaherty grounded into a force to end the inning.
Blake Swihart flied out to center to begin the top of the third before Chris Young popped up. Christian Vazquez broke up the perfect game with a walk but Mr. Mookie whiffed to end the inning. Porcello matched Jimenez in the bottom of the third inning. Fransisco Pena (Tony's son) hit a flare snared by Swihart, Jones grounded out to second and Kim flied out to the right field wall to end the inning.
Jimenez remained unhittable in the top of the fourth a Pedroia watched strike three go by, Bogaerts whiffed and Ortiz flied one to the right field warning track to end the inning. The O's struck first in the bottom of the fourth as Machado lined a single to center before taking out Bogaerts on a slide to break up a double play ball hit by Davis. Sox manager John Farrell challenged the call but the call stood, just a force at second and no double play. To add insult to injury, Trumbo blasted a two run bomb to left to give the O's the lead. Alvarez popped up into the shift and Schoop grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox were now down 2-0 and didn't even have a hit yet.
The Sox mustered nothing in the top of the fifth inning although Ramirez broke up the no-hitter with a lead-off single. Shaw flied out to center but Ramirez moved to second when Jimenez threw away a pickoff attempt. Swihart grounded out to short and Young flied out to center to end the inning. The O's struck again in the bottom of the fifth inning. Flaherty singled but Pena froze on a strike three pitch on the outside corner. Jones golfed a 2 run home run just over the left field wall for another two run home run. Kim popped up to Shaw and Machado lined out to right to end the inning with the O's leading 4-0.
The Sox were down by 4 runs and getting no-hit going into the top of the sixth. Game over right? WRONG! Jimenez totally fell apart as Vazquez doubled down the right field line followed by Mr. Mookie worked a walk. Pedroia blooped a single to right but Vazquez was wisely held at third to load the bases. Bogaerts extended his hitting streak just missing a grand slam by inches off the centerfield wall to center to score Vazquez and Betts, unfortunately Bogaerts lollygagged out of the box thinking the ball was gone so it was just a 400 foot single. Ortiz picked up Bogaerts by blasting a 3 run bomb to right to put the Sox on top. Ramirez singled in the hole to FINALLY chase Jimenez. Talk about losing it in a blink of an eye. Mychal Givens came in and slammed the door as Shaw whiffed and Ramirez was foolishly thrown out trying to steal. The lost runner loomed large when Swihart singled up the middle. Young whiffed to end the inning but the Sox turned a 4-0 deficit with no hits to a 5-4 lead.
The lead lasted approximately 3 minutes in the bottom of the sixth as Davis hit a fly out a mile high to right but Trumbo blasted a solo home run to dead center to tie the game. Alvarez struck out and Schoop grounded out to short to end the inning but the O's had tied it 5-5. Porcello had gone 6 innings but gave up 5 runs off 3 homers, yuck.
The Sox failed to score off Givens in the top of the seventh inning. Vazquez whiffed and Mr. Mookie lined out to right, but Pedroia singled off Givens. Bogaerts popped up to short to end the inning. The O's took the lead in the bottom of the seventh with Robbie Ross Jr now on the mound. Flaherty walked and Pena singled but Ross recovered to get Jones to pop up to short. Kim flied out to left and Sox manager John Farrell wanted the righty/righty matchup with Junichi Tazawa coming in to pitch to Machado. The matchup failed as Machado blasted a no-doubt 3 run homer to give the O's the lead. Davis popped up to right to end the inning but the O's were up for good.
Brad Brach came in to pitch the top of the eighth but there would be no rally for the Sox this time. Ortiz popped up to short, Ramirez flied out to right and Shaw lined out to end the inning. The O's continued to send balls a mile out of the stadium in the bottom of the eighth. Trumbo grounded out to second but Alvarez blasted a solo home run over the right field scoreboard. Schoop walked but Tazawa did manage to strike out Flaherty but Schoop swiped second. Rather than let Tazawa get one more out, Farrell decided to save him for later and bring in today's call-up Noe Ramirez. Ramirez poured gas on the fire by allowing back to back jacks to Pena and Jones. That's 3 home runs in the inning and 7 total this game. Kim popped up to short to end the inning but it was now 12-5 O's....brutal.
Brian Duensing took over on the mound with Nolan Reimold taking over in left and Joey Rickard taking over in right. Somehow the Sox rallied in the top of the ninth but it was too little, too late. Swihart hustled down to first on a squibber to third for a base hit and Young singled him to second. Vazquez hit a ball into right field but Young was forced out at second because he had to wait to see if the ball was caught or not. Mr. Mookie singled home Swihart just to piss off the O's. Pedroia popped up to first but Bogaerts singled past the diving Reimold to score Vazquez with another run. Ortiz popped up to left to end the game and the Sox were defeated 12-7.
Jackass of the Night is Junichi Tazawa. Not only did he give up the 3 run bomb to Machado, he allowed Alvarez to crush one off him plus was charged with another run. They were better off letting Josh Rutledge pitch like they were going to last night.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 5 with a run scored.
Xander Bogaerts extended his hitting streak to 26 games by going 2 for 5 with a run scored and 3 rbi's.
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 4.
Blake Swihart was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
The Bad:
Travis Shaw was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Rick Porcello took it up the cornhole by allowing 3 home runs and 5 total runs in 6 innings.
Robbie Ross Jr was charged with 2 runs in just 2/3 of an inning.
Noe Ramirez allowed 2 home runs in just 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 with a walk but drove in a run and scored.
David Ortiz was just 1 for 5 but made the hit count as it was a 3 run home run.
Chris Young was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Not the way to establish dominance in the AL East. Letting the Baltimore Orioles offense take a dump on you and make you clean it up two straight games only inspires confidence in them. The Sox need to find a way to cool down that offense if they have any hope to contend this season. The O's hit SEVEN home runs tonight, how can you compete with that? Hopefully the Sox can shake it off going into the weekend series at home against the Toronto Blue Jays. The loss drops the Sox to 32-22, just 1 game ahead of Baltimore for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night David Price (7-1, 5.11 ERA) takes on R.A. Dickey in Game 1 of the series at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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