Pomeranz took the ball to start the game and he whiffed Adam Jones on a 2-2 fastball. Jonathan Schoop grounded to third and Jackie Bradley Jr robbed Manny Machado of a hit with a running catch to end the inning. Dustin Pedroia continued his ridiculous hot streak with a game opening double off Dylan Bundy. Xander Bogaerts and David Ortiz both grounded out but advanced Pedroia to third. Mr. Mookie Betts grounded out to third to end the inning.
The O's crushed Pomeranz in the top of the second. Mark Trumbo singled to left and Chris Davis walked. Matt Wieters grounded into a fielder's choice, erasing Trumbo at third. Sox analyist Dennis Eckersley said Drew was in trouble because he had zero command of his curveball and his fastballs were up. Right on cue JJ Hardly BLASTED a 3 run home run almost out of Fenway to put the Sox down 3-0 early. Pomeranz walked Drew Stubbs as Eck said the O's were pathetic for only having 16 stolen bases on the season AS A TEAM. Right on cue Stubbs swiped second and Nolan Reimold blasted another home run off the Monster seats to give the O's a 5 run lead. Jones and Schoop struck out to end the disasterous inning. The Sox usually don't rally when behind and they did here. Hanley Ramirez struck out but Travis Shaw doubled, Chris Young walked and Jackie Bradley Jr singled to load the bases. Ryan "Hot Hands" Hanigan took a 3-2 fastball right on the knees.....ball four. Wowwwwwww, the Sox got away with one there and it was 5-1. Bundy got rattled and walked Pedroia to force in another run. Eckersley started chastising Bundy for walking the ballpark with a 5 run lead. Bundy recovered to punch out Bogaerts and get Ortiz to ground out to end the inning. At least the Sox attempted to come back but they were still down 3 runs.
Pomeranz returned for the top of the third and immediately was chased by allowing a single to Machado. Heath Hembree replaced the incompetent Pomeranz as the boo's reigned down. Trumbo banged into a double play and Davis struck out to end the inning. Could the Sox come back against Bundy in the bottom of the third? NO! Mr. Mookie popped up and Ramirez grounded out but somehow Shaw singled. Young popped up to end the inning.
Hembree returned for the top of the fourth and got Wieters to fly out. Hardy walked but Stubbs struck out. Reimold singled but Jones flied out to end the inning. Bundy cruised in the bottom of the fourth. JBJ and Hanigan both whiffed then Pedroia grounded out to end the inning.
Joe Kelly got the call in the top of the fifth inning. Schoop singled but Machado struck out. Trumbo flied out but Davis walked. Wieters popped up to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fifth. Bogaerts blasted a solo shot to left to cut the lead 5-3. Ortiz singled and advanced to second on an error, but the rally stalled there as Mr. Mookie flied out and Ramirez popped up. Shaw flied out to end the inning but the lead was dwindling.
Kelly returned for the top of the sixth inning. Hardy flied out and Stubbs struck out then Reimold grounded out to end the inning. Good work by Joe. Young walked to lead off the bottom of the 6th but JBJ flied out. That was it for Bundy as Tommy Hunter replaced him. Rather than pinch hit Sandy Leon for Hanigan, Sox manager John Farrell let Hangan hit away....bad move. Hanigan banged into a double play to end the inning as the boo birds rained down.
Matt Barnes took over for the top of the seventh inning. Jones grounded out but Schoop reached on an infield single. Machado struck out and Trumbo flied out to end the inning. The Sox attempted to rally in the bottom of the seventh. Pedroia singled but Bogaerts popped up. Donnie Hart relieved Hunter and Ortiz flied out. O's manager Buck Showalter brought in Brad Bach to face Mr. Mookie. Betts flied out to end the inning.
Robbie Ross Jr got the ball in the top of the eighth. Davis grounded out but Wieters reached on an infield single. Hardy walked as Michael Bourn pinch hit for Stubbs. Bourn grounded out but moved both runners. Kim walked to load the bases but Jones whiffed to end the inning, the Sox were still only down two. Ramirez whiffed to begin the bottom of the eighth but Shaw singled. Young flied out and Showalter decided enough was enough, time for Cy Young leader Zach Britton to enter the game. JBJ greeted him with a single to represent the tying run. This time Farrell did pinch hit Leon for Hanigan, but he grounded out to end the inning.
Noe Ramirez got the ball in the top of the ninth but Baltimore knocked in a huge insurance run when Schoop blasted a solo home run to make it 6-3. Machado grounded out and Trumbo struck out, but Farrell pulled Ramirez so Fernando Abad could face Davis. Davis flied out to end the inning, proving that Abad could get lefties out. A 3 run lead for Britton may as well be 300 and he retired the Sox in short order. Pedroia grounded out, Bogaerts struck out and Ortiz grounded out to end the game. The O's had won 6-3.
Jackass of the night is easy. Drew Pomeranz. He got slapped around for 5 runs on two home runs and lasted just 2 innings. Not what you want in a pennant race.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4 with a walk and an rbi. Travis Shaw broke out of his slump by going 3 for 4 with a run scored. Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4. Heath Hembree tossed 2 scoreless innings. Joe Kelly also tossed 2 scoreless innings. Matt Barnes tossed a scoreless inning. Fernando Abad retired the only guy he faced.
The Bad:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 4. Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. Sandy Leon was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 but made his one hit count, launching his 19th home run of the year. David Ortiz was just 1 for 5. Chris Young was 0 for 2 but walked twice and scored a run. Ryan Hanigan was 0 for 2 but walked and drove in his first run with July. Robbie Ross Jr retired just 1 of 3 batters faced but nobody scored. Noe Ramirez tossed 1 1/3 innings but gave up the solo home run to Schoop.
Final Thoughts:
If this game was the throwaway with Rick Porcello pitching tomorrow, they sure treated it as such. Once again they scored ZERO runs off the other team's bullpen when trailing. Only this time the Baltimore bullpen is their strength. Zach Britton has a legitimate shot at the Cy Young award with Porcello in his way. I like the way the bullpen only allowed just the one run in 7 innings, had the Sox offense woke up, they would have won the game. The loss dropped the Sox to 81-63, 2 games in front of Toronto and Baltimore for the AL East lead. Tomorrow Rick Porcello (20-3) takes the mound against Kevin Gausman in the third and final game of the series.
No comments:
Post a Comment