Anderson, Reds Shut Down Sox (9/21/22)

Before the game the Boston Red Sox made some roster moves. Jaxx Groshans was released from the Greenville Drive after hitting just .154 in 53 games. He was a fifth round pick back in 2019 and if he can't hit in High A, not much you can do with him. In the majors, the Red Sox placed Garrett Whitlock on the Injured List with a bad hip. To make today's start, the Sox are calling up Connor Seabold. So long Groshans and see you next year Whitlock.

                                                                  OUT

                                                                         IN

The 2022 Boston Red Sox season is just about over and hopefully next year they have better luck health wise. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock's season is over and Connor Seabold (0-3, 10.47 ERA) failed to win his first game as he was beaten by the Cincinnati Reds. Chase Anderson held the supposedly good Sox offense to just 3 measly hits and a run in 5 innings. All in all the Boston bats had just 6 hits in a total no-show against a Reds team playing out the string. The Reds got 4 runs off Seabold and another run off Franklin German to end the Sox win streak with a 5-1 victory at Great American Ballpark.

                                                               Sox season just about over

Anderson got the ball in the top of the first inning and Tommy Pham was plunked to start. Rafael Devers flied out to right, Xander Bogaerts flied out to left and Alex Verdugo grounded out to first to end the inning. Seabold got the ball in the bottom of the first and TJ Friedl struck out swinging to start. Jonathan India struck out swinging but Kyle Farmer was hit with a pitch. Jake Fraley struck out swinging to end the inning.

JD Martinez grounded out to short to start the top of the second before Triston Casas did the same. Rob Refsnyder took strike three to end the inning. Donovan Solano popped up to first to start the bottom of the second before Aristides Aquino grounded out to third. Alejo Lopez popped up to short to end the inning.

Reese McGuire lined out to center to start the top of the third before Kike Hernandez lined out to left. Pham took strike three to end the inning. The Reds struck first in the bottom of the third as Stuart Fairchild got a base hit to right to start. Chuckie Robinson flied out to right and Friedl flied out to center, but a wild pitch moved Fairchild to second. India got a base hit to left and Fairchild scored when Pham threw the ball away. A wild pitch moved India to third but Farmer flied out to center to end the inning with the Reds up 1-0.

                                                             Nice throw Pham

The Sox responded in the top of the fourth as Devers beat out a roller to third to start. Bogaerts got a base hit to left to move Rafael to third, and Devers scored on the sac fly by Verdugo to center. Martinez struck out swinging and Bogaerts was thrown out at second trying to steal to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.

                                                           Devers is safe

Fraley got a base hit to center but was immediately thrown out in a rundown trying to stretch a double to begin the bottom of the fourth. Solano popped up to second and Aquino flied out to right to end the inning.

Casas flied out to right to start the top of the fifth but Refsnyder got a base hit to left. McGuire struck out swinging and Hernandez grounded out to short to end the inning. The Reds broke Seabold in the bottom of the fifth as Lopez grounded out to first to start. Fairchild beat out a roller to third but Robinson struck out swinging. A wild pitch moved Fairchild to second but Friedl walked anyway. India got a base hit to center to score Fairchild and move Friedl to third. India swiped second and Farmer blooped a base hit to right to score both runners to ice the game. A wild pitch moved Farmer to second but Fraley grounded out to short to end the inning with the Reds up 4-1. That was it for Seabold who got rocked for 4 runs in 5 innings off 6 hits and a walk.

                                                        Seabold doesn't last long

Fernando Cruz came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Pham struck out swinging to start. Devers struck out swinging but Bogaerts grounded out to third to end the inning. Eduard Bazardo came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Solano flied out to right to start. Aquino and Lopez both flied out to center to end the inning.

Reiver Sanmartin came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Verdugo got a base hit to right to start. Martinez lined out to center and Casas grounded into a double play to end the inning. Tyler Danish came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Fairchild struck out swinging to start. Robinson got a base hit to right but Friedl flied out to center. India forced Robinson at second to end the inning.

Derek Law came in to pitch the top of the eighth with Matt Reynolds in for Lopez. Refsnyder grounded out to first, McGuire lined out to right and Hernandez flied out to right to end the inning. Franklin German came in to crap his pants in the bottom of the eighth as Farmer grounded out to first to start. Fraley struck out swinging but Solano hit a home run all the way to Nebraska to wrap up the scoring. Aquino popped up to second to end the inning with the Reds up 5-1.

                                                             Home run Solano

Pham struck out swinging to start the top of the ninth but Devers got a base hit to left. Bogaerts also got a base hit to left and Alexis Diaz was brought in to face Verdugo. Naturally Verdugo grounded into a double play to end the game. The Reds had won it 5-1.

                                                                  Reds win

Jackass of the Night is Connor Seabold. He got lit up for 4 runs in just 5 innings of work to take the loss.

                                                        Jackass Seabold

The Good:

Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4.

Alex Verdugo was 1 for 3 with an rbi.

Rob Refsnyder was 1 for 3.

Eduard Bazardo pitched a scoreless sixth inning.

Tyler Danish pitched a scoreless seventh inning.

The Bad:

JD Martinez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

Triston Casas was 0 for 3.

Reese McGuire was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

Kike Hernandez was 0 for 3.

Franklin German allowed a run in the eighth inning.

The Ugly:

Tommy Pham was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but was hit with a pitch.

Final Thoughts:

Thankfully the season is just about over because this is flat out embarrassing. Its as if the Sox have totally checked out when they let guys like Chase Anderson and the Angels bullpen dominate them. Then again, starting guys like Connor Seabold doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Seabold was doing very well before falling apart in the fifth but that seems to be his M.O. This season went down the drain due to injuries but the offense falling flat down the stretch again and again with supposedly elite talent shouldn't be ignored. Devers, Martinez, Bogaerts and Verdugo should be killing the ball but instead they only get slap singles. Its fairly obvious that Martinez won't be coming back next year and Bogaerts might be gone as well. Its a shame how the season was supposed to be better than last year and fell completely apart. The loss dropped the Sox to 72-76, good for last place in the AL East with just 14 games left. The Sox look to get revenge on the New York Yankees tomorrow night when Michael Wacha (11-1, 2.61 ERA) takes on Jameson Taillon of New York. The game begins at 7:15 at Yankee Stadium.