The Sox tried to fight back when Chris Young doubled and stole third to start the top of the second inning before Christian Vazquez walked. Deven Marrero whiffed but Jackie Bradley Jr singled to score Young to put the Sox on the board. With Keuchel on the run, Bogaerts and Pedroia both whiffed to end the inning. The Sox were down 2-1 but squandered a huge chance to take the lead.
Surprisingly Pomeranz didn't poop himself just yet in the bottom of the second inning as Josh Reddick flied out to left to begin. Yuli Gurriel walked but Marwin Gonzalez whiffed. Brian McCann popped up to short to end the inning.
The Sox offense gave up in the top of the third as Beintendi flied out to center, Betts grounded out to second and Ramirez looked at strike three to end the inning. The rout continued as Springer blasted a 937 foot bomb out of Minute Maid Park to increase the lead and Bregman doubled high off the wall. Altuve singled home Bregman and that was it for Pomeranz. The Sox most improved pitcher of 2017 reverted to 2016 and gave up 4 runs in just 2 plus innings. What good is a season of improvement if he melts in the playoffs?
Sox manager John Farrell tied his luck with Carson Smith but he walked Correa and Gattis to load the bases. Smith managed to get Reddick to line out to a diving Marrero, but Farrell stormed out of the dugout with a broadsword and chased away Smith as David Price chugged in from the bullpen. Guriel popped up to short and Gonzalez hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning with the Astros up 4-1.
The Sox gave up in the top of the fourth inning as Young lined out to short, Vazquez whiffed and Marrero struck out to end the inning. Price returned for the bottom of the fourth and got McCann to ground out to second but Springer doubled. Price recovered to get Bregman to ground out to second before Altuve was finally intentionally walked. Correa popped up to second to end the inning.
Keuchel dominated the top of the fifth as JBJ hit a comebacker to the mound, Bogaerts flied out to center and Pedroia grounded out to short to end the inning. Price finished with a flurry in the bottom of the fifth as Gattis was rung up for strike three to start. Reddick whiffed and Guriel grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the sixth as Benintendi grounded out to first to start before Betts whiffed Ramirez drew a walk to chase Keuchel after he had retired 14 in a row. Chris Devenski came in and Mitch Moreland pinch hit for Young....just to pop up to short to end the inning. The wheels fell off in the bottom of the sixth as Farrell decided to go with Eduardo Rodriguez of all people. Gonzalez greeted him with a single and McCann was plunked. Farrell sprinted out of the dugout ripping his shirt open and throwing his hat at Rodriguez, screaming at him to get out of there. Addison Reed came in to stop the bleeding but ended up pouring salt in the wound as Springer beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners. Bregman hit a short pop up to Betts who caught it...then spiked the ball and did the boogie woogie not realizing there were only 2 outs, scoring Gonzalez on the error. Altuve was intentionally walked again and this time Correa made the Sox pay with a 2 run double. Gattis singled in Correa but Reddick grounded out to end the inning with the Astros once again humiliating the Sox 8-1.
Somehow Vazquez singled for the Sox first hit in 4 innings to open the top of the seventh. Rafael Devers pinch hit for Marrero...just to look at strike three. JBJ lined out to center and Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning. Once again the horrendous Red Sox offense failed to show up in an important game. Austin Maddox came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Guriel greeted him with a single. Gonzalez flied out to right and McCann singled. Springer walked to load the bases but Maddox got Bregman to pop up for the second out. With no choice but to pitch to Altuve, Maddox somehow struck him out to end the inning. That and Price were about the only highlights of this dreary game.
Luke Gregerson came in to pitch the top of the eighth inning and Pedroia met him with an infield single. Brock Holt pinch ran for the gimpy Pedroia but Benintendi whiffed. Betts flied out to left and fell to the ground in agony clutching his wrist. He had to be carried out on a stretcher to add injury to insult. Ramirez whiffed to end the inning. Losing Nunez and Betts to injury pretty much means the season is about to come to a crashing halt.
Rajai Davis took over in right as Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth just to keep fresh. Correa lined out to left and the ageless Carlos Beltran pinch hit for Gattis....and singled. Cameron Maybin pinch hit for Reddick and Derek Fisher pinch ran for Beltran. Maybin lined out to center and Guriel whiffed to end the inning.
Thankfully the disaster ended in the top of the ninth with closer Ken Giles in the game to get some work in as well. Somehow the Sox rallied as Moreland lined out to left but Vazquez singled. Devers popped up to third but a wild pitch moved Vazquez to second. JBJ stroked a lucky single to score Vaz just to piss off the fans. Bogaerts whiffed to end the game and the Astros had won 2 in a row by a score of 8-2 to put the Sox on the brink.
Jackass of the Night should be John Farrell for his idiotic pitching changes but it has to be Drew Pomeranz. He lasted just 2 plus innings and gave up 4 runs after having a tremendous bounce back season. If he and Chris Sale can't get the Astros out, how can anyone else?
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Chris Young was 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis.
David Price tossed 2 2/3 clutch scoreless innings to keep the Sox in the game.
Austin Maddox pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 2 as a pinch hitter.
Deven Marrero was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Eduardo Rodriguez gave up a hit and hit a man.
Addison Reed allowed 2 inherited runners to score and 2 of his own.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 before being carried out on a stretcher.
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 3 but walked.
Carson Smith put 2 of the 3 men he faced on base.
Honorable Mention:
Brock Holt pinch ran for Dustin Pedroia and played second.
Rajai Davis came in for Mookie Betts.
Final Thoughts:
Holy mother of ass this is BAD. Last year sucked against Cleveland but at least Game's 1 and 3 were competitive. This has been two straight blowouts that weren't even close. The Astros have 16 runs off 24 hits and 6 home runs. The Red Sox have 4 runs on 15 hits and zero home runs. Seriously, Jose Altuve could go 0 for 4 in Game 3 and still finish with more home runs than the ENTIRE RED SOX TEAM. Add in the injuries to Eduardo Nunez and you have a tired, exhausted, beaten team that seems to be ready to simply go home. Dustin Pedroia made some post-game comments about getting their asses kicked two games in a row with no end in sight. Mookie Betts also made comments that made it sound like they have no chance in hell. Not exactly Kevin Millar saying "Don't let us win tonight." Also Game 3 could be the last for John Farrell. Not that he was the sole reason the Sox lost, he wasn't, but somebody has to pay for back to back collapses at the end and a 3 game sweep both years. It sounds like I'm admitting defeat before Game 3 even begins, but I'm not the only one. Most Boston radio personalities, beat writers, sport writers and hundreds of fans all share the same sentiment. This was by far the most frustrating season in 25 years to have a pitching staff THIS talented and an offense THIS bad. The only team that comes close is the 1992 Red Sox who talent wise was far worse on offense. Even in the 1960's when the Red Sox were routinely terrible, they had a lot of offensive talent but not enough pitching. Even in the 1970's when they had Hall of Fame and All-Star offense, once again there was not enough pitching. Now its the complete opposite. Dave Dombrowski and John Henry have a lot of work to do in the off-season but for now there's still Game 3 to play. This Sunday the Sox rest their season on the right arm of....Doug Fister. Who saw that coming in July? He is opposed by Brad Peacock and the game starts at 2:30 PM at Fenway Park.
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