As for the game, the losses of Dustin Pedroia, Mookie Betts, Hanley Ramirez and now JD Martinez (for one night only) reared its ugly head. The immortal Dylan Covey pitched a 3 hit shutout and 3 relievers combined for 3 innings and no hits allowed as the White Sox squeaked by Chris Sale (5-4) and the BoSox 1-0 at Fenway Park. How many runs did the Sox score Dean Wormer?
Sale took the mound in the top of the first inning and whiffed Tim Anderson to start. Jose Rondon grounded out to short but Jose Abreu walked. Matt Davidson watched strike three go by to end the inning. Meanwhile the immortal Dylan Covey was unhittable in the bottom of the first inning. Andrew Benintendi led off with a double and Brock "Hitman" Holt walked, but Xander Bogaerts whiffed and Mitch Moreland banged into a double play to end the inning. The BoSox would have just TWO hits the rest of the game.
Sale breezed through the top of the second as Kevan Smith grounded out to third, old pal Yoan Moncada whiffed and Trayce Thompson also whiffed to end the inning. The incompetent Red Sox offense did nothing in the bottom of the second as Eduardo Nunez grounded out to second, Rafael Devers grounded out to third and Jackie Bradley Jr shocking struck out to end the inning.
Daniel Palka grounded out to second to open the top of the third before Charlie Tilson struck out. Anderson singled to center but Rondon whiffed to end the inning. More nothing in the bottom of the third as Blake Swihart grounded out to second to begin. Sandy Leon watched strike three go by and Benintendi grounded out to second to end the inning.
Sale continued to dominate the top of the fourth inning by getting Abreu to ground out to first to begin. Davidson grounded out to second but Smith singled. Moncada whiffed to end the inning. Covey continued to dominate the bottom of the fourth by striking out Holt, getting Bogaerts to fly out to left and Moreland to fly out to center to end the inning.
Sale did what he could in the top of the fifth inning by getting Thompson to fly out to right to start. Palka whiffed and Tilson grounded out to short to end the inning. Nunez grounded out to short to open the bottom of the fifth but somehow Devers doubled. With the go ahead run at second....JBJ and Swihart both struck out to end the inning.
The shutout pitching continued in the top of the 6th as Anderson lined out to right to open the frame. Rondon caught Devers asleep with a bunt single but Rondon was erased on the force by Abreu. Davidson grounded out to first to end the inning. Covey came back for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth and he cruised. Leon grounded out to first, Benintendi flied out to left and Holt whiffed to end the inning. 6 innings, 2 hits allowed by Covey....pathetic offensive effort.
The White Sox struck first in the top of the seventh when Smith led off with a ground rule double into the right field stands. Moncada advanced him to third with a groundout and Thompson singled in Smith with a base hit. Palka whiffed but Tilson singled. Suddenly Leon caught Thompson asleep at second to end the inning but the ChiSox led 1-0.
The BoSox desperately tried to rally in the bottom of the seventh against Jace Fry when Bogaerts led off with a single. Moreland hit a routine grounder to first but Abreu bobbled it and hurried a throw to second....SAFE! The Sox had 2 men on and.....oh wait. The White Sox challenged the call and New York Yankees manag....errr Head of MLB Operations Joe Torre DEMANDED the call be reversed. It was and Devers was out at second. The overturned call was huge when Devers reached on an error by Rondon. They could have had the bases loaded and nobody out but instead Devers and JBJ both whiffed to end the inning.
Sale returned for one last inning in the top of the eighth and got Andeson to ground back to the mound to start. Rondon whiffed and Abreu grounded out to third to end the inning. That was 8 innings of 1 run ball thrown by Sale while striking out 10. Can't get much better than that.
Nate Jones got the call to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Swihart whiffed to start. Leon grounded out to short and Benintendi flied out to center to end the inning.
Heath Hembree replaced Sale for the top of the ninth and dominated. Davidson whiffed before Smith grounded out to third. Moncada struck out swinging to end the inning. ChiSox closer Joakim Soria came in to finish off the bottom of the ninth and the BoSox went quietly. Holt lined out to third, Bogaerts popped up to short and Moreland grounded out to second to end the game. The White Sox had won it 1-0 to knock the BoSox out of first place...sort of.
Jackass of the Night is Jackie Bradley Jr. He was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of three strikeouts, one of which was with 2 men on that ended up being the difference in the game.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3.
One of the rare instances of the losing pitcher being on the good list but Chris Sale was outstanding. He tossed 8 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 10. The offense let him down big time.
Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 4.
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 3.
Blake Swihart was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4.
Brock Holt was 0 for 3 but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Of all the frustrating losses this season, this one takes the cake. Granted Dustin Pedroia, JD Martinez and Mookie Betts were all out but they couldn't score one measly run against a team 20 games under .500? This was too much like a game from last year to my liking. Games like this happen but they always seem to take place with Chris Sale on the mound. How many times are they going to get shut-out or put up one or two measly runs in his brilliant starts? The bottom of the order is a bonafide black hole right now and something has to be done to fix that. The loss dropped the Sox to 43-21, percentage points behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. the sox look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon when David Price (6-4) takes on Carlos Rodon at 4:05 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment