"ARE YOU GUYS EVER GOING TO PLAY WELL????" - BS
Porcello got the start in the top of the first and Seth Smith grounded out after an 11 pitch at-bat. Porcello blew away Adam Jones and got Manny Machado to ground out to end the inning. Bundy took the mound in the bottom of the first inning and Xander Bogaerts grounded out to third to begin. Andrew Benintendi walked and...as usual....Mookie Betts hit into a double play to end the inning.
Mark Trumbo led off the top of the second inning by popping up in foul territory to Marco Hernandez then Chris Davis whiffed on a 3-2 count. Jonathan Schoop singled to left but Betts made a running catch on JJ Hardy to end the inning. Bundy kept pace in the bottom of the third inning when Hanley Ramirez grounded out, Mitch Moreland worked a walk but was erased on the force by Dustin Pedroia. Jackie Bradley Jr popped up to Davis to end the inning.
Ryan Flaherty whiffed to begin the top of the third inning. Caleb Joseph grounded out to Hernandez and Smith popped up to end the inning, but he had already thrown 51 pitches. Sandy Leon continued his season long slump by grounding into the shift to start the bottom of the third. Hernandez whiffed on a high fastball but Bogaerts doubled off the Monster when Flaherty misjudged the ball. Things returned to normal as Benny The Kid grounded out to end the inning. The Sox absolutely can't score off starting pitching.
Porcello got Jones to pop up to start the top of the fourth inning before Machado grounded out. Trumbo doubled off the Monster but Rick got Davis looking to end the inning. The Sox continued to do nothing against Bundy in the bottom of the fourth as Betts grounded out. Ramirez walked but...stop me if you've heard this...Moreland grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The O's struck first in the top of the fifth inning. Schoop singled but Hardy looked at strike three. Flaherty lined out but Joseph broke an rbi-less streak with a double to score Schoop. Smith grounded out to end the inning with the O's ahead 1-0. Unfortunately the Sox couldn't answer in the bottom of the fifth against Bundy. Pedroia flied out but JBJ worked a walk. Leon singled to put the go-ahead run on....but Hernandez flied out and Bogaerts grounded out to end the inning.
The O's got another one in the top of the sixth. Jones flied out but Machado got the last laugh when he blasted a solo home run to increase the lead. Porcello recovered to strike out Trumbo and Davis to end the inning but the O's now led 2-0. Porcello did the best he could but the Sox hadn't scored a single run in the last TWENTY FIVE innings he pitched.
The lead would remain as nobody was going to touch Bundy in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Benny The Kid flied out and tempers flared when Bundy drilled Mr. Mookie. With Chris Sale going tomorrow, that was probably not the smartest thing to do. Ramirez flied out and Moreland popped up to end the inning.
Heath Hembree was first out of the bullpen in the top of the seventh inning. Schoop struck out, Hardy flied out and Flaherty struck out to end the inning. Good work Heath. Unfortunately Bundy couldn't be touched in the bottom of the seventh. Pedroia flied out, JBJ popped up and Leon whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox fell apart in the top of the eighth inning with a legendary display of ineptitude with Heath Hembree still on the mound. Joseph struck out but Smith walked. Craig Gentry pinch ran for Smith as Jones bounced one to Hembree who decided instead of tossing to first, he spiked it like Rob Gronkowski allowing Jones to reach first. Then Machado hit a ground ball to Marco Hernandez who proceeded to kick it like a soccer ball into the Orioles dugout then ran around screaming "GOALLLLLLL!!!!" allowing Gentry to score with another error. Trumbo then singled to left and Benny The Kid tossed the ball into the Monster Seats rather than throw home allowing Jones to score. Heath Hembree had had enough and walked off the mound in disgust with his middle finger over his head. John Farrell had to go get Fernando Abad who was reading a newspaper in the bullpen up. Abad came in and got David to hit a sac fly to score Machado. Schoop flied out to end the inning but the score was now 5-0. This was the definition of basebawful.
Captain Sisko cant bear to watch anymore
Somehow the Sox sprang to life following in the bottom of the eighth. Hernandez doubled and Bogaerts singled him to third. Benny The Kid singled home Hernandez to chase Bundy, advance Bogaerts to third and chase Bundy. Darren O'Day relieved Bundy and got Mr. Mookie to fly out. The Sox blew their chance with yet another mental error. Ramirez went the opposite way on a single that scored Bogaerts easily. Benintendi ran around second and stopped to go back...only to see Ramirez standing on second because he never looked up while running. Benny was tagged out easily as a chorus of boo's rained down on Ramirez. Rather than first and second with only one out, it was Hanley on second with 2 out. Moreland flied out to end the inning but the Sox were now down 5-2.
Joe Kelly got the call in the top of the ninth. Hardy grounded out and Flaherty hit a bounding ball to Hernandez who tossed the ball up and whacked it with his glove over to first like he was Ilie Nastase. As expected the ball barely went 30 feet and Flaherty was safe on the fourth error of the ballgame. Joey Rickard pinch ran for Flaherty but Jones grounded into a double play to end the inning. Brutal defense tonight and pretty much all season.
Mercifully the game came to an end in the bottom of the ninth with Brad Brach on the mound to end it. Pedroia grounded out and JBJ lined out before Chris Young pinch hit for Leon. Young hit a scalding line drive....snared by Machado for the final out. The O's had won 5-2.
Jackass of the Night is a tough one but I'll have to go with Marco Hernandez. He made not one but two boneheaded errors, the first one in the eighth inning that helped put the game out of reach.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Sandy Leon was 1 for 3
Fernando Abad got the final two outs if the eighth inning.
Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 4
Chris Young was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 3 but reached on an HBP.
Andrew Benintendi was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run batted in but his throwing error allowed a run to score
Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi but his boneheaded baserunning cost the Sox in the bottom of the eighth by leaving Benintendi out to dry
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 but walked.
Rick Porcello took the loss but tossed 6 innings of 2 run ball which normally would be good enough to win a game. He allowed just 5 hits and struck out 7.
Heath Hembree allowed 3 runs in the 8th but was victimized by 3 errors which means none of the runs were earned.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox couldn't score any runs, what else is new? This is going to be a pretty mediocre season if things keep up like this. Dylan Bundy would be the AL Cy Young winner this season if he pitched against Boston every day because he's got their number right now. Then again everyone has their number it seems. The loss of David Ortiz is affecting them both in leadership and in the scoreboard. When things were going bad he'd pull everyone together for a boot in the ass and he himself would hit a 3 run bomb to get everyone going. Without him the offense seems to be going through the motions day after day after day. If that's not bad enough, this Machado/Pedroia thing is still going as Mookie was drilled tonight. You can bet your bottom dollar Sale is going to drill someone tomorrow. The Sox also need a third baseman in a bad way because Hernandez isn't going to cut it, Josh Rutledge is not a starter and Pablo Sandoval is hurt. The Sox lead the league indouble plays and errors this season...that's never a good thing. Tomorrow Chris Sale goes for the Sox opposite Alec Asher at 7:10 PM.
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