Mother Nature smiled on the Boston Red Sox tonight. Nathan Eovaldi (6-3, 3.87 ERA) was technically credited with a complete game shutout after pitching just five innings. Why? The Red Sox broke out to a 1-0 lead on the Tampa Bay Rays and old pal Jeffrey Springs on a third inning rbi by Christian Arroyo. In the bottom of the fifth, Xander Bogaerts belted a grand slam off Colin Poche and the Sox got another run off 2 errors on the same play.....and the rains came. Heavy rain had the tarp on the field and after an hour, the umpires saw the score and said "the hell with it". The Sox were declared the winners 5-0 at Fenway Park.
Eovaldi got the ball in the top of the first inning and Yandy Diaz grounded out to second to start. Wander Franco and Ji-Man Choi both struck out swinging to end the inning. Springs got the ball in the bottom of the first and Tommy Pham struck out swinging to start. Both Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts both grounded out to second to end the inning.
Isaac Paredes grounded out to second to start the top of the second and Jonathan Aranda grounded out to first. Christian Bethancourt struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second as Alex Verdugo walked to start. JD Martinez struck out swinging and Kike Hernandez popped up to third, but the returning Eric Hosmer singled to center. Christian Arroyo got a base hit to right to score Verdugo to put Boston on top. Connor Wong lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Arroyo drives in a run
Vidal Brujan flied out to center to start the top of the third and Taylor Walls popped up to third. Jose Siri singled to left but Diaz struck out swinging to end the inning. Pham took strike three to start the bottom of the third and Devers lined out to second. Bogaerts lined out to short to end the inning.
The Rays threatened in the top of the fourth as Franco and Choi drew back to back walks to start. Paredes flied out to right to move Franco to third but Aranda grounded into a double play to end the inning. Garrett Cleavinger came in to pitch the bottom of the fourth and Verdugo struck out swinging to start. Martinez struck out swinging but Hernandez walked. Hosmer grounded out to short to end the inning.
Bethancourt popped up to third to start the top of the fifth and Brujan flied out to left. Walls doubled to left but Siri flied out to left to end the inning. Nobody knew it then but that was it for Eovaldi and he'd be given a complete game shutout after rain ended the game early. In his possible final start with Boston he allowed just 2 hits and 2 walks.
Thanks for the memories Eovaldi
The Sox exploded in the bottom of the fifth with Colin Poche now on the mound. Arroyo singled to right and Wong doubled to center, but Pham struck out swinging. Devers walked and Bogaerts crushed a grand slam, his 15th home run of the season to turn this game into a rout. Brooks Raley came in to pitch and Verdugo grounded out to first, but Martinez walked. Hernandez walked and Hosmer hit a routine grounder to Walls....thrown away for an error and also bobbled by Raley for another error to score Martinez. With the heavy rain already falling, the umpires said this game is over. The tarp came on the field and the Sox had won it 5-0.
Sox win
A grand slam fit for a Hero
Hero of The Night is Xander Bogarts. His grand slam basically decided the game for the umpires to call it with nothing to lose by either team.
The Good:
Kike Hernandez walked twice.
Eric Hosmer was 1 for 3.
Christian Arroyo was 2 for 2 with an rbi and a run scored.
Connor Wong was 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Nathan Eovaldi got the win by throwing 5 shutout innings allowing 2 hits and 2 walks.
The Bad:
Tommy Pham was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 2 but walked and scored a run.
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 2 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
JD Martinez was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts but walked and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
It sounds cheap to end the game early but the Rays were treating this like an exhibition game to begin with since they're playing the Cleveland Guardians in 3 days. The only shame is this might be the last game for a lot of these guys who are most likely not coming back next year like Eovaldi. Its also worth noting that the Sox never really had their full lineup post trade deadline with Eric Hosmer missing all of September. Not that the pitching was going to hold up but their 1-9 with Hosmer and Trevor Story might have bopped their way into a few games. Then again, Triston Casas needed the experience. Whether or not Bogaerts plays tomorrow is up in the air but if that was his last big hit, at least he went out with a bang. Would be nice to see JD Martinez hit a grand slam too tomorrow but beggars can't be choosers. The epitaph of the 2022 Red Sox was a team that could have been great but Sox GM Chaim Bloom made too many off-season blunders. Banking on Franchy Cordero and Bobby Dalbec over Kyle Schwarber was a disaster, trading Hunter Renfroe for Jackie Bradley Jr was a mistake and the signings of Michael Wacha, Rich Hill and James Paxton looked foolish when all 3 got hurt. Not to mention their inability to beat the AL East. It all added up to a lost season in last place for the second time in three years. Still, they won tonight...thank you Mother Nature. The win improved the Sox to 77-84, good for last place in the AL East. The Sox have one last game this season tomorrow afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays. Nick Pivetta goes for the Sox in the season finale against Josh Fleming of Tampa Bay. The game begins at 4:10 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment