The Sox offense did nothing in the top of the first inning as Andrew Benintendi led off by striking out swinging. Mr. Mookie Betts flied out to center before Mitch Moreland flied out to left to end the inning. Porcello took the ball in the bottom of the first and got Jarrod Dyson to ground out to third to begin. Eduardo Escobar whiffed but David Peralta singled. Adam Jones squibbed one in front of the plate and was ruled safe on catcher's interference by Blake Swihart. Christian Walker grounded into a force to end the inning.
JD Martinez led off the top of the second by grounding out to third to start. Xander Bogaerts flied out to right and Rafael Devers grounded out to second to end the inning. Porcello stayed tough in the bottom of the second by freezing Ketel Marte to start. Nick Ahmed grounded out to short and Alex Avila looked at strike three to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the third inning as Swihart singled to right to begin. Blake moved to second on the Brock "The Hitman" Holt grounder then to third on the Porcello grounder. Benintendi doubled to left to score Swihart and put Boston on top. Mr. Mookie singled Benintendi to third but Moreland grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Arizona found the concept of the Red Sox offensive by tying the game in the bottom of the third. The pitcher Godley singled before Dyson beat out an infield single. Escobar walked to load the bases but Porcello got a big double play by Peralta that did tie the game, but put two outs on the board. Jones walked to put runners at the corners but he was thrown out at second trying to steal by Swihart to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
The Sox were done offensively against Godley in the top of the fourth. Martinez grounded out to short, Bogaerts grounded out to third and Devers whiffed to end the inning. The Diamondbacks exploded in the bottom of the fourth although Walker grounded out to second to begin. Marte then blasted a 900 foot bomb to dead center to give Arizona the lead. Ahmed doubled and Avila walked to set up the biggest blunder of the day. Godley hit a flare to center that Holt, Betts and Martinez couldn't get to for a single to score Ahmed. Dyson singled off the glove of Holt to score Avila and send Godley to third. Escobar grounded out to first but Godley scored for another run. Peralta flied out to left to end the inning with the Diamondbacks ahead 4-1. Godley had more hits and as many rbis as the entire Red Sox.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the fifth inning as Swihart grounded out to short, Holt whiffed and Porcello grounded out to third to end the inning. Porcello got rocked in the bottom of the fifth as Jones crushed a 5,000 foot bomb to increase the lead. Porcello got mad and froze both Walker and Marte but Ahmed singled. Avila doubled Ahmed home and Sox manager Alex Cora had enough of Porcello. Last year's 17 game winner was batting practice again by giving up 7 runs in just 4 2/3 innings with 3 walks and two home runs. Brian Johnson came in and struck out Godley to end the inning but the game was over 7-1 and Porcello took his frustration out on the water cooler.
The Sox threatened to score in the top of the sixth although Benintendi whiffed to start before Mr. Mookie walked. A wild pitch moved Betts to third but Moreland whiffed. Martinez and Bogaerts both walked to load the bases and one swing of the bat could have put the Sox back in it. Andrew Chafin came in to pitch and Devers killed the rally by grounding back to the mound to end the inning. The Diamondbacks poured it on in the bottom of the sixth as Dyson and Escobar stroked back to back singles to start. Peralta whiffed but Jones doubled home Dyson. Johnson intentionally walked Walker to get to Marte and Marte pulled a Troy O'Leary by belting a grand slam halfway to New Orleans to put the game out of reach. Ahmed hit a ground rule double and moved to third on the Avila ground out. Ildemaro Vargas pinch hit for Chafin and smashed a 2 run bomb for more pain. Duson grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 14-1. What a disaster.
Marte moved to short with Vargas at second with Matt Koch on the mound to begin the top of the seventh. The Sox beat the ball in the dirt as Swihart grounded out to second and Holt grounded out to short. Jackie Bradley Jr pinch hit for Johnson and grounded out to short to end the inning. Tyler Thornburg bolted out of the bullpen and sprinted to the mound for the bottom of the seventh. Escobar lined out to right but Peralta singled. Peralta was erased on the force by Jones and Walker whiffed to end the inning with Thornburg running back to the dugout as fast as he could.
Somehow the Sox offense woke up in the top of the eighth with the game out of reach. Benintendi singled and Mr. Mookie smashed a 2 run homer to dead center to give hope for future games. Moreland grounded out to second and Martinez grounded out to short but Bogaerts singled. Devers singled and Swihart doubled both men home. Had Brian Johnson not crapped his pants, this game would have been a lot closer. Holt grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 14-5 Arizona.
At this point, Sox manager Alex Cora said the hell with it and sent Eduardo Nunez out to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Somehow Nunez got Marte to ground out to second before Koch flied out to center. Naturally Avila homered off the infielder to wrap up the scoring for Arizona. Vargas flied out to center to end the inning but it was 15-5.
Nunez stepped off the mound and into the batter's box to lead off the top of the ninth with an infield hit to third. He was erased on the force by Benintendi but Mr. Mookie hit a ground rule double. Moreland then launched a 3 run bomb into the left field seats to cut into the lead. Had the bullpen locked down the Diamondbacks after Porcello left, the Sox would have been in the lead. Yoan Lopez replaced Koch and Martinez singled to keep things going....but Bogaerts banged into a double play to end the game. The Sox made the final score better in the final two innings but still got their asses kicked 15-8.
Jackass of the Night is Rick Porcello. He allowed 7 runs and failed to go 5 innings, allowing 3 walks and 2 home runs.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and an rbi
Mookie Betts was 3 for 4 with a walk, 2 total runs scored and a 2 run home run.
Blake Swihart was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Tyler Thornburg tossed a scoreless 7th inning.
The Bad:
Brock Holt was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Brian Johnson got lit up for 7 runs in just 1 1/3 innings.
The Ugly:
Mitch Moreland was just 1 for 5 but the one hit was a 3 run home run.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Eduardo Nunez was 1 for 1 at the plate but allowed a run in an inning pitch.
Final Thoughts:
This season sucks. It doesn't matter who they play at this point because they just get stomped. In every game but the 1-0 loss they were behind 3-4 runs by the fifth inning. They're not even competitive at this point. Its good to see the offense wake up even if it was too late and the pressure was off. Just the fact they woke up at all is a silver lining to a horrific start to the season. Porcello and Johnson looked terrible and Alex Cora sandbagging Spring Training cost them big time. If they lose out on the Division by a game or two, you can look at this poor start as to why. The less said of this disaster the better. Tomorrow night the Sox take on the Diamondbacks with Luke Weaver on the mound for Arizona and David Price going for the Sox at 7:10 PM Eastern time at Chase Field.
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