Before the game the Boston Red Sox made roster moves. Kike Hernandez was removed from the Covid List and Jarren Duran was sent down to Worcester. Also the Sox signed former St. Louis Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez and assigned him to Worcester to replace Derek Holland who signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. Martinez was a rookie for the Cardinals when they faced the Sox in the 2013 World Series and went 16-9 in 2016. He was 4-9 with a 6.23 ERA last year for the Cards and was picked up by the San Francisco Giants this season before being released. The Sox need insurance in case their prospects don't develop and James Paxton doesn't come back, may as well take a chance on Martinez.
It was bad news all around for the city of Boston. The Boston Celtics were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 of their second round NBA playoff series and the Red Sox blew yet another save in their miserable season against the Chicago White Sox. Nick Pivetta tossed 6 shutout innings and the Red Sox scratched out a run against Dylan Cease. Staked to that lead, Hansel Robles immediately coughed it up in the top of the ninth and Matt Barnes got shelled in extra innings again. The White Sox actually had half as many hits in the final two innings than the Red Sox did total. The Sox had a chance to win it with 2 on in the bottom of the ninth but Bobby Dalbec never swung the bat and the Sox went quietly against Liam Hendriks in the bottom of the tenth. Frustrations are mounting as the Red Sox are in dead last and dropped their fourth straight game courtesy of a 3-1 White Sox win at Fenway Park.
This says it all
Pivetta got the ball in the top of the first and Tim Anderson singled to left to start. AJ Pollock popped up to third but Anderson swiped second base. Jose Abreu grounded out to third and Luis Robert struck out swinging to end the inning. Cease got the ball in the bottom of the first and Trevor Story took strike three right down the middle to start. Rafael Devers got a base hit to center but Xander Bogaerts was called out on interference on a squibber in front of the plate. JD Martinez got a base hit to right to move Devers to third but Alex Verdugo grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Yasmani Grandal grounded out to second to start the top of the second before Gavin Sheets popped up to second. Jake Burger struck out swinging to end the inning. Kike Hernandez lined out to right to begin the bottom of the second but Jackie Bradley Jr struck out swinging. Christian Vazquez drew a walk but Franchy Cordero flied out to right to end the inning.
Adam Engel struck out swinging to start the top of the third but Leury Garcia singled to left. Anderson was plunked but Pivetta froze Pollock for strike three. Abreu also took strike three to end the inning. Story was called out on strike three not even close to start the bottom of the third and Sox manager Alex Cora ran out of the dugout with a bat and tried to hit home plate umpire Carlos Torres with it. Alert security stopped Cora and he had to be carried off the field kicking and screaming. At least he showed some heart to take one for the team. Devers walked but Bogaerts whiffed and Martinez took strike three to end the inning.
Robert grounded out to short to start the top of the fourth but Grandal flied out to right. Sheets popped up to third to end the inning. The Red Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Verdugo went down hacking to start. Hernandez flied out to left and JBJ struck out swinging to end the inning.
Pivetta got in trouble in the top of the fifth as Burger singled in the hole at short but Engel went down hacking. Garcia flied out to left but Anderson singled to right. Pollock flied out to right to end the inning. Somehow Boston got a run in the bottom of the fifth although Vazquez grounded out to third to start. Cordero singled to center and Story walked before Devers doubled to left to score Cordero. In typical Sox style, Bogaerts hit a grounder to short but Story was thrown out at home. Martinez struck out swinging to end the inning with the Red Sox only ahead 1-0.
Devers drives in a run
Pivetta returned for the top of the sixth and Abreu singled to left to begin. Robert struck out swining, Grandal popped up to third and Sheets struck out swinging to end the inning. Pivetta had tossed his best game of the season, tossing a 5 hit shutout through six innings. He was outstanding.
Bennett Sousa came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Verdugo grounded out to first to start. Hernandez struck out swinging and JBJ grounded out to first to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Burger struck out swinging to start. Engel whiffed again but Garcia singled to right. Garcia stole second but Anderson grounded out to third to end the inning. Jose Ruiz came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Vazquez grounded out to second to start. Cordero and Story both flied out to center to end the inning.
Bobby Dalbec came in for defense at first with John Schreiber now on the mound for the top of the eighth. Pollock flied out to center and Abreu grounded out to short, but Robert beat out a roller to third. Grandal hit a routine grounder to Story who threw his glove at the ball and did a backflip for an error. That was it for Schreiber as Matt Strahm was brought in to pitch to Sheets. White Sox manager Tony La Russa countered by pinch hitting Josh Harrison. Strahm got Harrison to ground into a force to end the inning. Reynaldo Lopez came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Devers popped up to short to start. Bogaerts got a base hit to left but Martinez flied out to right. Verdugo grounded out to short to end the inning,
Hansel Robles came in to crap his pants in the top of the ninth. Burger walked, Engel doubled to left and Garcia hit a sac fly to right to score Burger to tie the game just like that. This was the ninth blown save of the season for the Sox. Anderson grounded out to third and Pollock grounded out to second to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
9th blown save
The Sox blew a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth as Hernandez popped up to second to begin. JBJ got a base hit to left and Vazquez doubled to center to put the winning run at third. All Dalbec had to do was hit the ball to the outfield but instead he looked at strike three right down the middle to a chorus of boos. Story got booed even louder as he popped up to second to end the inning.
Booooooooo!!!!
Matt Barnes came in to vomit up his intestines in the top of the tenth with Pollock starting at second. Abreu hit a 75 mph straight fastball off the top of the centerfield wall to score Pollock and Robert singled to center to score Abreu. Robert moved to third on the Grandal grounder to short but stayed there on Harrison's grounder to short. Burger struck out swinging to end the inning with the White Sox leading 3-1.
Liam Hendriks came out looking for his fifth straight save in the bottom of the tenth with Story starting at second. Acting manager Will Venable refused to have Devers bunt and instead he grounded back to the mound. Bogaerts grounded out to second to move Story to third but Martinez grounded out to short to end the game. The heart of the order was going up against a tired pitcher and couldn't even get the ball out of the infield. They deserved to lose 3-1.
Another loss for Boston
Whole team of Jackasses really
Rafael Devers was 2 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Jackass of the Night is Hansel Robles. It wouldn't have come to Dalbec or Barnes if Robles hadn't blown the ninth inning lead.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 2 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Franchy Cordero was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Nick Pivetta tossed 6 shutout innings while allowing 5 hits and striking out 8
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
John Schreiber got the first two outs of the eighth inning.
Matt Strahm got the final out of the eighth inning.
The Bad:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Bobby Dalbec took strike three as a pinch hitter.
Matt Barnes took the loss by allowing 2 runs in the tenth inning.
The Ugly:
Trevor Story was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Final Thoughts:
Its been Murphy's Law this season as anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Nick Pivetta finally puts out a good start and the bullpen blows it. The offense does almost nothing again and looked embarrassing by the end. Story has been a titanic bust to start the year and Dalbec looks like he couldn't hit a high school pitcher right now. Apparently the Red Sox hitting coach is Peter Fatse and all you need to know is he couldn't hit in Double A. At least when the Red Sox offense wasn't that good in 2017, Chili Davis was the coach and he was a good hitter in the big leagues. As mentioned before this is a huge failure by Chaim Bloom to not shore up the bench or get a legitimate closer. The closer by committee approach failed in 2003 under Theo Epstein so why did Bloom think it would work in 2022? Its all adding up to a lost season before the weather even gets warm. The Sox are dead last in runs scored, home runs, batting average and stolen bases while the starting ERA is the best in the majors. Welcome back to 1992 everyone. The problem is the kids in Worcester aren't ready and you don't want to ruin them. Sooner or later Garrett Whitlock needs to be the closer and that would solve 50% of the problem right there. The loss dropped the Sox to 10-18, dead last in the American League East. The Red Sox look to snap the streak tomorrow morning when they face Dallas Keuchel of Chicago. Michael Wacha (3-0, 1.38 ERA) goes for Boston on Mother's Day morning at 11:35 AM at Fenway Park.
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