Tampa starter Chris Archer got the ball to open the season and Mookie Betts led off by hitting a 400 foot out to center on the first pitch. Andrew Benintendi grounded out to second and Hanley Ramirez whiffed on a 3-2 slider to end the inning. Chris Sale got the opening day start for the Red Sox and struck out Matt Duffy on a check swing to open the bottom of the first. Sale blew away Kevin Kiermaier before Carlos Gomez popped up to short to end the inning.
JD Martinez made his Sox debut by drawing a walk to begin the top of the second. Xander Bogaerts doubled off the left field wall and Martinez scored the first run off a Rafael Devers ground out that advanced Xander to third. Eduardo Nunez lit up the paltry crowd with a scintillating inside the park home run when Kiermaier and Dernard Spamln both dove and missed on a ball to center. Jackie Bradley Jr popped up to short but Christian Vazquez singled up the middle. Betts popped up to first to end the inning but the Sox were up 3-0.
Sale began the bottom of the second by striking out CJ Cron. Wilson Ramos grounded out to short but Span walked. Adeiny Hechavarria singled past Nunez at second and a passed ball moved both runners into scoring position. Daniel Robertson froze on a pitch at the knees for strike three to end the inning.
Benny The Kid led off the top of the third by popping up to first before Ramirez grounded out to second. Martinez whiffed to end the inning. Rob Refsnyder drew a leadoff walk to begin the bottom of the third but Duffy popped up to center. Kiermaier whiffed again and Gomez lined out to center to end the inning but Sale had already thrown 55 pitches.
Bogaerts led off the top of the fourth with a bloop to left but was doubled off first on a sinking line drive out by Devers. Nunez whiffed badly to end the inning. Sale whiffed Cron to start the bottom of the fourth and got Ramos to fly out to center. Span lined out to Bogaerts to end the inning.
JBJ grounded out to first to open the top of the fifth, Vazquez grounded out to third and Betts struck out to end the inning. Hechavarria grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fifth before Sale blew away Robertson. Refsnyder drew a walk but Duffy grounded out to second, Numez almost pulling Ramirez off the bag, to end the inning.
Benny The Kid grounded out to second to begin the top of the sixth before Ramirez struck out at a pitch up in his eyes. Martinez watched strike three at his knees to end the inning. Sale returned for the bottom of the sixth and got Kiermaier grounding out to short to start. Gomez and Cron both whiffed to end the inning. That's 9 strikeouts and one hit with no runs allowed for Sale, outstanding.
Archer returned for the top of the seventh inning and Bogaerts doubled off the centerfield wall to start. Devers doubled down the right field line to score Bogaerts and chase Archer from the game. Austin Pruitt came in and Nunez failed to advance Bogaerts with a ground out to third. JBJ popped up to third and Vazquez grounded out to short to end the inning, but the Sox were up 4-0.
Matt Barnes took over for the bottom of the seventh and got Ramos to ground out to third to start. Span lined out to right amd Hechavarria flied out to center to end the inning.
Pruitt came back for the top of the eighth and Betts singled up the middle. Benny The Kid flied out to left and Betts was foolishly picked off, shades of last year. Ramirez walked but Martinez grounded out to third to end the inning. Joe Kelly got the call to pitch the bottom of the eighth with Mitch Moreland coming in to play first. Kelly crapped his pants as Robertson drew a leadoff walk but Joe somehow froze Refsnyder for strike three. Duffy got the Rays on the board with a double that scored Robertson and Kiermaier walked. Vomez walked to load the bases and that was it for the incompetent Kelly. He came in with a 4-0 lead and left the bases loaded, a run in with only one out.
Carson Smith came in to blow the game as pinch hitter Brad Miller walked on 5 pitches not even close. Somehow Smith managed to strike out Ranos on a nasty slider but Span finished off the comeback with a 3 run triple to give the Rays the lead. The comedy continued as Hechavarria singled on a chopper over the head of Smith and fumbled by Bogaerts to increase the lead. Joey Wendle pinch hit for Robertson and grounded out to short to end the inning. The Rays entered the inning down 4-0 and left up 6-0.
Rays closer Alex Colome took over to close it out in the top of the ninth and Bogaerts lined out to center to start. Devers grounded out to second but Nunez somehow doubled to bring the tying run to the plate. JBJ grounded out to second to end the game, the Rays pulled a miracle 15 years later to win it 6-4.
Jackass of the Night is Carson Smith. He took the loss by giving up the go-ahead runs and allowing all 3 inherited runners to score.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Eduardo Nunez was 2 for 4 including a 2 run inside the park home run.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3.
Chris Sale was outstanding. He tossed 6 innings of 1 hit shutout ball while striking out 9. He deserved better.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
The Bad:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4.
Joe Kelly was charged with 4 runs in just 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and 3 walks.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 and got picked off.
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 3 with a walk.
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 but walked and scored.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 but drove in 2 runs.
Honorable Mention:
Mitch Moreland played first base in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Final Thoughts:
Flashbacks to 2003 anyone? Bullpen by committee never works but then again, new manager Alex Cora has to get a feel on who he can trust or not. Say what you will about John Farrell last year, but he new how to coax pitchers. Keeping Sale on a short leash cost them this game but it will pay dividends down the road if this team is a playoff contender. What makes this loss extra tough is Giancarlo Stanton smashed two home runs for the New York Yankees while JD Martinez barely worked a walk. Its only one game but that was tough to watch. Tomorrow night the Sox look to have more offensive output against Blake Snell of the Rays. David Price makes his season debut for the Sox for the 7:05 PM game at Tropicana Field.
No comments:
Post a Comment