It was a downright horrible night for the city of Boston as the Boston Bruins got crushed in Game 2 of their first round NHL playoff series and the Los Angeles Angels embarrassed the Boston Red Sox in extra innings. The Sox blew not one, not two but three leads to the Angels and the bullpen allowed EIGHT runs, mostly in a 6 run top of the tenth inning. Sox manager Alex Cora pulled starter Garrett Whitlock after 5 innings with the Sox leading 3-2. Anthony Rendon homered in the seventh inning of Austin Davis but Xander Bogaerts hit a home run in the bottom of the eighth. Down to their last strike, Jared Walsh knocked in Mike Trout to tie the game in the ninth. In the tenth the Angels hit two home runs off Matt Barnes and Hiro Sawamura to put the game away. The Sox bullpen is in complete shambles as the Sox dropped the game 10-5 in 10 innings at Fenway Park.
The Lock got the ball in the top of the first inning and Brandon Marsh took strike three to start. Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani both struck out swinging to end the inning. Reid Detmers got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Trevor Story struck out swinging to start. Rafael Devers lined out to second and Xander Bogaerts grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Anthony Rendon went down hacking to open the top of the second inning before Jared Walsh grounded out to second. Jose Rojas struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the first as JD Martinez grounded a single up the middle to start. Kike Hernandez got a base hit to right but Alex Verdugo grounded into a double play. Christian Vazquez grounded out to short to end the inning.
Max Stassi grounded out to third to start the top of the third inning and Tyler Wade struck out swinging. Andrew Velazquez popped up to short to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the fourth as Bobby Dalbec and Christian Arroyo drew back to back walks to start. Story doubled to the left field wall to score both runners but Devers flied out to center. Bogaerts lined out to right and Martinez struck out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Marsh struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth and Trout popped up to first. Ohtani grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Hernandez popped up to first to start. Verdugo flied out to left and Vazquez grounded out to short to end the inning.
Rendon grounded back to the mound to start the top of the fifth inning but Walsh broke up the perfect game with a double to center. The Lock recovered to strike out Rojas swinging but Stassi hit a home run to Jupiter to tie the game. Wade struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 2-2. As usual Whitlock had thrown just 72 pitches but he was pulled from the game. This would haunt Cora big time.
The Sox picked up Whitlock in the bottom of the fifth although Dalbec popped up to second to start. Arroyo was plunked and Story doubled to center to score him to put Boston on top. Devers grounded out to third and that was it for Detmers. Oliver Ortega came in to pitch and Bogaerts beat out an infield single to short...BUT WAIT! Angels manager Joe Maddon challenged the call and sure enough, Bogaerts was out to end the inning with the Sox up 3-2.
Austin Davis came in to pitch the top of the sixth and dominated. Velazquez took strike three, Marsh watched strike three go by and Trout struck out swinging to end the inning. Martinez struck out swinging to start the bottom of the sixth before Hernandez grounded out to short. Verdugo grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Martinez struck out swinging to start the bottom of the sixth before Hernandez grounded out to short. Verdugo grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Davis blew the lead in the top of the seventh although Ohtani flied out to left to start. Rendon then hit a home run all the way to Sun City to tie the game. Walsh struck out swinging and Rojas grounded out to second to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the seventh as Vazquez flied out to right to start. Dalbec grounded out to second but Arroyo got a base hit to left. Jackie Bradley Jr pinch ran for Arroyo but Story took strike three to end the inning.
Matt Strahm came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Stassi grounded out to second to start. David Fletcher pinch hit for Wade and grounded back to the mound before Jack Mayfield pinch hit for Velazquez. Mayfield grounded out to third to end the inning. Aaron Loup cam in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Devers took strike three to start, but Bogaerts smashed a home run to put the Sox on top. Martinez took strike three and Hernandez grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox up 4-3.
Sox take the lead
Hansel Robles came in to crap his pants in the top of the ninth and Ward struck out swinging to start. Trout and Ohtani worked back to back walks but Rendon flied out to center. Defying all logic, Cora pulled Robles for Jake Diekman to pitch to Walsh. One strike away from victory, Walsh instead got a base hit to right to score Trout to tie the game. Kurt Suzuki pinch hit for Rojas and walked to load the bases but Stassi flied out to center to end the inning with the game tied 4-4.
Ryan Tepera came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth but Verdugo grounded out to short to start. Vazquez walked but Sox manager Alex Cora had Vazquez foolishly try to steal with Dalbec at the plate. Naturally Dalbec was rung up for strike three and Vazquez was thrown out at second to end the inning.
Matt Barnes came in to pour gas on the fire in the top of the tenth with Stassi starting at second. Fletcher flied out to right and Mayfield struck out swinging....but Ward hit a home run all the way to Baltimore to ice the game. Barnes fell apart as Trout got a base hit to left and Ohtani walked to chase him. Hiro Sawamura came in and Rendon singled home Trout and Walsh hit a home run all the way to Nebraska to a chorus of thunderous boos. Suzuki struck out swinging but the Angels scored SIX runs in the inning to take a 10-4 lead. What a disaster.
Jimmy Herget came in to pitch the bottom of the tenth with Dalbec starting at second. Somehow JBJ singled to right to score Bobby but Story banged into a double play. Devers walked and Bogaerts singled to right but Martinez lined out to left to end the game. The Angels embarrassed the Red Sox 10-5 in 10 innings.
Angels win
Diekman The Jackass
Jackass of the Night is Jake Diekman. The game doesn't even go to extras if he was able to get ONE out.
The Good:
Trevor Story was 2 for 5 with 3 rbis.
Christian Arroyo was 1 for 1 with a walk, hit by pitch and 2 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 5 with a home run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 1 with an rbi.
Garrett Whitlock allowed just 2 runs in 5 innings while striking out 9.
Matt Strahm pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4.
Hansel Robles was charged with the tying run in the ninth inning.
Matt Barnes allowed 4 runs in 2/3 of an inning.
Hiro Sawamura allowed 2 runs in 1.3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 4.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 but walked.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked and scored twice.
Austin Davis allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
How much more can Sox brass and their fans endure before enough is enough? On a night where the offense was able to take the lead again and again, the Boston bullpen failed them big time. Whitlock was pulled after 5 innings and the bullpen allowed EIGHT runs. How many more games is Cora going to pull the starter early just for this to happen? You would think Cora would throw analytics out the window and try to win some games. The offense can't even be blamed because they took the lead three times. Whitlock needs to be the closer and there's no other way to sugarcoat how bad the Sox bullpen is. I don't know why they want him to be a starter when they have more than enough starters with two on the way in James Paxton and Chris Sale. All in all this team is rapidly losing steam and spiraling out of control a month into the season. They need to make a turnaround pretty soon or they'll be in last place before we all know it. The loss dropped the Sox to 10-15, 8 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to take the rubber game tomorrow afternoon when Rich Hill (0-1, 3.71 ERA) taking on Shohei Ohtani of the Angels. The game begins at 1:35 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment