Gausman Outduels Porcello, O's Take Two of Three (9/14/16)

"Slick" Rick Porcello (20-4, 3.12 ERA) pitched damn good, adding to his Cy Young resume, but unfortunately his opponent was just a little bit better. Baltimore Orioles starter Kevin Gausman was just a little bit better and the red hot Baltimore bullpen shut down the Red Sox, giving the O's the series win with a 1-0 victory at Fenway Park.

                                                      "Damn Gausman"

Porcello got the ball to start the game and Adam Jones flied out. Michael Bourn slapped a wind aided single in between Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia. Manny Machado struck out and Chris Davis grounded out to end the inning. Kevin Gausman got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and got Dustin Pedroia to line out to center. Xander Bogaerts flied out to left but David Ortiz reached on a wind aided pop up drop by Matt Wieters. Mr. Mookie Betts grounded out to end the inning.

The O's struck first in the top of the second. Mark Trumbo blasted a home run onto the Mass Pike to give the O's a 1-0 lead. Jonathan Schoop grounded out and Matt Wieters struck out. The worst scenario happened when JJ Hardy lined a ball off the leg of Porcello, dropping him and reaching first. Ryan Flaherty flied out to end the inning. Could the Sox rally? NO!  Ramirez somehow walked but as usual Travis Shaw banged into a double play. Chris Young grounded out to end the inning.

Porcello cruised in the top of the third. Jones flied out, Bourn popped up and Machado hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. Once again the Sox did nothing in the bottom of the third. Sandy Leon grounded out. Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out and Pedroia struck out to end the inning.

Porcello once again cruised in the top of the fourth. Davis lined out, Trumbo looked at strike three and Schoop grounded out to end the inning. The Sox continued to be inept in the bottom of the fourth. Bogaerts grounded out. Ortiz flied out but Mr. Mookie singled. Ramirez whiffed to end the inning.

The duel continued in the top of the fifth. Wieters lined out and Hardy struck out, then Flaherty grounded out to end the inning. Gausman kept pace in the bottom of the fifth. Shaw singled but Young popped up. Leon and JBJ struck out to end the inning.

Porcello cruised in the top of the sixth as well. Jones, Bourn and Machado all grounded out in short order. Gausman also cruised in the bottom of the sixth. Pedroia and Bogaerts grounded out then Ortiz popped up to end the inning.

Rick tried his best to keep the Sox in the game in the top of the seventh. Davis and Trumbo struck out and Schoop grounded out to end the inning. The Sox mounted their only threat to a tiring Gausman in the bottom of the seventh. Mr. Mookie popped up but Ramirez reached on an infield single. Shaw struck out but Young singled. With a chance to tie the game....Leon struck out to end the inning.

After retiring 16 in a row, Porcello came back for the top of the eighth. Wieters popped up but Hardy singled. Flaherty and Jones both popped up to end the inning. Porcello had retired 19 of 20 and tossed 8 innings of 1 run ball. Nine times out of ten that's good enough to win, but this was the 10th time. Bourn moved to left field as Drew Stubbs moved to right. JBJ and Pedroia both grounded out then Bogaerts popped up to end the inning. A wonderful pitcher's duel to this point has the O's leading 1-0 going into the ninth.

Koji Uehara got the ball for the top of the ninth. Bourn popped up but Machado singled. Davis flied out to right and Machado was thrown out at second foolishly trying to tag up on Betts. The Cy Young leader Zach Britton came on to finish the bottom of the ninth, and he did. Ortiz grounded out, Mr. Mookie flied out and Ramirez struck out to end the game. The O's had won the pitcher's duel 1-0.

Jackass of the Night is a tough one. I gotta go with Sandy Leon. He was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts including the pivotal inning ending out with 2 men on.

                                        The King is a Jackass for a day



The Good:

Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 3 with a walk. Travis Shaw and Chris Young were both 1 for 3. Rarely do losing pitchers go on the Good list but Rick Porcello deserves it. He tossed 8 innings of 1 run ball, allowing just the home run to Trumbo plus 3 other scattered hits. He deserved a better fate. Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
 

The Bad:

Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 4 with a strikeout. Xander Bogaerts and David Ortiz were both 0 for 4. Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.


The Ugly:

Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4.



Final Thoughts:

If the Sox sent a message to Toronto by taking 2 of 3 in Skydome, the O's just sent one to the Red Sox by taking 2 of 3 without even throwing Chris Tillman at them. They did it by beating the Sox in two close games, something Boston has trouble winning, especially when trailing. The anemic offensive performance tonight highlighted their inability to not only win close games, but their record when scoring under 5 runs is absolutely dreadful. Luckily there's a lot of baseball left to be played. The loss dropped the Sox to 81-64, just 1 game ahead of Baltimore. As if losing 2 of 3 to Baltimore isn't bad enough, the New York Yankees are coming to town for a pivotal 4 game set. If the Sox hope to keep Baltimore at bay, they must as least take three of four from the Yankees. Game 1 is tomorrow night with Eduardo Rodriguez on the hill against Masahiro Tanaka.