Manaea took the mound in the top of the first and Mookie Betts drew a leadoff walk. Betts was erased on the force by Andrew Benintendi and Hanley Ramirez whiffed. JD Martinez whiffed to end the inning. Sale got the ball in the bottom of the first and Marcus Semien greeted him by drawing a leadoff walk. Stephen Piscotty whiffed but Semien swiped second. The pain in the ass Jed Lowrie doubled home Semien to give Oakland the quick lead. Khris Davis was frozen for strike three and Mark Chapman flied out to left to end the inning but Sale had thrown 24 pitches, trailing 1-0.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second as Eduardo Nunez grounded out to short to start. Rafael Devers whiffed before Sandy Leon popped up to short to end the inning. Sale recovered for the bottom of the second as Matt Olson grounded out to first to start. Mark Canha hit one up the elevator shaft and Chad Pinder lined out to center to end the inning.
Manaea turned up the heat in the top of the third inning by striking out Jackie Bradley Jr and Tzu-Wei Lin to start. Betts grounded out to second to end the inning. The A's struck again in the bottom of the third although Jonathan Lucroy struck out to start. Semien singled and Piscotty doubled him home. Lowrie whiffed and Davis once again took strike three to end the inning but Oakland now led 2-0.
Still nothing doing for the Sox in the top of the fourth as Benintendi grounded out to short to start. Ramirez whiffed badly as did Martinez to end the inning. Sale returned for the bottom of the fourth and got Chapman to ground out on a swinging bunt in front of the plate to start. Olson watched strike three go by but Canha doubled to the right field wall. Pinder whiffed to end the inning. Sale was up to 73 pitches.
The Sox failed to even get a hit in the top of the fifth inning as Nunez lined out to right, Devers flied out to left and Leon popped up to short.....only Semien dropped it for an error. Leon moved to second on a wild pitch but JBJ whiffed to end the inning. Still no hits for the Sox. Meanwhile the A's got to Sale in the bottom of the fifth as Lucroy grounded out to third to start but Semien blasted a solo home run to left for the decisive blow. Piscotty whiffed and Lowrie grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 3-0 A's.
Still no hits for the Sox in the top of the 6th as Lin flied out to right, Betts grounded out to short and Benintendi looked to have beaten a swipe tag by Manaea but was ruled out to end the inning to preserve the no-hitter. Sale got a big lift from his defense when Lin made an outstanding sliding stop and throw Davis out to start the bottom of the sixth....but Benintendi misplayed a ball hit by Chapman for a triple. Sale got Olson to pop up to center and Canha to ground out to third to end the inning.
The no-hitter continued in the top of the seventh as Ramirez popped up to first, Martinez grounded out to third and Nunez popped up to Manaea to end the inning, good grief. Sale returned for the bottom of the seventh inning and struck out Pinder to start. Lucroy flied out to right and Semien whiffed to end the inning. Sale had gone 7 innings and gave up 3 runs, usually that's good enough to win.
Manaea continued the no-no in the top of the eighth as Devers looked at strike three, Leon popped up to first and JBJ whiffed to end the inning. Heath Hembree took over on the mound in the bottom of the eighth and got Piscotty to ground out to the mound. Lowrie grounded back to the mound but Davis doubled to right. Chapman walked but Olson grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Sox had one last chance to crack Manea in the top of the ninth. Blake Swihart pinch hit for Lin and grounded out to short. Betts hit a rocket to right but it died at the wall for the second out. Benintendi walked but Ramirez grounded out to end the game. Manea had no-hit the Sox, embarrassing.
Jackass of the Night is Hanley Ramirez. He was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts, two at-bats coming with the only men on base.
The Good:
Chris Sale was the hard luck loser but pitched well. He tossed 7 innings of 3 run ball while striking out 10. Once again he got no luck on the offensive side.
Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 3.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 3.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Tzu-Wei Lin was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Blake Swihart was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 3 but walked.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 3 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Who would have thought the only way to stop the Red Sox winning 17 out of 18 would be a no-hitter by San Manaea? The offense was due for a stinker after lighting up the Anaheim Angels but this was ridiculous. The sad part it was almost 25 years to the day Chris Bosio threw his no-hitter against the Red Sox. The difference is that Red Sox team was 11-5 but was headed nowhere because of their offense. This team is now 17-3 and in much better shape offensively, theoretically. The only question now is how will the Sox respond to this, will they come back tomorrow guns a blazing or will they be shellshocked for tomorrow afternoon? We're going to find out shortly because David Price goes for the Sox up against Daniel Mengden tomorrow afternoon at 4:05 PM at Oakland Coliseum.
No comments:
Post a Comment