The Sox wasted no time pouncing on Otani in the top of the first inning. Betts clobbered a full count meatball to dead center for a solo home run to put the Sox up one batter into the game. Andrew Benintendi grounded out to second but Hanley Ramirez singled to center. JD Martinez whiffed but Ramirez took second on a wild pitch. Rafael Devers popped up to third to end the inning but the Sox were up 1-0.
Price had a much easier time with the Angels in the bottom of the first as Ian Kinsler led off with a groundout back to the mound. Mike Trout walked but Justin Upton whiffed. Albert Pujols grounded into a force to end the inning.
The Sox pounded Otani in the top of the second inning as Eduardo Nunez lined out to center to start. Jackie Bradley Jr singled to right but Christian Vazquez walked. Brock Holt singled home JBJ for the second run. Betts walked to load the bases and Benintendi scored Vazquez with a sac fly. Ramirez grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox up 3-1.
Price got Zack Cozart to ground out to short to start. Kole Calhoun grounded out to second but Andrelton Simmons walked. Jefry Marte grounded out to second to end the inning.
Luke Bard replaced Otani, who left with a blister, for the top of the third where the Sox teed off. Martinez singled to center but Devers whiffed. Martinez was forced at second on a groundout by Nunez but JBJ smashed a 2 run bomb to give the Sox a commanding lead. Vazquez was hit with a pitch and Holt launched a 2 run homer of his own. Betts ended the trifecta with his second home run of the night. Benintendi grounded back to the mound but the Sox had ended the game by leading 8-0.
The Angels struck back in the bottom of the third as Martin Maldonado walked to open the frame. Kinsler popped up to short and Trout whiffed, but Upton singled. Pujols singled home Maldonado but Price froze Cozart for strike three to end the inning with the Angels down 8-1.
The homer parade continued in the top of the fourth although Ramirez lined out to left to start. Martinez flied out to right but Devers crushed a solo home run to increase the lead. Nunez singled and that was it for the incompetent Bard. Blake Parker came in and JBJ greeted him with a single. Vazquez singled and Nunez broke for home......SAFE! But wait! Angels manager Mike Scoscia challenged the call and Yankees mana....errr, head of MLB Operations Joe Torre DEMANDED the call be overturned and Nunez was ruled out. Still the Devers homer put the Sox up 9-1.
Price mowed down the Angels in the bottom of the fourth as Calhoun grounded out to second to start. Simmons walked but Marte popped up to short. Price blew away Maldonado to end the inning.
Finally the Sox failed to score in the top of the fifth as Holt grounded out to second to start. Betts walked but Benintendi flied out to center. Kinsler robbed Ramirez on a snagged liner to end the inning. Tzu-Wei Lin came in for Benintendi to give him the night off although he played short with Holt moving to left to start the bottom of the fifth. Kinsler flied out to left but Trout singled. Upton whiffed and Pujols was rung up for strike three to end the inning. Pujols was so mad he smashed his bat on home plate and chased the umpire with the broken pieces, earning him an ejection. That was it for Price as Sox manager Alex Cora decided that 5 innings and 78 pitches was enough with an 8 run lead. Price had tossed 5 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 6.
Old pal Noe Ramirez was brought in to pitch the top of the sixth as Blake Swihart pinch hit for Martinez to give him the rest of the night off. Swihart grounded back to the mound but Devers singled. Nunez lined a shot to Marte at first who doubled off Devers to end the inning. Monday's scheduled starter Brian Johnson got the ball for the bottom of the sixth and he struck out Cozart to start. Calhoun flied out to center and Simmons was rung up to end the inning except he didn't attack the umpire.
Ramirez stayed tough in the top of the seventh as JBJ grounded out to second to start. Vazquez popped up to short and Holt flied out to left to end the inning. Marte singled to start the bottom of the seventh before Maldonado hit a routine double play ball to Devers. Rafael picked up the ball, threw it over his head like a grenade and stuck his fingers in his ears waiting for the non-existent explosion. Devers was charged with an error but redeemed himself when he started a double play hit by Kinsler. Trout walked to put runners at the corners but Upton lined out to left to end the inning.
Old buddy Chris Young took over for Trout, Luis Valbuena replaced Simmons and Cam Bedrosian took over on the mound for the top of the eighth. Betts repeated his May 31, 2016 performance by smashing his third home run of the game to put the exclamation point on his night. Lin was rung up for strike three and Mitch Moreland pinch hit for Ramirez, drawing a walk. Mitch was erased at second on the force by Swihart and Devers grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 10-1.
Rene Rivera pinch hit for the ejected Pujols to start the bottom of the eighth and Johnson whiffed him. Cozart walked but Calhoun banged into a double play to end the inning. Johnson didn't get to start yesterday but he pitched 3 shut-out innings to save the bullpen tonight.
Jim Johnson got the call to pitch the top of the ninth and Nunez walked to start. JBJ lined out to right but Vazquez singled. Holt banged into a double play to end the inning. Marcus Walden had mop up duty in the bottom of the ninth. Valbuena whiffed and Marte grounded out to third. Maldonado grounded out to short to end the game. The Sox had blasted the Angels 10-1 to claim the best record in the American League.
Hero of the Night is obviously Mookie Betts. He was a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate with 2 walks and 3 home runs.
The Good:
Mitch Moreland walked as a pinch hitter.
JD Martinez was 1 for 3.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 5 with a home run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a 2 run home run.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 3 with an HBP, a walk and 2 runs scored.
Brock Holt was 2 for 5 with 3 total rbi's and a 2 run home run.
David Price earned the win with 5 innings of 1 run ball including 6 strikeouts.
Brian Johnson pitched 3 scoreless innings.
Marcus Walden pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Tzu-Wei Lin struck out in his only plate appearance.
Blake Swihart was 0 for 2.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 4.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
New York Yankee fans are running out of ammo to use against the Red Sox these days. They laughed/whined when the Red Sox drew the Miami Marlins after the Tampa Bay Rays that the Sox had an "easy schedule". Tonight the Yankees played the Marlins and lost 9-1 with Masahiro Tanaka getting lit up again. The same team the Sox beat two straight by the way. Also they were saying "wait till da Sox play a real team." Well the Angels came into this game 1/2 game behind the Red Sox for best record in the AL and the Sox smacked them around pretty good. Not only that but Alex Cora is limiting the innings and pitches thrown by the starters in April to save them for September and October. Here's the ultimate kick in the ass no one saw coming, Giancarlo Stanton is hitting .197 with 3 homers and 10 rbis. JD Martinez is hitting .271 with 3 home runs and 13 rbi's. There's plenty of time for Stanton to turn things around but he's been dreadful so far. Aaron Judge is hitting .339 with 4 home runs and 11 rbis. Mookie Betts is hitting .389 with 5 home runs and 13 rbis. I thought Judge was supposed to run away with AL MVP, what's happening Yankee fans? So far its been all Red Sox this season and it may not last, so may as well enjoy it while we can. Tomorrow night the Sox return to action looking to make it 6 straight wins as Rick Porcello (3-0, 1.83 ERA) takes on Tyler Skaggs at 10:05 PM at Angels Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment