The miserable 2022 Boston Red Sox season is finally over and at least the Sox went out with a bang, sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays out of Boston before their first round showdown with the Cleveland Guardians. JD Martinez in his possible final game with the Red Sox was the hero of this one, hitting two home runs including a 3 run bomb to pace the offense. Sox starter Nick Pivetta allowed 2 runs in 4 innings but Eduard Bazardo picked up his first career win by pitching the fifth inning. The Sox pulled away in the bottom of the eighth with rbis from Triston Casas and Christian Arroyo and Matt Barnes earned possibly his final save with the Red Sox as Boston ended 2022 winners with a 6-3 victory over the Rays at Fenway Park.
Pivetta got the ball in the top of the first and Manny Margot struck out swinging to start. Randy Arozarena struck out swinging but Jiman Choi got a base hit to right. Harold Ramirez struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time getting to Josh Fleming in the bottom of the first inning as Kike Hernandez grounded out to short to start. Rafael Devers got a base hit to left and Xander Bogaerts got a base hit to right. Alex Verdugo beat out a double play ball and JD Martinez smashed his 15th home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Eric Hosmer grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.
Isaac Paredes walked to start the top of the second and David Peralta did the same. Rene Pinto took strike three and Taylor Walls forced Peralta at second. Jonathan Aranda grounded out to second to end the inning. Christian Arroyo got a base hit to right to start the bottom of the second and Reese McGuire struck out swinging. Abraham Almonte took strike three and Hernandez grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Rays struck back in the top of the third as Margot grounded out to second to start. Arozarena got a base hit to left and Choi hit a home run all the way to South Korea to cut the lead. Ramirez flied out to center and Paredes did the same to end the inning with the Rays down 3-2.
Choi hits one out
Devers grounded out to short to start the bottom of the third and Bogaerts struck out swinging. Verdugo flied out to center to end the inning.
Peralta flied out to center to start the top of the fourth but Pinto doubled to center. Walls walked but Aranda struck out swinging. Margot forced Walls at second to end the inning. That was it for Pivetta who was pitching well but Alex Cora wanted the bullpen to get in one last game. He allowed 2 runs in 4 innings.
The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fourth as Martinez belted his possibly last home run in a Red Sox uniform to start. Hosmer singled to center but Arroyo grounded into a double play. McGuire got a base hit to center but Almonte grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox up 4-2.
Eduard Bazardo came in to pitch the top of the fifth and Triston Casas took over for Hosmer at first. Arozarena walked and Vidal Brujan ran for him. Brujan got picked off and its a good thing he was because Choi doubled to right. Ramirez grounded back to the mound and Paredes grounded out to short to end the inning. Hernandez took strike three to start the bottom of the fifth and Devers grounded out to first. Bogaerts beat out a roller to third to chase Fleming. Shawn Armstrong came in and Walls struck out swinging to end the inning.
Matt Strahm came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Peralta was hit with a pitch to start. Pinto grounded into a double play and Walls struck out swinging to end the inning. Javy Guerra came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Martinez flied out to right to begin. Casas flied out to left and Arroyo grounded out to third to end the inning.
Yu Chang took over for Bogaerts, Bobby Dalbec took over for Devers and Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the top of the seventh. Aranda struck out swinging to start and Margot lined out to left. Brujan then hit a home run all the way to Concord to cut the lead. Choi walked and Josi Siri pinch hit for Ramirez. Siri lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox down 4-3.
Couldn't quite get it
JT Chargois came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and McGuire flied out to center to start. Almonte was hit with a pitch but Hernandez grounded into a double play to end the inning.
John Schreiber came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Paredes flied out to center. Peralta hit a ground rule double down the right field linen but Pinto struck out swinging. Walls walked but Aranda flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox iced the game in the bottom of the eighth as Jimmy Yacabonis came in to pitch. Dalbec beat out a roller to third and Chang drew a walk. Verdugo flied out to left and Connor Wong pinch hit for Martinez. Wong walked to load the bases and Casas walked to score Chang. Arroyo drove in the final run of the year with a base hit to right to score Chang. McGuire struck out swinging and Almonte took strike three to end the inning with the Sox up 6-3.
Sox ending the season with a bang
Matt Barnes came in to close out the top of the ninth and Margot grounded out to second to start. Brujan flied out to left and Choi flied out to center to end the game & the season. The Sox had won it 6-3.
Sox win
Hero of The Night is JD Martinez. In his last game with Boston he hit two home runs and outscored the Rays by himself.
One final Hero
Hero of The Night is JD Martinez. In his last game with Boston he hit two home runs and outscored the Rays by himself.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Bobby Dalbec singled and scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 3.
Yu Chang walked and scored a run.
Connor Wong walked in his only at-bat.
Eric Hosmer was 1 for 2.
Triston Casas walked and scored a run.
Christian Arroyo was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Nick Pivetta allowed just 2 runs in 4 innings.
Eduardo Bazardo got the win with a scoreless fifth inning.
Matt Straham pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Matt Barnes earned his 8th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Ryan Brasier allowed a run in the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Reese McGuire was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Abraham Almonte was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but was hit with a pitch.
Final Thoughts:
Now its time for the eulogy. This year was pretty much decided before the season when Sox GM Chaim Bloom made the mistakes of letting Kyle Schwarber walk and trading Hunter Renfroe for Jackie Bradley Jr. Schwarber hit 46 home runs for Philadelphia and Hunter hit 29 for Milwaukee. Franchy Cordero hit 8 and JBJ hit 3 before being released. The failure by proxy is Bobby Dalbec hit just 12. That's 75 home runs to 23....yikes. On top of that, Trevor Story was a titanic bust hitting .238 in just 94 games. The killer can be blamed on Sox GM Chaim Bloom if you want but the injuries did the team in. Rich Hill, James Paxton and Michael Wacha all got hurt along with Nathan Eovaldi causing the Sox to rely on four rookies. Connor Seabold, Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello and Josh Winckowski weren't ready for prime time and the AL East feasted on them. Even when the Sox traded pieces at the deadline, Eric Hosmer was hurt within 2 weeks and the Sox faded out of sight with their bad pitching. The July disaster against the Toronto Blue Jays was the microcosm of the lost season. Bad pitching and couldn't beat the AL East. Worse, John Henry has made it clear he's done spending money so we've probably seen the last of every expiring contract including Bogaerts, Hosmer, Pham, Matt Strahm, Nate Eovaldi and Martinez. Replacing Schwarber and Renfroe was a disaster so Sox fans have almost zero faith Sox GM Chaim Bloom can do any better this coming winter. Who knows, maybe John Henry will have a change of heart and they'll sign some free agents and re-sign Bogaerts....yeah right. The final record of the season is 78-84, good for last place for the second time in three seasons. Chaim Bloom did everything asked of him by the owners and could get fired anyway. The farm system didn't have a good season compared to last year either so he's on the hot seat for sure. Hopefully the Sox can turn it around and we can laugh at this season by this time next year....we hope.
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