As for the game, good grief this offense is bad. The Rays came into the game with no starter and was going to live or die with the bullpen. The Rays bullpen limited the incompetent Boston Red Sox to just 3 runs but the vaunted pitching of Boston kept them in the game. Rick Porcello (1-0, 1.69 ERA) kept the Rays off the board and the Boston bullpen held the fort long enough to take a 3-2 win to spoil Devil Rays day at Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay reliever Andrew Kittredge, making his first major league start, got the ball to start the game. Mookie Betts greeted him by grounding out to short. Andrew Benintendi somehow walked but Hanley Ramirez naturally banged into a double play to end the inning. Rick Porcello got the start for the Sox and retired Dernard Span to start the bottom of the first by getting him to into the shift. Kevin Kiermaier lined out to left and Carlos Gomez grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second although JD Martinez grounded out to third to begin. A now healthy Bogaerts smashed a solo home run to left to put the Sox on the board. Mitch Moreland flied out to center and Eduardo Nunez whiffed but the Sox led 1-0.
Porcello froze Brad Miller with a 2-2 change for strike three to begin the bottom of the second. Matt Duffy popped up to center as NESN showed old pal Wade Boggs hitting the first Rays home run 20 years ago to the day. Analyst Jerry Remy told a story how Boggs would crush balls during batting practice but was a slap hitter during real games to get on base. Joey Wendle watched strike three go by to end the inning.
Brock "The Hitman" Holt began the top of the third inning by harmlessly flying out to left to start. Sandy Leon lined out to center but somehow Betts hit a ground-rule double. Naturally Benny The Kid grounded out to second to end the inning. The relief pitcher held the Sox to just 1 run in 3 innings, the New York Yankees would be up 5-0 right now. Pathetic. Porcello trudged on in the bottom of the third, getting Adeiny Hechavarria to fly out to center to start. Mallex Smith popped up to center but Porcello walked the number nine hitter Jesus Sucre. Span sliced a single down the third base line but Kiermaier grounded into a force at second to end the inning.
Rays manager Kevin Cash left Kittredge in for too long and it showed as Ramirez doubled down the left field line to open the top of the fourth inning. JD Martinez continued to prove to be a waste as he failed to advance Ramirez to third by grounded out to short. That was it for Kittredge and the Sox offense should be ashamed of themselves, he went 3 1/3 and allowed just 1 run. Ryan Yarbrough came in and Miller made a great diving catch in foul territory to retire Bogaerts. Ramirez swiped third on a ball four pitch to Mitch Moreland to put runners at the corners. The Sox caught a break when Nunez hit a routine grounder to third, Duffy spiked the throw to Miller and it came out of his glove at the last second, allowing Ramirez to score on the error. Holt watched strike three go by to end the inning but it was 2-0 Sox.
Porcello did what he could in the bottom of the fourth as both Gomez and Miller flied out to center to begin. Duffy beat out an infield single to short but Wendle flied out to center to end the inning.
The miserable Red Sox offense did nothing in the top of the fifth against Yarbrough as Vazquez popped up to right to begin. Betts flied out to right but Benny The Kid miraculously drew a walk. Ramirez grounded into a force to end the inning. The Rays bullpen had held the Sox to two measly runs in 5 innings, bawful. The Rays almost broke Porcello in the bottom of the fifth although Nunez made a great play to rob Hechavarria of a hit. Smith beat the infield coming in with a single past Bogaerts and Sucre flummoxed Holt with a liner to him to put the tying run on first. Porcello got a huge out by whiffing Span and Kiermaier popped up to third to end the inning. The Sox starting pitching had tossed 18 shut-out innings against the Rays to this point.
The Sox struck again in the top of the sixth inning a Martinez got his first hit with the Red Sox with a leadoff double to the wall. Bogaerts kept up his hot streak with an rbi double down the left field line before advancing to third on the ground out by Moreland. Unfortunately Nunez popped up to third but Holt walked to put runners at the corners. Leon whiffed badly on a 3-2 fastball down the middle to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 3-0 against the Rays bullpen.
Could Porcello hold the lead in the bottom of the sixth? NO! Gomez started the rally with a double to the center-field wall but Porcello froze Miller on an inside fastball for strike three. Duffy singled past Nunez to advance Gomez to third to chase Porcello. Sox manager Alex Cora stuck to his guns about not having his starters go too long too early and brought in Heath Hembree with runners at the corners. Wendle got the run in with a sac fly to left and a wild pitch moved Duffy to second. Hembree did manage to strike out Hechavarria to end the inning. Porcello had gone 5 1/3 and was charged with just 1 run, not bad and the Sox led 3-1 after 6.
The miserable Sox offense was done for the night in the top of the seventh inning as Betts lined out to left to begin. Benny The Kid whiffed badly and Ramirez lined out softly to first to end the inning. Another horrible performance by a horrible offense. Hembree returned for the bottom of the seventh and got Smith to line out to left to start. Sucre whiffed but Span walked to chase Hembree from the game. Sox manager Alex Cora gave rookie lefty Bobby Poyner a chance to make his major league debut in a high leverage situation with the tying run coming to the plate. The 15th round pick in 2015 got Kiermaier to pop up to third to end the inning, good work kid!
Yarbrough returned for the top of the eighth inning and Martinez greeted him with a bloop single to right. The red hot Bogaerts sliced a single to right but once again the Sox failed to get anyone in. Moreland flied out harmlessly to center to end Yarbrough's night. Sergio Romo came in and got Nunez to fly out to center. Somehow Holt walked but Leon left the bases loaded by watching strike three go by to end the inning. The Yankees would be winning this game 10-1 right about now.
For some reason Cora left Poyner in to start the bottom of the eighth and Gomez blasted a 9,000 foot home run to cut the lead. Miller popped up to first to end the inning and Cora finally took Bobby out in favor of Carson Smith. Smith managed to strike out Wendle but Duffy swiped second. With the walls crashing down, Smith got Hechavarria to fly out to center to end the inning but it was down to 3-2 Sox.
The Sox completed their embarrassing offensive performance with a garbage top of the ninth inning with Chaz Roe now on the mound. Somehow Betts drew a leadoff walk but Benny The Kid flied out to center. Betts looked to have swiped second but alert Rays manager Kevin Cash wanted the play reviewed because Wendle's foot blocked Mookie's hand. Sure enough the call was reversed and Mookie was out. Ramirez hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. The putrid Red Sox offense was held to just 3 runs in 9 innings by the Tampa Bay bullpen. The Yankees would have won this game going away. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel was tasked to lock down the game in the bottom of the ninth. Smith drew a leadoff walk but was foolishly doubled off first after pinch hitter CJ Cron lined out to Bogaerts for the double play. Span popped up to short to end the game. The Sox hung on to win the game 3-2.
Hero of the Night is Xander Bogaerts. He was 3 for 4 with a run scored and 2 rbi's which ended up being the difference in the game.
The Good:
JD Martinez was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Brock Holt walked twice in four plate appearances.
Rick Porcello got the win by pitching 5 1/3 innings of 1 run ball. He looked sharp for the most part.
Heath Hembree pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Carson Smith got the final two outs of the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Bad:
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 4.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 3 but walked twice.
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 but walked.
Bobby Poyner got a big out to escape the 7th but gave up a bomb in the eighth.
Final Thoughts:
The offense may be abysmal but the pitching is going to win a lot of games this year. The Sox have a lot of injuries on the pitching side with Drew Pomeranz, Steven Wright, Eduardo Rodriguez and Tyler Thornberg all sidelined but when they all come back, this is going to be a deadly staff. Offensively JD Martinez hasn't made a damn bit of difference so far but its only been 3 games. Apart from Bogaerts, no one is lighting up at the plate yet. Still, just like yesterday a win is a win. Its also nice to see Alex Cora pulling the plug on Chris Sale, David Price and Porcello early rather than leave them in to throw 170 pitches apiece in March. Tomorrow is the series finale where Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velasquez takes the mound opposite Jake Faria at 1:10 PM at Tropicana Field.
No comments:
Post a Comment