In the annals of Boston Red Sox history, there's been several superstars that tortured them over the years. Mainly Yankees such as Joe Dimaggio, Derek Jeter and Aaron Judge. Yet, every now and then you'll get a guy who's useless against everyone else but the Red Sox like Enrique Wilson. Rowdy "Roddy" Tellez is that guy in this modern era. Tellez drove in 3 big runs against Sox starter Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock (1-2, 6.19 ERA) including yet another home run. Meanwhile old friend Wade Miley held the Sox to just 2 runs in 5 innings to beat his former team. The Sox did fight back as the Boston bullpen held the Brewers scoreless after Whitlock was gone and home runs from Yu Chang and Rafael Devers cut the lead, but it wasn't enough. The Brewers came away with the hard fought victory 5-4 at American Family Field.
Miley got the ball in the top of the first inning as Alex Verdugo popped up to short to start. Justin Turner lined out to center but Rob Refsnyder drew a walk. Rafael Devers doubled to left but Hernandez grounded out to second to end the inning. Whitlock got the ball in the bottom of the first as Christian Yelich grounded out to short to start. Jesse Winker grounded out to first but Willy Adames got a base hit to left. Rowdy "Roddy" Tellez flied out to left to end the inning.
Masa Yoshida didn't do the Sox any favors in the top of the second inning when he got picked off first base after a single down the third base line. Christian Arroyo flied out to center and Connor Wong struck out swinging to end the inning. The Brewers struck first in the bottom of the second as William Contreras doubled to right to start. Brian Anderson pounded a ground rule double down the right field line to score Contreras, putting the game away early. Anderson moved to third on a grounder to second by Brian Turang but was thrown out at home on a grounder to Yu Chang by Joey Wiemer. Blake Perkins grounded out to second to end the inning with the Brewers up for good 1-0.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the third as Chang took strike three to start. Verdugo lined out to right and Turner flied out to center to end the inning. The Brewers iced the game in the bottom of the third as Yelich ate up Devers on a ground ball to third to start. Winker popped up to third and Adames flied out to right, but Yelich swiped second. Who else but Tellez hit a two run home run all the way to Atlanta to ice the game. Contreras grounded out to short to end the inning with the Brewers ahead 3-0.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as Refsnyder grounded out to third to start. Devers flied out to center and grounded out to third to end the inning. Anderson walked to start the bottom of the fourth but Turang struck out swinging. Wiemer banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox fought back in the top of the fifth as Yoshida took strike three to start. Arroyo got a base hit to right but Wong flied out to left. Chang then launched his third home run of the season to cut the lead.Verdugo flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox down 3-2.
The Brewers finished off Whitlock in the bottom of the fifth as Perkins ripped a base hit to right to start. Yelich doubled to center and Winker was hit with a pitch. Adames singled to center to load the bases and chase Whitlock from the game. He was horrible, allowing 5 runs in just 4 plus innings of work, so much for him turning the corner. Richard Bleier came in and Tellez banged into a double play to score Yelich with another run. Contreras grounded out to short to end the inning with the Brewers up 5-2.
Former Sox prospect Joel Payamps came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Turner singled to center to start. Jarren Duran pinch hit for Refsnyder and struck out swinging but Devers crushed his eighth home run of the year to cut the lead. Hernandez popped up to short and Yoshida lined out to left to end the inning with the Sox down 5-4.
John Schreiber came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth as Anderson lined out to center to start. Turang struck out swinging and Wiemer grounded out to short to end the inning.
Peter Strzelecki came in to pitch the top of the seventh with Raimel Tapia pinch hitting for Arroyo. Tapia grounded out to first and Reese McGuire pinch hit for Wong. McGuire grounded out to first and Chang flied out to center to end the inning. Kutter Crawford came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Perkins struck out swinging to start. Yelich popped up to third and Winker popped up to third to end the inning.
Verdugo lined out to center to start the top of the eighth but Turner doubled to left. Holby Milner came in to pitch to Duran and struck him out swinging. Devers went down hacking to end the inning. Adames got a base hit to center to start the bottom of the eighth before Tellez popped up to short. Contreras flied out to center and Anderson struck out swinging to end the inning.
Devin Williams came in to close out the top of the ninth as Hernandez struck out swinging to start. Yoshida got a base hit to center before moving to second on the grounder to third by Tapia. McGuire flied out to left to end the game. The Brewers had won it 5-4.
Jackass of the Night is Garrett Whitlock. He put the Sox in too big of a hole to climb out of by allowing 5 runs in just 4 plus innings. He allowed 8 hits and a walk.
The Good:
Justin Turner was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Rob Refsnyder drew a walk in 2 plate appearances.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with a 2 run home run.
Masa Yoshida was 2 for 4.
Christian Arroyo was 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Yu Chang was 1 for 3 with a 2 run home run.
Richard Bleier tossed a scoreless fifth inning.
John Schreiber pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Kutter Crawford tossed two scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4.
Jarren Duran was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Raimel Tapia was 0 for 2.
Connor Wong was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Reese McGuire was 0 for 2.
The Ugly:
None
Final Thoughts:
This could be a problem moving forward for the Sox. They just can't seem to go on a nice winning streak because the starting pitching has been atrocious this season. Whitlock looked like he had turned a corner against the Minnesota Twins and then falls flat on his face in Milwaukee. Milwaukee is a good team so that makes it even worse. The offense had their chances but couldn't deliver the knockout punch like they did last night. Starting every game in a hole because the starter can't pitch well contributes to that big time. Still, there were some positives including home runs from Devers & Chang along with Yoshida getting a couple of hits. Have to remember Yoshida is adjusting to a new league, a new country and a new lifestyle. Kutter Crawford continues to pitch well out of the bullpen so there's that to look forward to if and when Sox manager Alex Cora decides to shorten to rotation once they get some much needed off-days. Once again, the Sox lost but at least the game was close, better than getting their doors blown off every game by AL East teams like last year. The Sox look to take the rubber game tomorrow afternoon when they send Brayan Bello (0-1, 16.89 ERA) up against Corbin Burnes of Milwaukee. The game begins at 2:10 PM Eastern time at American Family Field.
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