Another game, another miserable performance by a Boston Red Sox starter. This time the Sox got knocked around by the Pittsburgh Pirates of all people. Kutter Crawford (0-1, 15.75 ERA) got slapped by Bryan Reynolds and the Pirates offense. Reynolds hit two home runs off Crawford and Kutter allowed seven runs in just 4 innings of work. Meanwhile the Sox offense stepped up against Pittsburgh starter Johan Oviedo. With the Sox trailing 3-0, Triston Casas, Rafael Devers and Masa Yoshida all homered to give Boston a 5-3 lead. Pittsburgh rallied for 4 runs against Crawford to take a 7-5 lead. The Sox bullpen stepped up to toss four scoreless innings but the Sox bats could only get one run in the final four frames. The Sox starters are their achillies heel as the Pirates had won it 7-6.
The Pirates began their beating in the top of the first as Adam Duvall had to climb the centerfield wall to rob Oneil Cruz of a home run to start. Bryan Reynolds hit a rocket to right for a base hit and Rafael Devers missed a Ji-Man Choi pop-up for a "base hit". Carlos Santana lined out to first but Ke'Bryan Hayes singled to right to score Reynolds. Canaan Smith-Njigba doubled to left to score both runners and Jack Suwinski walked. Somehow Crawford struck out Rodolfo Castro swinging to end the inning but the Pirates were up 3-0.
The Sox roared back in the bottom of the first against Oviedo as Alex Verdugo led off by flying out to left. Devers atoned for his error by launching his first home run of the season and Bryan Reynolds dropped a pop up by Justin Turner for an error. Masa Yoshida made the Pirates pay with his first home run of the season to tie the game. Adam Duvall walked and Triston Casas mashed his second home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Christian Arroyo lined out to left and Kike Hernandez struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-3.
The Pirates struck again in the top of the second as Jason Delay popped up to second to start. Cruz struck out swinging but Reynolds smashed a home run all the way to Naples, Italy to cut the lead. Choi took strike three to end the inning with the Pirates down 5-4.
Connor Wong grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second but Verdugo got a base hit to right. Devers grounded out to second to advance Verdugo but Turner grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Pirates tied the game in the top of the third as Santana walked to start. Hayes forced Carlos at second but Ke'Bryan moved to second on the swinging bunt by Njigba. Suwinski singled to right to score Hayes but Castro flied out to center to end the inning with the game tied 5-5.
Yoshida grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the third but Duvall walked. Casas struck out swinging and Arroyo grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
The Pirates took command in the top of the fourth as Delay hit a home run all the way back to Pittsburgh to put them up for good. Cruz struck out swinging but Reynolds hit a home run all the way to Norway for the insurance run. Choi and Santana struck out swinging to end the inning with the Pirates up 7-5. That was it for Crawford who got hammered for 7 runs in just 4 innings, the Sox starters haven't looked good at all so far this year.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the fourth as Hernandez flied out to right to start. Wong doubled to left but Verdugo struck out swinging. A wild pitch moved Wong to third but Devers was intentionally walked to get to Turner. The gamble worked a Turner flied out to left to end the inning.
Zack Kelly came in to pitch the top of the fifth inning and Hayes grounded out to first to begin. Njigba walked but was doubled off first when Verdugo made a great catch then tossed to first to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fifth as Yoshida grounded out to first to start. Duvall beat out a roller to third but Casas struck out swinging. A wild pitch moved Duvall to second but Arroyo walked to chase Oviedo. Dauri Moreta came in to pitch to Hernandez and walked him to load the bases. With a chance to get back in the game.....Wong struck out swinging to end the inning.
Castro struck out swinging to start the top of the sixth before Delray grounded out to third. Cruz doubled to left but Reynolds struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox fought back in the bottom of the sixth with Ryan Zastryzny now on the mound. Verdugo got a base hit to left but Devers and Turner both took strike three. Yoshida drew a walk to chase Zastryzny and Duane Underwood Jr came in to face Duvall. Duvall blooped a base hit to left to score Verdugo and bring the tying run to second. With a chance to tie the game...Casas struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 7-6.
Andrew McCutchen pinch hit for Choi with Richard Bleier now on the mound for the Sox to start the top of the seventh inning. McCutchen struck out swinging but Hernandez threw a routine grounder by Santana into the Charles River for an error. Hernandez made up for it by helping Bleier get Hayes to ground into a double play to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the seventh as Arroyo flied out to right to start. Hernandez popped up to second and Wong grounded out to third to end the inning.
Kaleb Ort came in to pitch the top of the eighth inning with Connor Joe pinch hitting for Njigba. Joe grounded out to short, Suwinski flied out to center and Castro popped up to third to end the inning.The Sox blew a rally against Colin Holderman in the bottom of the eighth as Verdugo beat out a roller to third to begin. Devers popped up to first but Turner walked to put the tying run at second. Yu Chang pinch ran for Turner and Yoshida moved both runners over with a grounder to first. Unfortunately there was no magic this time as Duvall grounded out to short to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Delray struck out swinging to start. Cruz was retired on a squibber in front of the plate and Reynolds grounded out to second to end the inning. Kudos to the bullpen for keeping the Sox in the game for the final five innings. David Bednar came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Casas grounded out to second to start. Raimel Tapia pinch hit for Arroyo and singled in the hole at second. Hernandez struck out swinging and Rob Refsnyder pinch hit for Wong only to strike out swinging to end the game. The Pirates had won it 7-6.
Jackass of the Night is Kutter Crawford. He got hammered for 7 runs in just 4 innings to take the loss. Hard to win many games when your starter is that bad.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 3 for 5 with a run scored.
Adam Duvall was 2 for 3 with 2 walks, an rbi and a run scored.
Raimel Tapia got a base hit as a pinch hitter.
Zack Kelly tossed two scoreless innings.
Richard Bleier tossed a scoreless inning.
Kaleb Ort pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Rob Refsnyder struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout and an "error" but walked and hit a home run.
Justin Turner was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Masa Yoshida was just 1 for 4 but walked and hit a two run home run.
Triston Casas was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but hit a 2 run home run.
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 3 but walked.
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout and an error but walked.
Connor Wong was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Honorable Mention:
Yu Chang pinch ran in the bottom of the eighth.
Final Thoughts:
You can look at the current state of the Sox in two different ways. The first is the starters are horrible and this is going to be a long year, or that Crawford wouldn't be starting if Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock and James Paxton were healthy. Whitlock and Bello should be back soon so the Sox have to suffer until then. The top 5 in the batting order is as good as anyone but the bottom four leaves a lot to be desired. Trevor Story will help when he comes back but Arroyo, Hernandez and Wong/Reese McGuire is going to be tough to overcome as the months go on. The bullpen stepped up but how many games are they going to have to throw four to five innings a pop. That's how the bullpen wore down in 2021 and pretty much last year. Still, at least the Sox have been in every game this year so far. Hopefully they can win a few of them moving forward. Tomorrow night the Sox look to rebound against the Pirates when Nick Pivetta makes his season debut against Roansy Contreras of Pittsburgh. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment