Braves Pulverize Sox (9/1/20)

The good news was the Boston Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors in Game 2 of their second round NBA playoff series, the bad news was the Boston Red Sox lost to the Atlanta Braves. What more can be said about the horrible Red Sox pitching staff that hasn't been said already? With Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree gone, what's left isn't going to get the job done. The Sox battled the Atlanta Braves to a 2-2 tie after 5 innings only for the incompetent bullpen to allow EIGHT runs in the next 3 innings. The Sox offense 9 days out of 10 can't score 8 runs a game and these guys did it in 3 innings. That's what happens when you refuse to have a major league pitching staff. Marcell Ozuna outslugged and outscored the Sox all by himself and the Braves laughed their way to a 10-3 victory at Fenway Park.

                                                 "THIS YEAR SUCKSSSSS!!!!!"

Weber got in trouble immediately in the top of the first inning although Dansby Swanson grounded out to third to start. Freddie Freeman got plunked and Marcell Ozuna hit a home run all the way to the Gulf of Mexico to give the Braves the lead. Nick Markakis grounded out to short but Travis d'Arnaud singled to center. Austin Riley doubled him to third but Adam Duvall flied out to center to end the inning with the Braves ahead 2-0.

                                                        That's one

Alex Verdugo tried to start a rally against Braves starter Ian Anderson with a base hit to right to start the bottom of the first. Christian Vazquez flied out to right, Rafael Devers flied out to left and Xander Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning.

John Carmago grounded out to first to start the top of the second before Ender Inciarte grounded back to the mound. Swanson doubled to left but Freedman popped up to second to end the inning. The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the second as Michael Chavis grounded out to third to start. Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to second and Yairo Munoz made his season debut by grounding out to third to end the inning.

Ozuna grounded out to short to start the top of the third before Markakis whiffed. d'Arnaud grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the third as Tzu-Wei Lin got a base hit to center to begin. Lin moved to second on the Jonathan Arauz grounder and Verdugo singled to center to score Tzu. Vazquez whiffed but a wild pitch moved Verdugo to second. Devers singled home Verdugo to tie the game, but Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.

                                                       Tie game

Weber returned for the top of the fourth and Riley popped up to first to start. Duvall took strike three and Camargo flied out to center to end the inning. Weber had one bad first inning but held the Braves hitless the next 3 innings.

                                                  Weber shows some improvement

Chavis lined out to left to start the bottom of the fourth and JBJ took strike three. Munoz doubled to left but Lin whiffed to end the inning.

Josh Taylor came in for the top of the fifth inning and Inciarte grounded out to short to start. Swanson grounded out to third but Freeman walked. Ozuna whiffed to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fifth as Arauz struck out swinging to start. Verdugo grounded out to second but Vazquez singled to third. Devers walked but Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning.

Robert Stock came in for the top of the sixth and puked all over himself. Markakis walked, d'Arnaud got a base hit to left and a wild pitch moved both runners over. Riley singled to right to score Markakis and advance d'Arnaud to third. Duvall whiffed and Carmago hit one up the elevator shaft, but Inciarte singled home d'Arnaud to chase Stock. Austin Brice came in and struck out Swanson to end the inning but the Braves were up 4-2.

                                            "Thanks for giving up the game!" - RR

The Sox turtled in the bottom of the sixth as Chavis lined out to left to start. JBJ was plunked but Munoz whiffed and Lin took strike three to end the inning.

Kyle Hart came in for the top of the seventh and Freeman lined out to left to start. Ozuna hit a home run onto the Mass Pike to ice the game. Markakis whiffed but d'Arnaud singled to right. Riley grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Braves ahead 5-2.

                                                            That's two

AJ Minter laughed at the Sox in the bottom of the seventh as Arauz grounded out to second to start. Verdugo flied out to left and Vazquez flied out to center to end the inning.

The floodgates opened in the top of the eighth although Duvall flied out to center to start. Carmago singled to left, Inciarte singled to center, Swanson singled to center to score Carmago, Freeman singled to score Inciarte and Ozuna put the exclamation point on with yet another home run onto the Mass Pike to wrap up the scoring for Atlanta. Markakis grounded out to short and d'Arnaud grounded out to second to end the inning with the Braves ahead 10-2.

                                                       That's three

Somehow the Sox rallied in the bottom of the eighth with Shane Greene now on the mound. Devers took strike three but Bogaerts doubled to left. Chavis whiffed but JBJ singled home Bogaerts to cut the lead. Munoz popped up to third to end the inning with the Sox down 10-3.

Jeffrey Springs took over for the top of the ninth and Riley popped up to first to start. Duvall took strike three and Camargo grounded out to first to end the inning. Huascar Ynoa had mop up duty in the bottom of the ninth and Lin grounded out to first to start. Arauz drew a walk but Verdugo banged into a double play to end the game. The Braves wiped out the Sox 10-3.

                                                      Braves win


Jackass of the Night is Kyle Hart. Yes, Robert Stock gave up the go-ahead runs but Hart put the game out of reach by allowing 6 runs in his 2 innings of work.

                                                 Kyle Jackass Hart



The Good:

Alex Verdugo was 2 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.

Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.

Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch and an rbi.

Ryan Weber allowed just 2 runs in 4 innings of work.

Josh Taylor tossed a scoreless 5th inning.

Austin Brice struck out the only man he faced.

Jeffrey Springs tossed a scoreless ninth inning.



The Bad:

Michael Chavis was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.

Robert Stock took the loss by allowing 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning.



The Ugly:

Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.

Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.

Yairo Munoz was just 1 for 4.

Tzu-Wei Lin was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.

Jonathan Arauz was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.




Final Thoughts:

Good news, gang. We only have 24 games left to suffer through. The only thing saving Sox owner John Henry and general manager Chaim Bloom from the fan's wrath are there aren't any. If Fenway Park allowed fans they would be booing from beginning to end, making fans from 1997 that booed Wally off the field in his debut proud. Not much can be said that hasn't already been said. The offense didn't have it, the pitching sucked and they lost again. That's been almost every loss this season and its getting worse with each passing day. The worst part was if the Sox was actually competent this season, the New York Yankees would be in big trouble. The Tampa Bay Rays are in first place and if the Sox were any good, they'd knock the Yankees right out of the playoffs. Oh well! The loss dropped the Sox to 12-24, last place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Braves complete the sweep when Robbie Erlin shuts down the Sox and whoever Ron Roenicke picks out of a hat loses for the Sox at 7:30 PM at Fenway Park.