So much for the "great Spring Training" the Boston Red Sox had. After hitting home runs left and right in the 75 degree weather, the Sox have come home to under 40 degree weather and have gone cold. Once again the Sox got shut down by the Baltimore Orioles. Matt Harvey held the Sox to 2 runs in 4 2/3 innings and the O's bullpen shut them out the rest of the way. Tanner Houck (0-1, 3.60 ERA) was game for 5 innings but allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on some more bad defense. Rafael Devers made a huge error and Franchy Cordero struck out in a huge spot in the bottom of the ninth. It all added up to a 4-2 defeat by the Orioles at Fenway Park.
Houck got the ball in the top of the first and Cedric Mullins greeted him with a base hit to center. Kike Hernandez made a heads up play to allow a pop up from Trey Mancini to drop, forcing the faster Mullins at second. Mancini moved to second on a wild pitch but Houck struck out Anthony Santander swinging. Ryan Mountcastle lined out to center to end the inning. Matt Harvey got the ball in the bottom of the first and Hernandez grounded out to third to start. Alex Verdugo lined out to center and JD Martinez hit a routine fly to Austin Hays....who lost it in the sun for a "double". Xander Bogaerts popped up to short to end the inning.
Houck turned up the heat in the top of the second as he blew away Rio Ruiz swinging to start. Hays and Mikael Franco also went down hacking to end the inning. Rafael Devers went down hacking to start the bottom of the second but Marwin Gonzalez lined a base hit to left. Bobby Dalbec went down hacking but Gonzalez stole second. Franchy Cordero made his Sox debut by grounding out to second to end the inning.
Houck froze Freddy Galvis for strike three to start the top of the third but Pedro Severino blooped a single to center. Mullins lined out to left and Mancini went down swinging to end the inning. Kevin Plawecki went down swinging to start the bottom of the third before Hernandez grounded out to second. Verdugo flied out to center to end the inning.
Santander grounded back to the mound to start the top of the fourth inning and Mountcastle flied out to center. Ruiz walked and Devers threw a ball away hit by Hays for an error to put runners at the corners. A passed ball moved Hays to second and both scored on the roller up the middle by Franco to put the O's up for good. Houck froze Galvis strike three to end the inning but the O's were up 2-0.
Martinez tried to start a rally with a base hit passed the diving Galvis to start the bottom of the fourth. Bogaerts lined a base hit to right and both runners moved over on the grounder to first by Devers. Gonzalez scored Martinez with a sac fly for the first run of the season and Bogaerts moved to third on the out. Dalbec whiffed on a straight 94 mph fastball right down the middle to end the inning with the Sox down 2-1.
Naturally the O's came right back as Severino doubled over the head of Devers into the left field corner to start the top of the fifth. Mullins moved Severino over to third with a grounder to second but Mancini grounded out to short. Bogaerts then booted a routine grounder by Santander for an rbi "single" to ice the game. Houck blew away Mountcastle to end the inning but the O's were up 3-1. That was it for Houck who allowed 3 runs in 5 innings in just 85 pitches.
The Sox responded in the bottom of the fifth although Cordero popped up to third to start. Plawecki singled up the middle and Hernandez walked, but Verdugo flied out to left. Martinez lined one off Harvey into no man's land that scored Plawecki from second. That was it for Harvey as Adam Plutko came in and got Bogaerts to ground out to third to end the inning with the Sox down 3-2.
Austin Brice came in for the top of the sixth and Ruiz popped up to third to start. Hays flied out to the left field wall and Franco grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox failed to score in the bottom of the sixth as Devers popped up to first to start. Gonzalez singled to center and moved over on a grounder by Dalbec, but Cordero whiffed to end the inning.
Darwinzon Hernandez made his season debut in the top of the seventh and Galvis singled to left to start. Galvis whiffed but Galvis moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a Mullins single to left. Sox pitching coach Dave Bush sprinted to the mound to tell Darwinzon that Chutes & Ladders was a good board game and naturally Galvis scored on a sac fly by Mancini. Santander took strike three to end the inning but it was 4-2 O's.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the seventh as Plawecki hit a broken bat ground out to short to start. Hernandez popped up to right and Verdugo looked at strike three at the knees to end the inning.
Phillips Valdez came in for the top of the eighth and Mountcastle grounded out to first to start. Ruiz grounded out to short and Hays grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Dillon Tate came in for the bottom of the eighth and Martinez whiffed to start. Bogaerts popped up to first and Devers grounded out to second to end the inning.
Valdez returned for the top of the ninth and Franco grounded out to third to start. Galvis flied out to center and Severino whiffed to end the inning. Ramon Urias came in for Franco and Cesar Valdez came in to close out the bottom of the ninth. Gonzalez took a ball off the foot to start and Dalbec drew a walk to put the tying runs on. Naturally Cordero whiffed on a 3-2 pitch down and in to kill the momentum. Christian Vazquez pinch hit for Plawecki and lined out to left. Hernandez grounded out to second to end the game. The lifeless Sox dropped another one 4-2.
Jackass of the Night is Rafael Devers. He went 0 for 4 at the plate and made a critical error to put Baltimore up for good.
The Good:
JD Martinez was 3 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Marwin Gonzalez was 2 for 2 with a hit by pitch, stolen base and an rbi.
Kevin Plawecki was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Austin Brice pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Phillips Valdez tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 1 with a strikeout.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4.
Franchy Cordero was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Darwinzon Hernandez allowed a run in the top of the seventh.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4 but walked.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts and a walk.
Tanner Houck took the loss by allowing 3 runs in 5 innings but only 2 were earned and he struck out 8 batters.
Final Thoughts:
This is going to be a long year for the Boston Red Sox if they can't beat the Baltimore Orioles. If they can't beat these bums, how are they going to beat the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays or any of the good National League teams in interleague? The O's bullpen have tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings the last two games and that would be laughable last year. One thing is for sure, this isn't Spring Training anymore. All the good the Sox did down in sunny Florida didn't translate to frozen Boston. They're not hitting in the clutch, they're not playing good defense and the bullpen has allowed 3 runs in two games. Houck pitched good but some defensive miscues and Dr. Quick Hook made his day short. If Franchy Cordero is really the second coming of Wily Mo Pena, this is gonna be a long year. There's no need to panic after just two games but if this trend of bad hitting and bad defense continues, what's going to happen when Nathan Eovaldi gets hurt and MLB figures out Houck? Tomorrow the Sox look to avoid the sweep when Garrett Richards makes his Sox debut against Bruce Zimmermann. The game begins at 1:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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