It was bad news all around as the Boston Celtics choked Game 6 of their NBA East Finals series and the Boston Red Sox choked a huge lead to the floundering Baltimore Orioles. For six innings everything was going good for the Red Sox as they had an 8-2 lead and Garrett Whitlock had tossed six solid innings. Then Alex Cora did what he always did and pulled a starter early thinking the game was over. WRONG! The Red Sox bullpen were shelled for TEN runs in the next three innings. Matt Straham, Hiro Sawamura, Jake Diekman and John Schreiber all were shelled as the lowly Orioles came all the way back down 8 to 2 to take a 12-8 lead in just three innings. What should have been an easy victory for the Sox turned into one of the biggest collapses in team history as the Orioles humiliated the Sox 12-8 at Fenway Park.
Whitlock got the ball in the top of the first inning and Cedric Mullins popped up to third to start. Trey Mancini struck out swinging and Anthony Santander flied out to right to end the inning. Brandish got the ball in the bottom of the first and Kike Hernandez greeted him with a base hit to left to begin. Rafael Devers got a base hit to left that was muffed by Santander for an error to score Hernandez. Devers moved to second on the error, JD Martinez was hit with a pitch and Xander Bogaerts crushed a three run home run to put the Sox up big early. Alex Verdugo followed with a base hit to right but moved to second when Trevor Story lined out to short and Jorge Mateo threw the ball away for an error. Franchy Cordero struck out swinging and Christian Vazquez also went down hacking to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-0.
Austin Hays grounded out to third to start the bottom of the second and Adley Rutschman grounded out to short. Ryan Mountcastle struck out swinging to end the inning. Jackie Bradley Jr was retired on a swinging bunt in front of the plate to start the bottom of the second before Hernandez grounded out to short. Devers got a seeing eye single into left, Martinez walked and Bogaerts was hit with a pitch to load the bases. Verdugo pounded a ground rule double into the centerfield stands to score Devers and Martinez to finally chase Brandish from the game. Beau Sulser made his Major League debut and got Story to hit a squibber in front of the plate to end the inning with the Sox up 6-0.
Verdugo drives in a pair
Rougned Odor lined out to right to start the bottom of the third and Ramon Urias grounded out to second. Mateo took strike three to end the inning. Cordero ripped a base hit to right to start the bottom of the third but Vazquez hit into a double play. JBJ doubled to right but Hernandez grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
The O's struck back in the top of the fourth although Mullins hit one up the elevator shaft to start. Mancini walked and Santander hit a home run all the way to France to cut the lead. Hays got a base hit to left but Rutschman forced him at second. Mountcastle got a base hit to right to move Rutschman to third but Odor struck out swinging to end the inning with the O's down 6-2.
Santander goes yard
The Sox tried to get the runs back in the bottom of the fourth when Devers led off with a double to right. Martinez followed with a double to center to score Rafael but Bogaerts popped up to second. Verdugo grounded out to first to move Martinez to third but Story grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox up 7-2.
Urias got a base hit to center to start the top of the fifth but Mateo grounded into a double play. Mullins singled to left but Mancini lined out to left to end the inning. The Sox scored again in the bottom of the fifth as Cordero doubled off the Monster to start. Vazquez singled in the hole at second to score Cordero and JBJ got a base hit to center. Hernandez popped up to first but both runners moved over on the Devers grounder to second. That was it for Sulser as Marcos Diplan came in and Martinez lined out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 8-2.
Santander grounded out to first to start the top of the sixth and Hays grounded back to the mound. Rutschman flied out to right to end the inning. Even though Whitlock was only at 84 pitches, Sox manager Alex Cora yanked him. He did pitch well, holding the O's to just 2 runs in 6 innings and giving up 5 hits.
Bogaerts popped up to first to start the bottom of the sixth before Verdugo struck out swinging. Story drew a walk but Cordero grounded out to third to end the inning.
Jake Diekman came in to crap his pants in the top of the seventh and Mountcastle popped up to second to start. Odor got a base hit to right, Urias walked and Mateo hit a three run bomb to South America to cut the lead. Mullins flied out to right and Mancini lined out to center to end the inning with the O's down 8-5.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the seventh as Vazquez grounded out to third to start. JBJ grounded out to first but Hernandez drew a walk. That was it for Diplan as Logan Gillaspie came in to pitch to Devers and Rafael lined out to left to end the inning.
John Schreiber came in to pitch the top of the eighth and naturally walked Santander to start. Hays then pounded a home run all the way to New Mexico to cut the lead and hand Schreiber his first earned runs allowed this year. Rutschman struck out swinging and Mountcastle grounded out to short to chase Schreiber. Matt Strahm came in to pitch to Odor and naturally he pounded a ground rule double into the centerfield stands. Urias hit a routine grounder to Devers who THREW IT AWAY! Odor came around to score and the collapse was complete. Mateo struck out swinging to end the inning but the O's had come all the way back to tie the game 8-8.
Dillon Tate came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Martinez grounded out to short to start. Bogaerts did manage to get a base hit to left but Verdugo forced him at second. Story was hit with a pitch to put the go-ahead run at second but Cionel Perez came in to pitch to Cordero. Sox manager Alex Cora countered by pinch hitting Christian Arroyo and naturally Christian popped up to second to end the inning. Way to take the bat out of Cordero's hands the way he'd been hitting lately Alex.
Naturally the Orioles rallied in the top of the ninth as Mullins got a base hit to left to begin. Mancini lashed a base hit to left to move Mullins to third and Ryan McKenna pinch ran for Mancini. Santander did the honors with a base hit to right to score Mullins and move McKenna to third. Mercifully that was it for Strahm and Hiro Sawamura was brought in to stop the bleeding but instead walked Hays to load the bases. Sawamura managed to get Rutschman to force McKenna at home....but he threw a pitch 100 feet over the head of Vazquez for a wild pitch to score Santander and advance the runners. Mountcastle hit a sac fly to score Hays and Odor hit the exclamation point with a base hit to left to score Rutschman. Urias singled to right as the boo's rained down at Fenway. Mateo grounded back to the mound to end the inning as the Red Sox bullpen allowed 10 runs in 3 innings and trailed 12-8.
Jorge Lopez came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and the Sox rolled over. Vazquez struck out swinging, JBJ grounded out to short and Hernandez grounded out to second to end the game. The Sox had been humiliated by the O's 12-8.
Jackass of the Night should be Alex Cora for pulling Whitlock at just 84 pitches and pinch hitting an ice cold Arroyo in the eighth but its Matt Straham. He came in with an 8-7 lead and was charged with 4 runs to take the loss.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored.
JD Martinez was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi and 2 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4 with a 3 run homer.
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis.
Franchy Cordero was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 5.
Garrett Whitlock tossed 6 innings of 2 run ball. He allowed 5 hits and struck out 4.
The Bad:
Christian Arroyo popped up as a pinch hitter.
Jake Diekman allowed a 3 run homer in the seventh inning.
John Schreiber allowed a 2 run homer in the eighth inning.
Hiro Sawamura allowed 2 inherited runners to score and one of his own in the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 5 but walked and scored a run.
Trevor Story was 0 for 3 but walked.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Remember the game back in 2009 when the Red Sox blew a 9-1 lead to the Yankees with nine outs to play? This was far worse because the Yankees were on their way to being world series champions and this was to a team with one of the worst offenses in baseball. They had an 8-2 lead with 9 outs to go and allowed TEN runs. Alex Cora pulling Whitlock after 84 pitches started the collapse and every move he made after failed. Since Hansel Robles and Matt Barnes proved they couldn't pitch in the late innings, he turned to the guys that had been pitching well and they got hammered. If this isn't proof positive that SOMETHING needs to be done about the bullpen, Sox GM Chaim Bloom may as well blow up the team. The offense scored 16 runs last night and 8 tonight and LOST ground in the standings. The New York Yankees are on an absolute roll and would have to have a 1978 Red Sox style collapse in order for Boston to catch them. Its a shame this happened because the Sox had won 8 out of 10 with their offense alive again and Cora pulling a starter early cost them AGAIN. Scrap heap pickups like Schreiber and Strahm aren't supposed to be closing games out but that's what it's come down to with Ryan Brasier, Barnes and Robles all finished. The worst part is the Sox have to play a doubleheader tomorrow against the Orioles. What's the over/under of the O's scoring 30 runs against this crew? The loss dropped the Sox to 21-24, good for 4th place in the AL East. Tomorrow is a doubleheader against the Orioles and Nathan Eovaldi (1-2, 4.10 ERA) takes on Jordan Lyles of Baltimore in Game 1 at 12:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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