The bad news was the Boston Celtics lost Game 4 of their NBA East Finals series to the Miami Heat. The good news was the Boston Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles. Amazing what happens when you have good starting pitching. The Red Sox have showed some life the last week and there's a big difference in Zack Godley throwing 88 mph fastballs down the middle and Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 3.72 ERA) throwing 100 miles an hour on the corners. Eovaldi in his potentially last start of the season threw harder than he had all year and the Orioles were his victims. Eovaldi held the Orioles to no runs in 6 innings while blowing away 8 batters. The rejuvenated Red Sox offense pounded out 10 hits and 9 runs and cruised to an easy 9-1 victory at Fenway Park.
Eovaldi got the ball in the top of the first inning and blew away Cedric Mullins on a 100 mph fastball to start. DJ Stewart whiffed on a 95 mph fastball but Ryan Mountcastle fisted a single past Christian Arroyo nut Renato Nunez whiffed on a splitter in the dirt to end the inning. The Sox tried to rally in the bottom of the first against Orioles starter Dean Kremer as Alex Verdugo doubled off the Monster to start. Rafael Devers went down swinging but Xander Bogaerts drew a walk. Verdugo took third on the fly ball to center by JD Martinez and Jackie Bradley Jr ripped a base hit to right that scored him. Bogaerts took third on the hit and scored on the seeing eye single by Kevin Plawecki to right. JBJ took third on the hit but Bobby Dalbec grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Eovaldi caught Chance Sisco swinging with a splitter to start the top of the second but Austin Hays singled to center. Rio Ruiz flied out to left and Pat Valaika hit a shot off the Monster. JBJ fired to second and Christian Arroyo applied the tag...SAFE! Arroyo demanded a challenge and the umpires reversed the call, Valaika was out and the inning was over. Michael Chavis grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second but Arroyo walked. Verdugo flied out to center and Devers whiffed badly to end the inning.
Eovaldi blew away Ramon Urias to start the top of the third before Devers snuffed out a bunt attempt by Mullins. Stewart swung and missed for strike three to end the inning. Bogaerts hit a seeing eye single in the hole at short to start the bottom of the third and Martinez doubled off the centerfield wall to score Xander. JBJ flied out to the right field wall to move Martinez to third when the Baltimore medical staff rushed to the mound to check on Kremer. Plawecki tripled past the diving Hays to score Martinez with another run. Dalbec hit a grounder to third but Plawecki was thrown out at home by a mile. Naturally Chavis doubled off the bottom of the Monster to score Dalbec and it should have scored Plawecki too. Arroyo walked to chase Kremer. Branden Kline came in and walked Verdugo to load the bases and Devers cleared the bases with a double into the right field corner. Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning but it was now 8-0.
Ryan Mountcastle singled to short to start the top of the fourth but Nunez banged into a double play. Sisco grounded out to second to end the inning. Martinez whiffed to start the bottom of the fourth before JBJ also struck out swinging. Plawecki lined out to left to end the inning.
The Orioles threatened in the top of the fifth as Hays singled to right to start. Ruiz whiffed but Valaika singled to right. Urias banged into a double play to end the inning. Bruce Zimmermann came in to pitch the bottom of the fifth and Dalbec swung and missed for strike three but the ball got away allowing Dalbec to reach first. Chavis lined out to right, Arroyo flied out center and Verdugo struck out swinging to end the inning.
Eovaldi returned for the top of the sixth and Mullins grounded out to third to start. Stewart walked but Mountcastle lined out to right. Nunez singled to left but Sisco whiffed to end the inning. That was it for Eovaldi who emptied the tank in what should be his last start of the season. He allowed 7 hits, no runs and a walk while striking out 8.
Zimmermann cruised in the bottom of the sixth as Devers whiffed to start. Bogaerts grounded out to third and Martinez also grounded out to third to end the inning.
Mike Kickham was first out of the bullpen in the top of the seventh and naturally Hays hit a home run to Argentina to put the Orioles on the board. Ruiz lined one off Kickham but Bogaerts threw him out at first. Valaika singled to left but Kickham got Urias swinging at air on a nasty curve. Mullins grounded into a force to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-1.
The Sox got another run in the bottom of the seventh as JBJ walked to start. Plawecki singled to left but Dalbec whiffed. Urias made a great stab to get Plawecki at second but a wild pitch scored JBJ. Arroyo popped up to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-1.
Kickham returned for the top of the eighth and Stewart grounded out to second to start. Mountcastle singled to center, Nunez walked and Sisco walked to load the bases. Sox manager Ron Roenicke finally pulled the incompetent Kickham and Jeffrey Springs was brought in. Springs froze Hays with a 91 mph inside fastball for strike three and got Ruiz to ground out to first to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the eighth as Verdugo took strike three to start. Devers grounded out to third but Bogaerts beat out an infield single to short. Tzu-Wei Lin ran for Bogaerts but was forced at second by Martinez to end the inning.
Springs returned for the top of the ninth and Valaika whiffed to start. Urias singled to right but Mullins whiffed on an 83 mph fastball. Stewart whiffed to end the game. The Sox had won it easily 9-1.
Hero of the Night is Nathan Eovaldi. He was outstanding in his last start, throwing 6 shutout innings while touching 100 on the gun.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Kevin Plawecki was 3 for 4 with 2 rbis.
Christian Arroyo walked twice and scored a run in 2 innings of work.
Jeffrey Springs tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Mike Kickham allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked and scored 2 runs.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of three strikeouts but the one hit drove in 3 runs.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run and scored a run.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
Michael Chavis was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored.
Honorable Mention:
Tzu-Wei Lin pinch ran for Bogaerts and played short in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Sox fans are kicking trash cans because the Sox cost themselves the top 2 draft slots but what did they expect? What's the biggest difference between the Sox in August and the Sox the last few weeks? Starting pitching, that's what. When you have Eovaldi, Martin Perez, Tanner Houck and Nick Pivetta tossing zeroes for 5-6 innings and an offense that's still good, that's at least a .500 team if not better. The Sox bullpen is still a mess but if Pivetta can be fixed and Houck is the real deal, the rebuild is going to go a lot quicker. Eovaldi was hitting 100 tonight only because this was his last start. If he did that 2 or 3 starts in a row, his arm would fall off. Still, Perez, Pivetta and Eovaldi could be 3, 4 and 5 in the rotation and Sox fans can live with it until Chris Sale comes back. As for this game, hate to tell the "tank" fans but the Sox are better than the Orioles. Baltimore played over their heads the first month of the season and the Sox completely underachieved. On paper, with Houck and Pivetta especially, the Sox are better. Hopefully the Sox won't be riddled by injuries and get Alex Cora back for 2021. As for this game, good win. The win improved the Sox to 22-34, 1 game behind the Orioles for fourth place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox look to sweep the Orioles when they send Martin Perez (3-4, 3.88 ERA) to the mound up against Orioles ace Alex Cobb. The final home game of the season begins at 7:30 PM at Fenway Park.
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