It was a bad day all around for Boston sports as the Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win the NBA Finals and the Oakland A's held off the Boston Red Sox. Rich Hill (2-4, 4.42 ERA) suffered Dice K Disease and allowed three runs in the top of the third before getting knocked out in the sixth inning. The key to the Sox defeat was the lack of offense until it was too late. The Boston bats outhit the A's 11 to 8 but were done in by leaving 13 runners on base in a game that was decided by one run. Pete Blackburn held the Sox to one measly run through 5 1/3 innings although the Sox rallied in the eighth inning. With the tying run at third, Xander Bogaerts grounded out to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the ninth and the A's won the game 4-3 at Fenway Park.
Hill got the ball in the top of the first inning and Chad Pinder grounded out to third to start. "Razor" Ramon Laureano singled to center but Christian Bethancourt struck out swinging. Sean Murphy went down hacking to end the inning. Blackburn got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Jarren Duran singled inside the first base bag on the first pitch to start. Rafael Devers flied out to left but JD Martinez moved Duran to third with a base hit to right. Xander Bogaerts popped up to right and Alex Verdugo flied out to right to end the inning.
Matt Davidson grounded out to third to start the top of the second and Seth Brown popped up to third. Elvis Andrus flied out to left to end the inning. Trevor Story struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second but Franchy Cordero got a base hit to left. Christian Vazquez lined out to left but Jackie Bradley Jr moved Cordero to third with a base hit to center. Duran struck out swinging to end the inning.
The A's struck first in the top of the third as Jonah Bride grounded out to third to start. Christian Pache hit a routine pop up that Story dropped completely for a "double" and Pinder got a base hit up the middle to score Christia. Laureano doubled to right and both runners scored on the Bethancourt single to left to ice the game. Murphy lined out to short and Davidson forced Bethancourt at second to end the inning with the A's up for good 3-0.
Devers tried to start a rally with a walk to begin the bottom of the third and Martinez hit a looper to Laureano...under his bare hand for an error to move the runners up. Bogaerts grounded out to short to score Devers and Verdugo grounded out to first to move JD to third. Story grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox down 3-1.
Brown grounded out to second to start the top of the fourth before Andrus flied out to center. Story dove to his left for a grounder by Bride that went to his right for a "single" but Pache forced Jonah at second to end the inning. Cordero struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fourth and Vazquez grounded out to third. JBJ singled to right, Duran doubled to right and Devers was intentionally walked to load the bases for Martinez. Naturally JD grounded back to the mound to end the inning and the Sox were up to eight men left on base.
Pinder struck out swinging to start the top of the fifth and Laureano flied out to right. Bethancourt struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fifth as Bogaerts grounded out to short to start. Verdugo grounded out to second and Story took strike three to end the inning.
The A's finished off Hill in the top of the sixth as Murphy lined out to third to start. Davidson grounded out to third but Brown ripped a base hit to center. Sox manager Alex Cora did what he did all of April and yanked Hill after just 82 pitches and paid for it when Hiro Sawamura came in only for a passed ball to move Brown to second. Andrus hit a routine grounder to Devers....UNDER HIS GLOVE FOR AN ERROR! Brown scored and boos rained down at Fenway. Bride lined out to center to end the inning but it was 4-1 A's. Hill had essentially one bad inning that could have been avoided with better defense but allowed 4 runs in 5 2/3 innings although only 3 were earned.
Once again Cora couldn't get out of his own way in the bottom of the sixth as Cordero flied out to left to start. Vazquez ripped a base hit to left to chase Blackburn and AJ Puk came in to pitch. JBJ forced Vazquez at second and Cora made the idiotic decision to have Bobby Dalbec punch hit for Duran after Jarren had two hits in the game. Naturally Dalbec swung and missed at strike three that was 3 feet over his head to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the top of the seventh inning and Pache grounded back to the mound to start. Pinder popped up to first and Laureano grounded out to second to end the inning. Devers was plunked to start the bottom of the seventh and Zach Jackson came in to pitch to Martinez. JD took strike three but Bogaerts got a base hit to center. Verdugo flied out to center and Story once again struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up to 11 men left on base.
Hansel Robles came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Bethancourt struck out swinging again. Murphy hit a ground rule double down the right field line and Tony Kemp pinch hit for Davidson. Kemp grounded out to short to move Murphy to third but Brown flied out to center to end the inning. Sam Moll came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Cora made a good move for once by having Rob Refsnyder pinch hit for Cordero. Rob got a base hit to left and Vazquez walked but JBJ popped up to short. Dalbec flied out to center and Devers hit a routine grounder to third....THROWN AWAY BY BRIDE! Refsnyder scored and Devers made it to second on the break. A's manager Mark Kotsay brought in Dany Jimenez to pitch to Martinez and this time JD grounded a base hit through the right side to score Vazquez and put the tying run at third. Bogaerts with the game on the line forced JD at second to end the inning with 13 runners stranded and the Sox still down 4-3.
Tyler Danish came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Andrus grounded out to third to start. Bride flied out to right and Pache lined out to left to end the inning. The Sox rolled over and died in the bottom of the ninth as Verdugo lined out to left to start. Story swung at the first pitch 2 inches off the ground and grounded out to short before Refsnyder also grounded out to short to end the game. The A's had won it 4-3.
Jackass of the Night is Trevor Story. He was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts, stranding 3 men on base and his dropped pop up allowed the A's to rally in the third.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 2 for 3.
JD Martinez was 3 for 5 with an rbi.
Franchy Cordero was 1 for 3.
Rob Refsnyder was 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4.
Hiro Sawamura got the final out of the sixth inning.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Hansel Robles tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
Tyler Danish pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 5.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 2 with an error but walked twice, was hit with a pitch and scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run.
Rich Hill took the loss by allowing 4 runs in 5 1/3 innings but was victimized by a huge drop by Story and error by Devers.
Final Thoughts:
Anytime you beat a team 3 out of 4 but the final game was the one you lost it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. The Sox should have swept these guys and had plenty of chances to take the lead in this one. The worst part was this was a blown chance to gain some ground in the standings as the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays both lost today. Hill didn't even pitch that bad, it was more or less Devers and Story making mistakes that allowed the A's to score as many runs as they did. The bullpen pitched well and the Sox did get 11 hits, but rarely were they in the clutch. Pinch hitting Bobby Dalbec for Duran was a head scratcher and what in the name of all that is holy is wrong with Trevor Story? Apart from two weeks in May where he turned into Tom Brunansky, he's been terrible before and after. His at-bats aren't even competitive and its gotten to the point where known strikeout artists Bobby Dalbec and Jackie Bradley Jr have a better chance of making contact than him. People were expecting his power numbers to be down away from Coors Field but who expected him to stop hitting period? The New York Yankees are laughing at the Sox as Isiah Kiner is putting up better numbers at a fraction of the cost for a team miles ahead in first place. Still, this isn't 1990 and there's plenty of time left to catch the Jays, Rays and even the Yankees. Try to forget this game and move on to the next series. The loss dropped the Sox to 34-30, good for 4th place in the AL East. The Sox now welcome the NL Central leading St Louis Cardinals in for a three game set beginning tomorrow night. Michael Wacha (4-1, 2.33 ERA) gets the start for Boston against Adam Wainwright of St. Louis nine years after both pitches against the Sox in the World Series. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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