Just when you think the Boston Red Sox have hit rock bottom they invent new ways to lose. The Sox have dropped their second game in three days against the pathetic Kansas City Royals as they let the hapless saps walk them off. The Sox and Royals battled to a 4-4 tie thanks to home runs by MJ Melendez of KC and Bobby Dalbec of Boston. The Sox also got a home run from Alex Verdugo to help but the Sox blew a rally in the top of the eighth inning. Garrett Whitlock (2-2, 3.08 ERA) shut down the Royals for almost three innings....almost. After getting the first two outs of the bottom of the ninth, Whitlock served up a walkoff home run to Nick Pratto to end the game. The Royals had won it 5-4 at Kauffman Stadium.
Dammit
Daniel Lynch got the ball to start the top of the first and Tommy Pham led off by grounding back to the mound to start. Rafael Devers flied out to left and Xander Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning. The Royals wasted no time getting to Eovaldi in the bottom of the first as MJ Melendez hit a home run all the way to St. Louis on the first pitch to put KC on top. Bobby Witt Jr grounded out to third, Salvador Perez flied out to left and Vinnie Pasquantino grounded out to first to end the inning with KC up 1-0.
The Sox got lucky in the top of the second although Alex Verdugo took strike three to start. JD Martinez doubled to right and Christian Arroyo got a base hit to right to move JD to third. Dalbec hit a perfect double play ball to Witt...BOOTED FOR AN ERROR! Martinez scored to tie the game but Jaylin Davis flied out to center. A wild pitch moved both runners over but Kevin Plawecki grounded out to second to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Hunter Dozier got a base hit to center to start the bottom of the second but Nick Pratto banged into a double play. Michael A Taylor flied out to center to end the inning.
Pham struck out swinging to start the top of the third before Devers popped up to short. Bogaerts lined out to right to end the inning. The Royals struck again to start the bottom of the third as Kyle Isbel singled to left to start. Nicky Lopez singled to center to move Isbel to third before he swiped second. Melendez struck out swinging but Witt Jr got a base hit to center to score both runners. Perez singled to right to move Witt to third but all Salvador could do was go to second on the fly out to left by Pasquantino. Dozier struck out swinging to end the inning with the Royals up 3-1.
The Sox answered in the top of the fourth as Verdugo flied out to center to start. Martinez also flied out to center but Arroyo got a base hit to center. Dalbec then smashed his 11th home run of the season to tie the game. Davis got a base hit to center but Plawecki grounded out to short to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
The Royals wasted no time getting the lead back in the bottom of the fourth as Pratto struck out swinging to start. Taylor grounded out to short but Isbel hit a home run all the way to the forest moon of Endor to put KC back on top. Lopez lined out to short to end the inning with the Royals up 4-3.
The Sox swung at air in the top of the fifth as Pham went down hacking to start. Devers took strike three right down the middle and Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning. Melendez grounded out to first to start the bottom of the fifth before Witt Jr took strike three. Perez struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the sixth as Verdugo launched his 7th home run of the season to start. Martinez struck out swinging but Arroyo singled in the hole at third. Dalbec flied out to right and Arroyo swiped third....but wait! Royals manager Mike Matheny challenged that Arroyo was out and sure enough, the call was overturned to end the inning with the game tied 4-4.
Pasquantino took strike three to start the bottom of the sixth and Dozier grounded out to third. Pratto struck out swinging to end the inning. That was it for Eovaldi who allowed 4 runs in just 6 innings of work along with 7 hits. He could have been better.
Taylor Clarke came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Jarren Duran pinch hit for Davis. Duran struck out swinging, Plawecki lined out to center and Pham took strike three to end the inning. Garrett Whitlock came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Taylor struck out looking to start. Isbel popped up to first and Lopez grounded out to short to end the inning.
Scott Barlow came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Devers struck out swinging to start. Bogaerts was retired on a nubber in front of the plate but Verdugo got a base hit to center. Martinez walked but Arroyo forced JD at second to end the inning. Melendez popped up to third to start the bottom of the eighth and Witt Jr flied out to right. Perez grounded out to short to end the inning.
Dylan Coleman came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Dalbec grounded back to the mound to start. Duran grounded out to short and Plawecki grounded out to second to end the inning. Whitlock came back for the bottom of the ninth and Pasquantino popped up to short to begin. Dozier lined out to center and Whitlock had 2 strikes on Pratto.....then gave up a walkoff home run just over the head of Duran to win the game. The Royals had walked it off 5-4.
Royals win
Nice going, Jackass
Jackass of the Night is Kevin Plawecki. He was 0 for 4 including killing a rally early in the game that might have prevented Whitlock serving up the jack to Pratto in the ninth.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 4 with a home run.
JD Martinez was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Christian Arroyo was 3 for 4 with a run scored.
Jaylin Davis was 1 for 2.
The Bad:
Tommy Pham was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jarren Duran was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Bobby Dalbec was just 1 for 4 but drove in 3 runs, 2 of them courtesy of a 2 run home run.
Nathan Eovaldi got tagged for four runs in 6 innings, allowing 7 hits while striking out 7.
Garrett Whitlock took the loss but allowed just the home run in 2 2/3 innings.
Final Thoughts:
Its not their year...its just not....their...year. The Red Sox seem to invent new ways to lose and today was one of them. The Royals looked like they were going down but the Sox just couldn't deliver the knockout punch. Kevin Plawecki failing in the second inning, Arroyo failing in the seventh inning and the top of the order's utter uselessness. Pham, Devers and Bogaerts were a combined 0 for 12 with 6 strikeouts, that's not going to cut it. Eovaldi was perfectly mediocre in this game but Whitlock was outstanding right until the fateful pitch to Pratto. Its a gutwrenching loss you can't really blame Whitlock for being in a position he shouldn't have been in. The only silver lining is the Sox are somehow, someway still in striking distance of the Toronto Blue Jays for the wild card. If they could win 7 out of 8 games moving forward they just might gain some ground enough to be considered a threat. Who knows if that will happen. The loss dropped the Sox to 54-55, 6 games behind the Blue Jays for the wild card. The Sox look to even the series tomorrow afternoon against the Royals when Kutter Crawford (3-3) takes on Brad Keller of Kansas City. The game begins at 2:10 PM Eastern time at Kauffman Stadium.
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