It was bad news all around for the city of Boston as the Milwaukee Bucks crushed the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their second round NBA playoff series and the lowly Baltimore Orioles once again embarrassed the Boston Red Sox. Arguably an offense worse than the Red Sox managed to pound Red Sox pitching for 13 hits and 9 runs, most of them came after a four hour rain delay in the middle of the sixth inning. Once again the impotent Red Sox offense was held to just a single run after 5 innings while Nick Pivetta (0-4 7.84 ERA) got knocked out in the fifth inning after allowing 3 runs. After a four hour rain delay, the Orioles pounced on Kutter Crawford and Phillips Valdez for six runs to put the game out of reach. JD Martinez hit a grand slam off old friend Travis Lakins in the top of the ninth but it wasn't nearly enough as the O's dropped the Sox a half game out of last place with a 9-5 victory over Boston at Camden Yards.
Jordan Lyles got the ball in the top of the first inning and Trevor Story led off with a walk. Rafael Devers struck out swinging and Xander Bogaerts also went down hacking but JD Martinez singled to center to move Story to third. Franchy Cordero grounded out to first to end the inning. Pivetta got the ball in the bottom of the first and Cedric Mullins beat out a single to third. Mullins was thrown out trying to steal and Anthony Santander popped up to third. Ryan Mountcastle struck out swinging to end the inning.
Kike Hernandez struck out swinging to start the top of the second before Jackie Bradley Jr popped up to third. Christian Vazquez doubled to right and Jaylin Davis singled to center to put runners at the corners, but as usual Story struck out swinging to end the inning. Austin Hays lined out to third to start the bottom of the second before Rougned Odor took strike three. Ramon Urias grounded out to third to end the inning.
Devers grounded out to first to start the top of the third before Bogaerts grounded out to third. Martinez got a base hit to left, Cordero walked and Hernandez was plunked to load the bases. JBJ grounded out to first to end the inning. Tyler Nevin popped up to first to start the bottom of the third before Anthony Benboom struck out swinging. Jorge Mateo lined out to second to end the inning.
Vazquez flied out to center to start the top of the fourth but Davis singled to center. Story walked but Devers banged into a double play to end the inning. The Orioles blew their own rally in the bottom of the fourth as Cordero dropped a throw from Devers on the grounder by Mullins for an error. Santander singled to right to move Mullins to third but Mountcastle popped up to right. Santander took off for second on the swinging strikeout by Hays and was thrown out at second trying to steal to end the inning.
Bogaerts tried to start a rally with a double to left to start the top of the fifth but could only move to third on the grounder to short by Martinez. Cordero somehow hit a sac fly to right to score Bogaerts to put Boston on top. Hernandez singled to left but JBJ grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Naturally the O's got it right back in the bottom of the fifth as Odor singled off the glove of Cordero to start. Urias doubled to left and Nevin ripped a base hit to left to clear the bases, putting the O's up for good. Benboom struck out swinging but Mateo singled to left to chase Pivetta. The incompetent starter would charged with 4 runs in just 4 1/3 inning. Austin Davis came in and Mullins beat out a single in the hole at second to load the bases. Santander hit a sac fly to the wall to score Nevin and Mountcastle was intentionally walked to re-load the bases. Hiro Sawamura came in to pitch to Hays and got him to fly out to right to end the inning with the O's up 3-1.
The Sox rolled over in the top of the sixth as Vazquez flied out to center to start. Davis and Story both struck out swinging to end the inning. Kutter Crawford came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Odor hit a home run to the Klingon Homeworld to ice the game. Urias walked and finally the umps called the game for four hours because of rain.
When play resumed Phillips Valdez came in to take a beating as he plunked Nevin to start. Bemboom walked to load the bases and Mateo doubled home Urias and Nevin. Mullins popped up to third and Santander scored both runners with a base hit to left. Santander took second on a balk and Mountcastle lined a base hit up the middle to score Anthony. Hays took strike three and Odor grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 9-1 Orioles.
Old friend Travis Lakins came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Devers singled to right to start. Bogaerts banged into a double play and Martinez lined out to second to end the inning. Urias flied out to right to start the bottom of the seventh but Nevin walked. Benboom singled to right but Mateo flied out to left. Mullins grounded out to second to end the inning.
Cordero doubled to right to begin the top of the eighth but Hernandez popped up to short. Cordero moved to third on the JBJ grounder to second and Vazquez grounded out to third to end the inning. Kevin Plawecki the catcher came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Ryan McKenna pinch hit for Santander. McKenna beat out an infield single to short and Kelvin Gutierrez pinch hit for Mountcastle. Gutierrez flied out to right, Hays flied out to center and Odor flied out to left to end the inning. Plawecki pitched better than Valdez, Crawford and Pivetta.
Somehow the Sox rallied in the top of the ninth although Davis struck out swinging to start. Story walked, Devers singled to right and Bogaerts was plunked to load the bases. Martinez then blasted a grand slam to cut the lead and make everyone groan. Joey Khrebiel came in to pitch and Cordero grounded out to short to end the rally. Hernandez popped up to second to end the game with the Orioles winning 9-5.
O's win
Jackass of the Night is Phillips Valdez. He turned a 4-1 game into 9-1 in 8 seconds flat
The Good:
Trevor Story walked three times and scored a run.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 5 with a run scored.
JD Martinez was 3 for 5 with a grand slam.
Franchy Cordero was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Jaylin Davis was 2 for 4.
Hiro Sawamura got the final out of the fifth inning.
Kevin Plawecki pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4.
Nick Pivetta took the loss by allowing 3 runs in just 4 1/3 innings. He allowed 6 hits.
Kutter Crawford allowed 2 runs without getting an out.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but was hit with a pitch and scored 2 runs.
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but was hit with a pitch.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4.
Austin Davis allowed an inherited runner to score in 1/3 of an inning.
Final Thoughts:
With every loss it feels like the Sox have hit rock bottom but they just keep topping themselves. If getting walked off by the Orioles wasn't bad enough, how about getting blown out by an offense that's ten times worse than theirs on paper? The warts on the team are as clear as pimples on the face of a teenager. They're getting no help from the bottom of the order and the bullpen is garbage. The sins of last year carried over to this year as Matt Barnes and Hiro Sawamura haven't been anywhere close to where they were last year. The only silver lining is eventually the trio of Jarren Duran, Triston Casas and Jeter Downs will be ready at some point this year and hopefully one or all of them will be good enough to make an impact. Chaim Bloom looks like a complete fool right now for trading Hunter Renfroe for JBJ and letting Jose Iglesias walk for Travis Shaw. The Sox need to have a team meeting or start cutting people because they're going to be in last place pretty soon if things don't improve. Thankfully the Sox have an off-day but run smack into the Los Angeles Angels at home on Tuesday night. Michael Wacha (2-0, 1.77 ERA) goes for the Sox up against former New York Mets ace Noah Syndergaard. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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