It was said the Boston Red Sox didn't land in Texas until 3 AM this morning due to flight issue. It showed as the Red Sox looked sloppy on the field and at the plate. Kyle Gibson who shut down the Red Sox in 2016 and again in 2018 once again pitched a dominant game against the Sox. He tossed 6 innings of 1 run ball against the tired and struggling Red Sox offense. Sox starter Martin Perez (0-2, 4.70 ERA) held the Rangers in check until the 6th inning. A Xander Bogaerts error led to a backbreaking 2 run homer off Hiro Sawamura by Jose Trevino. Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit another home run off Sawamura, the Rangers bullpen blanked the Sox the rest of the way and Texas beat Boston 4-1 at Globe Life Field.
Gibson got the ball in the top of the first inning Kike Hernandez grounded out to short to start. Alex Verdugo grounded out to third. JD Martinez walked but Xander Bogaerts lined out to center to end the inning. Perez got the ball in the bottom of the first and Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined out to center to start. Nick Solak took strike three and Joey Gallo struck out swinging to end the inning.
Rafael Devers grounded out to short to start the top of the second but Christian Vazquez singled to center. Marwin Gonzalez flied out to right and Hunter Renfroe lined out to center to end the inning. Adolis Garcia lined a base hit to left to start the bottom of the second but was erased on the strike em out, throw em out double play by Nate Lowe. Jose Trevino singled to center but David Dahl flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the third as Bobby Dalbec popped up to first to start. Hernandez took strike three but Verdugo and Martinez drew back to back walks. Bogaerts whiffed badly to end the inning. Perez cruised in the bottom of the third as Charlie Culberson took strike three to start. Eli White took strike three and Kiner popped up to first to end the inning.
Gibson cruised in the top of the fourth as Devers flied out to right to start the top of the fourth. Vazquez struck out swinging and Gonzalez grounded out to third to end the inning. The Rangers struck first in the bottom of the fourth although Solak grounded out to third to start. Gallo lashed a double to left that Verdugo threw to third but Devers was too busy checking out a girl in the stands and missed the throw. Gallo made it to third on the error and naturally scored on the sac fly by Garcia to put Texas on top. Lowe singled to right but Trevino flied out to left to end the inning with Texas up 1-0.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the fifth inning as Renfroe grounded out to second to start. Dalbec grounded back to the mound and Hernandez grounded out to short to end the inning. The Rangers threatened in the bottom of the fifth as Dahl was plunked to start. Culberson singled to left but White popped up the bunt to Devers. Perez dug down and struck out Kiner swinging before getting Solak to ground out to second to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the sixth as Verdugo doubled to center to start. Martinez grounded out to third and Bogaerts went down hacking, but Devers golfed a double to right to score Verdugo to tie the game. Vazquez lined out to center to end the inning but it was tied 1-1.
Perez looked to be cruising in the bottom of the sixth when he struck out Gallo swinging to start. Garcia hit a routine grounder to Bogaerts who danced and screamed OLE! for an error. Lowe lined out to left but Sox manager Alex Cora decided that Hiro Sawamura would have a better chance to get Trevino out than Perez. Once again Dr. Quick Hook pulled a starter out under 100 pitches before the end of the 6th inning. This time it cost Cora as Trevino smashed a 2 run bomb all the way to Denton, Texas to put the Rangers up for good. Dahl grounded out to third to end the inning with the Rangers up 3-1.
John King came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Gonzalez grounded out to third to start. Renfroe grounded out to second and Dalbec lined out to first to end the inning. Sawamura looked strong striking out Culberson and White swinging to start the bottom of the seventh....but Kiner hit a home run all the way to Dallas to increase the lead. Solak grounded out to second to end the inning with the Rangers up 4-1.
Not Sawamura's best effort
Joely Rodriguez came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Hernandez grounded back to the mound to start. Verdugo grounded out to short but suddenly Martinez grabbed his head and keeled over in the dugout. He had to be carried out on a stretcher, shoved into an ambulance and rushed to the local ICU. Christian Arroyo pinch hit for Martinez and took first on catcher's interference to extend the inning. Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning.
Darwinzon Hernandez came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and blew away Gallo with a 96 mph fastball to start. Hernandez then blew away Garcia and Lowe with 96 mph fastballs to end the inning. Welcome back Darwinzon.
Ian Kennedy came in to close out the top of the ninth and Devers whiffed to start. Vazquez flied out to right and Gonzalez struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had just 3 hits as a team and lost 4-1.
Jackass of the Night is Hiro Sawamura. He gave up a 2 run homer and a solo shot to put the Rangers up for good.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
JD Martinez walked twice in 3 times at the plate.
Christian Arroyo took first on catcher's interference in the eighth inning.
One of the rare times the losing pitcher ends up on the Good list but Martin Perez tossed 5 2/3 innings and allowed just 2 runs (1 earned) on 82 pitches.
Darwin Hernandez struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth.
The Bad:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and a costly error.
Marwin Gonzalez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Hunter Renfroe was 0 for 3.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout and an error but knocked in the only Boston run.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Final Thoughts:
They looked like a team who didn't get any sleep last night and played like it too. Still, the warts on this team are showing as the bottom of the order just isn't getting it done. Hernandez is hitting .230, Dalbec .224, Cordero .191 Gonzalez .186 and Renfroe .179. You can't win games when 5 out of 9 hitters are an automatic out. They've only scored 4 runs in the past 3 games and have been held to 5 hits or fewer in the past 4 games. That's not a recipe for sustained success, just ask the 1992 Red Sox. The 92 Sox led the league in ERA with the worst offense in the league. Now, the good news is the issues are fixable so don't panic yet. Sawamura giving up the home run is more on Cora for pulling the plug on Perez one batter too early. Perez pitched well and Darwinzon was hitting 96 on the gun. Kyle Gibson has tossed good games against the Sox and this was another one. The Sox look to rebound and end the month of April with momentum when they send Nathan Eovaldi (3-2, 3.77 ERA) up against Kohei Arihara of the Rangers tomorrow night. The game begins at 8:05 PM Eastern time at Globe Life Field.
No comments:
Post a Comment