As for the game, another unmitigated disaster. On the same night Andrew Benintendi drove in the winning run for the New York Yankees against the New York Mets, the guys he was traded for fell flat on their faces against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Sox took a 1-0 lead into the third inning and Josh Winckowski (5-7, 5.83 ERA) got the first two outs before falling apart. The Jays scored EIGHT RUNS in the third with two outs to put the game away early. Once again the Sox bats were held in check as the Sox suffered ANOTHER injury as Tommy Pham left with an injury. To add insult to injury, old friend Jackie Bradley Jr went 2 for 3 with an rbi and 2 runs scored for Toronto. He almost had matched Boston's entire production by himself. Boston media turned on the team in every way possible and the Sox managed just 3 runs as the Jays romped to a 9-3 victory at Fenway Park.
After an hour long rain delay, Winckowski got the ball in the top of the first inning and George Springer grounded out to first to start. Vladimir Guerrero Jr effortlessly doubled to left but Lourdes Gurriel Jr grounded back to the mound. Alejandro Kirk grounded out to second to end the inning. Stripling began his dominance in the bottom of the first inning as Tommy Pham grounded out weakly to second to start. Alex Verdugo grounded out weakly to short but Xander Bogaerts drew a lucky walk. Naturally Rafael Devers would have had hit a home run in any other stadium but it was just high off the Monster for a lousy single. Naturally JD Martinez hit a weak pop up to third to end he inning.
Teoscar Hernandez grounded out to short to start the top of the second and Bo Bichette took strike three. Matt Chapman tripled into the gap in center but Cavan Biggio struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second as Christian Arroyo hit a bullet off the Monster for a double to start. Kike Hernandez roped a base hit to center to score Arroyo, putting Boston ahead. Naturally Franchy Cordero took a straight fastball right down the middle for strike three before Kevin Plawecki hit a weak pop up to center. Pham also hit a weak pop up to center to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
None other than old buddy Jackie Bradley Jr led off the top of the third by obviously hitting a rocket off the Monste for a double to start. Pham crashed into the wall and had to hauled off on a gurney, loaded into an ambulance and rushed to Mass General's ICU. Rob Refsnyder took his place and somehow Springer grounded out to short. Shockingly Guerrero Jr grounded out to third on a nice play by Devers but naturally Gurriel Jr effortlessly doubled to right to tie the game. Winckowski got so rattled he walked Kirk on four pitches not even close and Hernandez laughed as he ripped a base hit to center to score Gurriel, putting the Jays up for good. Bichette easily crushed a single to center to load the bases. Chapman walked to score Kirk and the crowd exploded in cheers with more Jays fans than Sox. That was it for Winckowski who proved he had no business being in the majors, essentially quitting after the Gurriel double. Austin Davis came in and Biggio laughed so hard before effortlessly ripping a base hit to center, scoring two runners to ice the game. JBJ walked on five pitches not even close and Springer cleared the bases with a triple into the right field corner as media members pointed out this entire rally started with 2 outs already. Guerrero Jr felt sorry for the Sox and grounded out to second to end the inning. The Jays went from down 1-0 with 2 outs to go up 8-1.
The Sox once again blew a rally in the bottom of the third as Verdugo took a full count strike three right down the middle to start. Bogaerts hit a weak pop up to second and Devers only got a hit because he hit a chopper in the hole at third that was vacated due to the shift. Somehow Martinez got a lucky seeing eye single to short and in the latest case of Murphy's Law. Arroyo tried to slide into first on a grounder to the mound and screwed up his leg to end the inning. Perfect microcosm of the season with injuries and leaving multiple men on base.
Somehow Gurriel Jr grounded out to first to start the top of the fourth but Kirk drew another walk. Kike Hernandez had to reach into the bullpen to rob Teoscar Hernandez of a home run and Bichette forced Kirk at second to end the inning. The Sox quit in the bottom of the fourth as Hernandez lined out weakly to third to start and just as Andrew Benintendi drove in the go-ahead run for the New York Yankees against the New York Mets, the man he was traded for Cordero struck out swinging. Plawecki got a lucky single to center but Refsnyder took strike three right down the middle to end the inning.
Chapman singled to left to start the top of the fifth but Biggio struck out swinging and JBJ forced Matt at second. Springer singled to center to move JBJ to third but Guerrero Jr grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox rolled over in the bottom of the fifth as Verdugo grounded out to third to start. Bogaerts grounded out to short and Devers swung at strike three 3 feet in the dirt to end the inning.
Jeurys Familia came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Gurriel Jr grounded out to third to start. Kirk and Hernandez both struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the sixth and Martinez flied out to left to start. Arroyo grounded out to short and Hernandez struck out swinging to end the inning.
Bobby Dalbec took over at short with Hiro Sawamura now in to pitch the top of the seventh. Bichette doubled to left to start but Chapman flied out to center. Biggio walked and everyone laughed at the Sox when JBJ himself singled to center to score Bichette to increase the lead. Springer banged into a double play but JBJ was outscoring the Sox by himself as the Jays led 9-1.
The Sox got a lucky run in the bottom of the seventh with Yusei Kikuchi now on the mound. Cordero and Plawecki drew back to back walks but Redsnyder struck out swinging. Verdugo hit a double play ball to Chapman but Biggio threw the ball away to allow Cordero to score. Dalbec walked and Devers was plunked to load the bases to chase Kikuchi. With a chance to get back in the game against David Phelps....Martinez popped up to center to end the inning with the Sox down 9-2.
Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Guerrero Jr doubled to right to start. Vlad moved to third on the grounder to second by Guerriel Jr but Kirk struck out swinging. Hernandez struck out swinging to end the inning. Arroyo flied out to right to start the bottom of the eighth and Hernandez struck out swinging. Cordero took strike three to end the inning.
Reese McGuire the catcher came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Bichette flied out to center to start. Chapman flied out to right and Biggio grounded out to third to end the inning. Maybe he should have started tonight.
Kevin Plawecki got a base hit to right to start the bottom of the ninth and Refsnyder singled to right. Naturally Verdugo took strike three and Dalbec swung at strike three over his head. Somehow Devers singled to right to score Plawecki and Trevor Richards was brought in to face McGuire. Unfortunately his bat didn't translate to his pitching as lined out to right to end the game. The Jays had won it 9-3.
Jackass of the Night is Josh Winckowski. He imploded in the third inning by allowing 6 runs in just 2 2/3 innings to put the game out of reach early.
The Good:
Rob Refsnyder was 1 for 3.
Rafael Devers was 3 for 4 with an rbi.
Kevin Plawecki was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Tommy Pham was 0 for 2 before leaving the game.
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Austin Davis allowed 2 inherited runners to score and 2 of his own in 2 1/3 innings.
Hiro Sawamura allowed a run in the seventh inning.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 2 but walked before leaving the game.
Bobby Dalbec struck out but also walked.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4.
Reese McGuire made the final out but pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
Christian Arroyo was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Franchy Cordero was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
That should do it for the Red Sox this year. Not just the players look like they've given up but so has the fans and the media. Pretty much Sox GM's Chaim Bloom's legacy is trading Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi and Hunter Renfroe, giving 10 million dollars to a washed up Garrett Richards, giving 10 million dollars for James Paxton to get two batters out in the minors and letting Kyle Schwarber walk to the Philadelphia Phillies to hit 34 homers (so far). Can't blame him for Chris Sale, Michael Wacha and Nathan Eovaldi being injured more often than not but his prospects he got in the trades he's made have not panned out. Connor Seabold and Josh Winckowski have sucked as starters, Jeisson Rosario and Hudson Potts (Mitch Moreland trade) didn't pan out, Connor Wong and Jeter Downs (Betts trade) didn't impress at the ML level and both his first round picks Nick Yorke and Marcello Mayer are struggling in Single A. 11th round pick Niko Kavadas actually leapfrogged Mayer and is in Portland right now and he's being paid significantly less. As the entire world mocked Bloom for the Benintendi trade, guess who knocked in the wining run for the Yankees tonight? That's right, Benintendi. If it wasn't for 3 months to start last year and an improbable October, Chaim's tenure as a GM has been an out and out failure. He was handed a 108 win team in 2018 that due to injuries & hangover underperformed in 2019 and completely destroyed it. His 2020 season is pretty much forgotten because of Covid but let's not forget he purposely tanked that year when even just a semblance of a rotation would have had them in playoff contention. Someone is going to pay for this at the end of the year, the only question is who is it going to be? Is owner John Henry going to fire Bloom, Cora or both? The loss dropped the Sox to 60-63, good for last place in the AL East. The Sox next beating comes tomorrow night against the Jays when Brayan Bello (0-3, 8.47 ERA) gets called up from Worcester to get his ass handed to him while Jose Berrios most likely pitches a three hit shutout. The carnage begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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