Wright got the ball in the top of the first and Tim Anderson chopped a base hit up the middle to start. Adam Eaton hit a liner to a jumping Xander Bogaerts and Jose Abreu hit a grounder to Travis Shaw at third. Shaw threw his glove at the ball and screamed at it for his ninth error of the season. Wright then threw a pickoff throw away for another error to advance the runners, but Steven punched out Melky Cabrera. Todd Frazier lined out to a running Chris Young to end the inning. Gonzalez got the ball in the bottom of the first and Mr. Mookie Betts led off by grounding out to third. Xander Bogaerts was called out on strike three on a bad call by home plate umpire Ed Hickox before David Ortiz tried to drop down a surprise bunt but it was snuffed out by Gonzalez to end the inning.
The White Sox struck first in the top of the second as Brett Lawrie doubled over the head of Young in left to start. Alex Avila waived at strike three and Lawrie moved to third on the Avisail Garcia fly out to center. Vazquez muffed an easily catchable pitch and Lawrie scored on the passed ball to put Chicago on top. Rookie Jason Coats walked and Anderson flied out to the centerfield triangle to end the inning with the White Sox ahead 1-0.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as Hanley Ramirez grounded out to third to start. Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to short and Chris Young lined out to center to end the inning.
Wright got Eaton to strike out swinging to start the top of the third but Abreu singled up the middle. Cabrera banged into a double play to end the inning. Travis Shaw led off the bottom of the third by grounding into the shift to start. Christian Vazquez and Marco Hernandez stroked back to back singles then Vazquez moved to third on the Mr. Mookie force at second. Bogaerts popped up to Anderson to end the inning.
Frazier hit a single in the hole at short to start the top of the fourth but Lawrie popped up to second. Frazier got picked off by the alert Wright and Avila grounded into the shift to end the inning.
Gonzalez cruised in the bottom of the fourth as Ortiz grounded off the glove of Gonzalez but right to Anderson for the out. Ramirez and JBJ both whiffed to end the inning.
Wright got the White Sox to beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the fifth as Garcia grounded out to short to start. Coats grounded out to short and Anderson grounded out to third to end the inning. Gonzalez cruised in the bottom of the fifth as Young flied out to the left field warning track to start. Shaw whiffed on a fastball away and Vazquez popped up to center to end the inning.
Wright cruised in the top of the sixth as Eaton grounded out to first to start. Abreu grounded out to third and Cabrera popped up to center to end the inning. Gonzalez was just as good in the bottom of the sixth as Hernandez grounded out to third to start. Mr. Mookie grounded out to short but Bogaerts walked. Ortiz grounded into the shift to end the inning.
Wright kept up the pace in the top of the seventh as Frazier whiffed in an 87 mph fastball to start. Lawrie hit a foul pop up behind the plate and Vazquez made a great sliding catch. Avila grounded into the shift to end the inning.
The Red Sox woke up in the bottom of the seventh as Ramirez lined out to center to start. JBJ whiffed but Young singled in the hole at third. Shaw walked and Vazquez lined a base hit to center. Eaton threw wide of home and Young scored to tie the game, the runners advancing on the error. That was it for Gonzalez as Nate Jones came in to pitch to Hernandez. Hernandez grounded back to the mound on the first pitch to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Wright returned for the top of the eighth and walked Garcia to start. Coats dropped down a bunt to advance Garcia to second but Wright struck out Anderson swinging. Eaton grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox had no chance to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth as Mr. Mookie whiffed on a 91 mph slider to start. Bogaerts grounded out to Anderson and Ortiz grounded into the shift to end the inning.
Wright returned for one final inning in the top of the ninth and got Abreu to fly out to the centerfield warning track to start. Cabrera hit a little roller to Hernandez that fired to first...SAFE! Sox manager John Farrell challenged the call but Cabrera was clearly safe. Cabrera took second on a passed ball and Frazier walked. Wright struck out Lawrie swinging with a high knuckleball and Avila grounded out to second to end the inning. Wright would have been going for his fourth complete game of the season as he tossed 9 innings without an unearned run. He deserved better.
Zach Putnam came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and things looked good when Ramirez, JBJ and Young all walked to load the bases with nobody out. Tyler Saladino came in to play right with Zach Duke coming into pitch. For some reason Sox manager John Farrell sent in Dustin Pedroia to pinch hit for Shaw. The gamble backfired as Pedroia struck out swinging. The outfield was pulled in and the gamble worked as Vazquez hit a grounder to Saladino who fired home to get Ramirez at home. JB Shuck came in to replace Saladino but went to center with Eaton moving to right. For some reason Sox manager John Farrell sent in ice cold Ryan LaMarre to pinch hit for Hernandez. Sure enough, LaMarre whiffed badly to end the inning. Bases loaded and nobody out, couldn't score. Poor Steven Wright.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to pitch the top of the tenth with Deven Marrero now at third base with Pedroia taking over at second. Garcia walked on four pitches not even close and Shuck singled on a full count to left. It looked like the White Sox would fail to get a run home when Anderson struck out swinging and Eaton beat out a double play ball for the second out. Unfortunately Abreu doubled into the gap to score both runners to ice the game. That was it for Kimbrel as Robbie Ross Jr replaced the incompetent closer. Cabrera took strike three to end the inning with the White Sox ahead 3-1.
David Robertson came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Mr. Mookie grounded out to Anderson to start. Bogaerts was rung up for strike three but Ortiz dumped a base hit in front of the left side of the defense to extend the inning. Ramirez whiffed to end the game. The Red Sox dropped arguably their most frustrating game of the year 3-1 in 10 innings.
Jackass of the Night is Craig Kimbrel. He gave up the 2 runs in the top of the tenth to take the loss.
The Good:
Chris Young was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Marco Hernandez was 1 for 3.
Steven Wright was amazing. He tossed 9 innings of 1 run ball (unearned) while allowing 5 hits and 3 walks.
Robbie Ross Jr struck out the only man he faced.
The Bad:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Dustin Pedroia struck out as a pinch hitter.
Ryan LeMarre struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 but walked.
David Ortiz was just 1 for 5.
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4 but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Travis Shaw was 0 for 2 with an error but walked.
Honorable Mention:
Deven Marrero played third base in the top of the tenth.
Final Thoughts:
That game totally sucked, especially the bottom of the ninth. Wright is making 1998 Tim Wakefield look like Charlie Zink out there. He's been unhittable to this point in the season but today the offense wasn't there. He pitched his ass off and the Red Sox have nothing to show for it. The offense couldn't hit Gonzalez or the White Sox relief pitchers and that's sad, considering nobody else is having a problem hitting them. What was Farrell thinking letting Pedroia pinch hit ice cold after sitting the whole game? Also Ryan LeMarre for Marco Hernandez? Really? Those two decisions were head scratchers and it ended up costing the Sox the game. Shaw isn't Ted Williams but at least he could have put the ball in play and why sent up an AAA player to bat for the kid who's power brought him to the game? Kimbrel looked lousy again and something's up with him. The less said of this disaster, the better. The good news is Brock Holt is due to be back soon and Ryan Hanigan will follow soon after. The Sox need any offensive firepower they can get after a game like this. The loss drops the Sox to 39-30, 1 game behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. The bad news is things are about to get worse. Clay Buchholz (3-6, 5.86 ERA) takes the hill tomorrow night up against White Sox ace Chris Sale who's 11-2 on the season. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment