Boston Red Sox owner John Henry is extremely lucky Covid-19 has Fenway Park capacity at only a few thousand people a game. Otherwise he would have 35,000 people raining boo's down on his team after their horrendous start to the 2021 season. The first two games were close but today the Baltimore Orioles completely smacked around the Red Sox to earn a series sweep. Garrett Richards (0-1, 27.00 ERA) and the Boston bullpen got tagged for 11 runs as the O's swept the Red Sox with an 11-3 win at Fenway Park.
Richards got the ball in the top of the first and Cedric Mullins effortlessly doubled off the Monster to start and Trey Mancini laughed as he easily lined a base hit over the head of Xander Bogaerts to put runners at the corners. Anthony Santander hit a chopper exactly where the fielders weren't in a shift for a base hit to score Mullins to put the O's up for good 3 batters into the game. Somehow Richards struck out Ryan Mountcastle swinging on a curveball and Rio Ruiz on a pitch in the dirt. Maikel Franco lined a 3-0 pitch into the left field corner for a bases clearing double to ice the game. Freddy Galvis grounded out to second to end the inning with the O's up 3-0.
Bruce Zimmermann easily dominated the Sox in the bottom of the first as Kike Hernandez grounded out weakly to short to start. Alex Verdugo swung at strike three headed to the backstop and JD Martinez popped up to Mancini in foul territory to end the inning.
The O's smacked around Richards in the top of the second although Austin Hays flied out to center to start. Chance Sisco beat the shift with a base hit to left and Mullins effortlessly doubled off the wall. Mancini hit a grounder to short and Bogaerts nailed Sisco at home for the out. Verdugo almost fell down catching a routine pop up from Santander to end the inning. Zimmermann effortlessly punched out Xander Bogaerts on three pitches to start the bottom of the second. Marwin Gonzalez grounded out weakly to third and Hunter Renfroe grounded out weakly to short to end the inning.
Richards returned for another beating in the top of the third as Mountcastle walked on pitches not even close to start. Ruiz easily sliced an opposite field single to left and Franco walked on more pitches not even close. Sox manager Alex Cora had seen enough and pulled the incompetent Richards from the game. The Sox $10 million dollar investment was hammered for 6 runs in just 2 plus innings.
Josh Taylor came in to pour gas on the fire as he walked Galvis on four pitches not even close to score Mountcastle. Hays effortlessly doubled into the left field corner to score Ruiz and Franco to increase the lead. Somehow Taylor punched out Sisco swinging and Hernandez made a great diving attempt at a catch that was called a trap, base hit for Mullins to load the bases. Hays apparently hurt himself diving back to second and had to be carried out on a stretcher, loaded onto an ambulance and driven to Brigham & Women's ICU. Pat Valaika pinch ran for Hays and Mancini doubled off the Monster to score Galvis and Valaika. Vazquez muffed a passed ball to score Mullins but Taylor somehow punched out Santander swinging. Mountcastle dumped a base hit to right to score Mancini and Ruiz chopped a base hit up the middle and that was finally it for Taylor. 24 year old Garrett Whitlock made his ML debut by getting Franco to pop up to center to end the inning but it was now 10-0 Orioles.
The Sox got their first hit when Christian Vazquez hit a leadoff double off the Monster but Bobby Dalbec popped up to center. Christian Arroyo made his season debut by lining a base hit off the foot of Zimmermann to put runners at the corners. Hernandez somehow scored Vazquez with a sac fly to put the Sox on the board but Verdugo popped up weakly to center to end the inning with the Sox down 10-1.
The O's almost struck again in the top of the fourth although Galvis grounded out to short to start. Valaika easily singled up the middle but Whitlock punched out Sisco swinging for his first career strikeout. Naturally Mullins hit a single in the hole at short and both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Somehow Whitlock punched out Mancini swinging to end the inning. The Sox got their first home run of the season as Martinez clobbered one to dead center to start the bottom of the fourth. Bogaerts popped up to center, Gonzalez grounded out to short and Renfroe popped up to center to end the inning with the Sox down 10-2.
The hits kept coming as Santander led off the top of the fifth with a base hit up the middle to beat the shift. Whitlock blew away Mountcastle but a wild pitch moved Santander to second. Ruiz struck out swinging and Franco popped up to first to end the inning. The miserable Sox offense continued to do nothing in the bottom of the fifth as Vazquez swung at a pitch that bounced in the dirt to start. Mancini made a great jumping catch to rob Dalbec of a hit and Arroyo took strike three down the middle to end the inning. Say what you want about Richards and Taylor, but the Sox offense had scored 4 runs on the season to this point.
Whitlock returned for the top of the sixth and Galvis grounded out to second to start. Renfroe crashed against the right field fence to snare a Valaika line drive and Sisco whiffed to end the inning. As bad as Taylor and Richards were, Whitlock was that damn good in his debut.
The Sox finally did something in the bottom of the sixth as Hernandez walked to start. Verdugo lined out to center but Martinez dropped a double into the left field corner to score Hernandez. Martinez moved to third on the grounder by Bogaerts and Gonzalez whiffed to end the inning with the Sox down 10-3.
Hiro Sawamura came in for the top of the seventh and Franchy Cordero took over for Verdugo in left. Mullins walked to start but Mancini went down swinging. Santander walked but Mountcastle went down swinging and Ruiz popped up to short to end the inning. Cole Suser came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Renfroe grounded out to first to start. Vazquez singled to center but Dalbec went down hacking. Arroyo grounded into a force to end the inning.
Matt Barnes made his season debut in the top of the eighth and Franco grounded out to third to start. Galvis walked but Barnes blew away Valaika and Sisco to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the eighth as Hernandez flied out to center to start. Cordero struck out swinging and Martinez also went down hacking to end the inning.
Adam Ottavino made his season debut in the top of the ninth and the O's tagged him. Mullins put the exclamation point on his perfect day with a double down the right field line to start. Mullins moved to third on the Mancini grounder and scored on the Santander base hit to right. Mountcastle walked but Ruiz went down swinging. Franco walked but Galvis went down hacking to end the inning. The O's as a team pounded out 17 hits, 8 walks and 11 runs to take an 11-3 lead.
Tyler Wells came in for the bottom of the ninth and Bogaerts flied out to left to start. Gonzalez walked but Renfroe popped up to second. Vazquez dropped a base hit to right to move Gonzalez to third but Dalbec grounded into a force to end the game. The O's smashed the Sox into submission with an 11-3 series sweeping win.
Jackass of the Night is Garrett Richards. The $10 million dollar investment got knocked out in the third inning after allowing 6 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks.
The Good:
JD Martinez was 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 total rbis.
Christian Vazquez was 3 for 4 with a run scored.
Christian Arroyo was 1 for 3.
Garrett Whitlock tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings in his ML debut while striking out 5.
Hiro Sawamura tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Franchy Cordero struck out in his only plate appearance.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Hunter Renfroe was 0 for 4.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Josh Taylor allowed 3 inherited runners to score and 4 of his own in 2/3 of an inning.
Adam Ottavino allowed a run in the top of the ninth.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 2 but walked, drove in a run and scored a run.
Marwin Gonzalez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Not since 1948 have the Sox started the season 0-3 at home but I doubt the Sox are going to be 1 game away from being American League champions by the end like the 48 Sox were. The first two games were annoying but this was flat out embarrassing. Richards and Taylor put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of but they weren't going to climb out of it anyway. The Sox offense has been horrible the first three games of the season and it doesn't look like its going to get any better. Mullins almost outhit the Sox as a whole by himself and the Os scored more runs in the third inning than the Sox scored this SEASON to this point. Even if Josh Taylor didn't suck in the third inning, the Sox would have lost anyway since they can't generate any offense. Its not going to get better either because the pitching machine, American League champion Tampa Bay Rays come to town next. Tomorrow night Nick Pivetta makes his season debut for the Sox against former Cardinals ace Michael Wacha. The defeat begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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