Before the game the Boston Red Sox placed Josh Wincowski on the Covid List and called up Darwinzon Hernandez to take his spot. One last chance for Hernandez to show something or else he's had it.
As for the game, the Boston Red Sox appear to be cursed against the AL East. After getting thouroughly dominated by the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays in the month of July, for one night it looked like things went their way. The Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Tampa starter Drew Rasmussen and Boston starter Kutter Crawford tossed 6 shutout innings. Naturally in the bottom of the seventh the Rays rallied for 3 straight hits to score a run and chase Crawford. John Schreiber had been lights out virtually all season but this time he allowed the trying runs to score and two of his own for a 5 run rally. The Sox did rally in the top of the ninth against Jalen "Twin Beeks" and got the tying run at second but failed to bring it in. The Rays swept the Sox in four games out of Tropicana Field with a come from behind 5-4 win.
Rasmussen got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren Duran lined out to center to start. Rafael Devers got a base hit to left and took second on a wild pitch, but JD Martinez struck out swinging. Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning. Crawford got the ball in the bottom of the first and Yandy Diaz grounded out to second to start. Ji-Man Choi struck out swinging and Harold Ramirez grounded out to short to end the inning.
Alex Verdugo struck out swinging to start the top of the second and Franchy Cordero went down hacking as well. Kevin Plawecki grounded out to third to end the inning. The Rays threatened in the bottom of the second as Jonathan Aranda got a base hit to right to start. Christian Bethancourt flied out to right and Josh Lowe struck out swinging, but Taylor Walls doubled to right to move Aranda to third. Luke Raley grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the third as Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to second to start. Jeter Downs struck out swinging and Duran popped up to third to end the inning. The Sox have scored exactly three runs in the last 25 innings, pathetic. Brett Phillips struck out swinging to start the bottom of the third before Diaz lined out to center. Choi doubled to left but Ramirez grounded out to short to end the inning.
Somehow the Sox took the lead in the top of the fourth as Devers clubbed his 20th home run of the season to put Boston on top. Martinez flied out to center, Bogaerts grounded out to short and Verdugo grounded out to first to end the inning but the Sox led 1-0.
Aranda struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fourth before Bethancourt grounded back to the mound. Lowe lined out to short to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fifth as Cordero popped up to second to start. Plawecki grounded out to third and JBJ flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox have scored just four runs in the last 27 innings, horrible. Meanwhile Crawford got Walls to fly out to center to start the bottom of the fifth. Raley struck out swinging and Phillips took strike three to end the inning.
Downs popped up to short to start the top of the sixth but Duran got a base hit to center. Duran stole second but could only go to third on the grounder to second by Devers. Martinez walked and the Rays made a rare mistake as Rasmussen uncorked a wild pitch to score Duran. Bogaerts then doubled into the gap in center to score Martinez with another run. Verdugo grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
Crawford kept up the pace in the bottom of the sixth as Diaz lined out to center to start. Choi grounded out to third and Ramirez grounded out to second to end the inning.
Tommy Romero came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Cordero struck out swinging to start. Plawecki grounded out to second and JBJ grounded out to third to end the inning. The Rays exploded in the bottom of the seventh as Aranda pounded a ground rule double to left to begin. Bethancourt ripped a base hit to center to put runners at the corners and Lowe hit a double to right to score Aranda to put the Rays on the board. Crawford was great for 6 innings but fell apart in the 7th and ultimately allowed 3 runs in 6 plus innings. He did strike out six batters.
John Schreiber came in and poured gas on the fire as Walls singled to left to clear the bases to tie the game then took second on the throw home. Raley was hit with a pitch and Phillips dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over. Diaz did the honors with a base hit to center to clear the bases and put the Rays up for good. Choi then doubled to left but Diaz was thrown out at home by Bogaerts. Ramirez struck out swinging to end the inning with the Rays up 5-3.
Brooks Raley took over for the top of the eighth with Yu Chang taking over at second with Francisco Mejia behind the plate. Downs struck out swinging but Rob Refsnyder pinch hit for Duran and doubled to left. With a chance to tie the game.....Devers struck out swinging. Jason Adam came in to pitch to Martinez and JD struck out swinging to end the inning. Darwinzon Hernandez came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Mejia grounded out to third to start. Chang and Lowe both struck out swinging to end the inning.
Jalen "Twin" Beeks came in to close out the top of the ninth and Bogaerts started a rally with a base hit to left. Verdugo doubled to right to score Xander and suddenly bring the tying run to second. Christian Vazquez pinch hit for Cordero and hit one up the elevator shaft, but Plawecki walked. Bobby Dalbec pinch hit for JBJ and....struck out swinging. Downs grounded out to short to end the game, the Rays ha swept the Sox out of Tampa with a 5-4 victory.
Rays win
Jackass Schreiber
Rob Refsnyder doubled as a pinch hitter.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with a home run.
Darwinzon Hernandez pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Jackass of the night is John Schreiber. He allowed 2 inherited runners to score and 2 of his own to lose the game.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 1 for 3 with a stolen base and a run scored.
Rob Refsnyder doubled as a pinch hitter.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with a home run.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Darwinzon Hernandez pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Franchy Cordero was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3.
Bobby Dalbec struck out as a pinch hitter.
Jeter Downs was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked and scored a run.
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Kevin Plawecki was 0 for 3 but walked.
Kutter Crawford picked up a no decision allowing 3 runs in 6 plus innings. He allowed 6 hits and struck out six.
Final Thoughts:
That should do it for the Red Sox in terms of competing in the AL East this year. They've been thoroughly dominated all year and this month was the exclamation point. They dominated this game through 6 innings and then WHAM, its 5-3. They had chances in the eighth and ninth to tie the game but once again failed in the clutch. Schreiber had been lights out all year and this was the one time Cora let a starter pitch longer. Its been that kind of season where everything goes wrong. Crawford deserved the win but it wasn't meant to be. The bottom line is this team needs some serious starting pitching help at the trade deadline but they don't have the assets to get them. They may be better off trading some of their expiring contracts and play for next year. If you can't beat your own division then you have no chance to making the playoffs. The loss dropped the Sox to 47-43, 15.5 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Speaking of New York, Nathan Eovaldi (4-2) is coming off the injured list as he takes on Jordan Montgomery of the Yankees in the final series before the all-star break. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment