Chris Sale got the start and the Orioles immediately tagged him. Cedric Mullins was plunked to begin the game but Jonathan Villar whiffed. Trey Mancini triple home Mullins to give the O's the lead. Adam Jones was plunked and Renato Nunez smacked a sac fly to score Mancini to increase the lead. Joey Rickard flied out to center to end the inning with the O's up 2-0.
The Sox refused to go quietly against O's starter Jimmy Yacabonis in the bottom of the first inning. Jackie Bradley Jr got the rare leadoff start and he singled to right to begin. Brock "The Hitman" Holt singled him to third but Steve Pearce popped up to short. Rafael Devers walked to load the bases but Blake Swihart took strike three. Brandon Phillips hit a routine grounder to first BOOTED by Villar! Bradley scored to cut the lead but Christian Vazquez grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox down 2-1.
Sale settled down in the top of the second as John Andreoli lined out to third before Steve Wilkerson whiffed. Caleb Joseph struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the second as Sam Travis grounded back to the mound to start. Tzu-Wei Lin lined out to center and JBJ grounded out to second to end the inning.
Sale cruised in the top of the third inning as Mullins grounded out to third to start. Villar lined out to left before Mancini whiffed to end the inning. The Sox threatened in the bottom of the third although Holt lined out to center to begin. Pearce walked and took second on a wild pitch but Devers looked at strike three. Swihart walked but Phillips grounded out to short to end the inning.
Jones singled to start the top of the fourth before Nunez struck out swinging. Rickard grounded a ball to Holt who flipped the ball to Phillips for the ou.....wait.....what? Grumpy O's manager Buck Showalter challenged the call that Phillips missed the catch and New York Yankees manag..errr Head of MLB Operations Joe Torre DEMANDED the call be overturned and it was ruled a miss catch error on Brandon. Price recovered to strike out Andreoli and Wilkerson whiffed to end the inning. The Sox tied it up in the bottom of the fourth although Vazquez grounded out to third to begin. Travis singled and Lin lit up the crowd with a triple to tie the game. JBJ walked to put runners at the corners and chase Yacabonis from the game. The O's got a key out when Tanner Scott came in and froze Holt for strike three. Pearce grounded out to short to end the inning but the game was tied 2-2.
Sale got tagged again in the top of the fifth as Joseph singled to start. Mullins popped up the bunt attempt back to the mound and Villar looked at strike three. Mancini walked and Jones doubled home Joseph to end Sale's day. Chris didn't look right as he left after allowing 3 runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Eduardo Rodriguez was brought in to clean up the mess and he got Nunez to fly out to center to end the inning with the O's ahead 3-0.
The Sox wasted no time getting that run back in the bottom of the fifth as Devers doubled to start and Swihart singled him home to tie the game. Swihart swiped second but Phillips whiffed. Vazquez walked but Travis lined out to center. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position but Lin grounded out to first to end the inning, another squander but the game was tied 3-3.
Rodriguez looked great in the top of the sixth, striking out the side in order. Rickard whiffed, Andreoli looked at strike three and Wilkerson whiffed to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the sixth as JBJ failed to reach on a bunt attempt before Holt grounded out to third. Pearce whiffed to end the inning.
Matt Barnes came in to crap his pants in the top of the 7th inning. Joseph doubled and a wild pitch moved him to third before Mullins whiffed. Villar walked and stole second before Mancini singled in both runners to give the O's the lead. Jones and Nunez stroked back to back singles to score Mancini as Barnes was roundly booed as Cora yanked him. Bawful performance by Barnes.
Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez came in to put the fire out as Jace Peterson pinch ran for Nunez....promptly stealing second. DJ Stewart pinch hit for Rickard and Andreoli popped up to first to end the inning with the O's up for good 6-3.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the seventh with Paul Fry on the mound. Devers grounded out to third, Swihart grounded out to second and Phillips grounded out to short to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier got the call to pitch the top of the eighth and Wilkerson grounded out to short to begin. Joseph lined out to center and Mullins grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the eighth as Vazquez grounded out to second, Travis grounded out to third and Lin lined out to center to end the inning.
Showalter had one last laugh against the Red Sox in his final game against them as O's manager in the top of the ninth against closer Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel. Vazquez moved to third, Swihart took over behind the plate and Holt went to right for no apparent reason as Villar walked to start. Villar stole second and moved to third on the Mancini fly out to right. A wild pitch scored Villar before Jones was plunked. Peterson and Stewart drew back to back walks to load the bases and that was it for the incompetent Kimbrel.
Robby Scott came in and Andreoli smacked a ground rule double to score Jones and Peterson before Wilkerson singled in Andreoli. Joseph whiffed and Mullins flied out to right but Kimbrel was charged with four runs and the O's led 10-3....ugh.
Mercifully the game ended in the bottom of the ninth as JBJ whiffed to start. Holt lined out to short and Pearce grounded out to short to end the game. The O's had won the final game of the season series 10-3.
Jackass of the Night is Matt Barnes. He took a 3-3 game and opened the floodgates by allowing 3 runs in the 7th inning.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Blake Swihart was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi and stolen base.
Eduardo Rodriguez tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Hector Velazquez got the final two outs of the 7th inning.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Brandon Phillips was 0 for 4 with a strikeout and an error.
Robby Scott allowed 2 inherited runners to score in 2/3 of an inning
The Ugly:
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Brock Holt was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Steve Pearce was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 but walked.
Sam Travis was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Tzu-Wei Lin was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Chris Sale didn't look good as he surrendered 3 runs in 4 2/3 innings with diminished velocity.
Final Thoughts:
Even though this game was considered a throwaway considering it was the second game of a doubleheader, there were some alarming factors in tonight's loss. Sale's velocity was down, Matt Barnes sucked, Craig Kimbrel sucked and the JV's didn't look very good in terms of being a potential emergency starter or bench ace in the playoffs. If Sale is going to pitch like that in the ALDS then forget about it. If Kimbrel pitches like that considering how awful the rest of the bullpen is then once again forget about it. There was absolutely nothing positive to come out of this game and that's very telling. I know none of the potential regular starters played but some key pitchers failed to deliver and if they can't beat the hapless O's, how are they going to beat the New York Yankees or Oakland A's? Speaking of the Yankees, after an off-day the final regular season series starts with them Friday night. JA Happ goes for the Yankees while the Red Sox don't even care as they send Brian Johnson (4-4) to the mound at 7:11 PM at Fenway Park.
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