The good news was the Boston Celtics eliminated the Philadelphia Sixers in Game 7 of their second round NBA playoff series but the bad news was the Boston Red Sox got swept by the St. Louis Cardinals. THAT was embarrassing. Corey Kluber (2-5, 6.41 ERA) got hammered again as the Sox got swept by the lowly Cardinals in empathetic fashion. Kluber allowed 4 runs in just 5 innings while Miles Mikolas shut down the Sox bats, holding them to 1 run in 6 innings. Brennan Bernardino and Ryan Brasier also got hammered for 5 runs as the Cardinals swept the Sox out of Boston 9-1 at Fenway Park.
The Cards wasted no time getting to Kluber in the top of the first inning as Lars Nootbaar doubled off the Monster to start. Paul Goldschmidt got a base hit to right to score Nootbaar and put the Cards up just two batters into the game. Nolan Gorman flied out to right, Nolan Arenado struck out swinging and Wilson Contreras went down hacking to end the inning with the Cardinals up 1-0.
The Sox answered against Mikolas in the bottom of the first as Alex Verdugo doubled to center to start. Verdugo moved to third on the Masataka Yoshida grounder to second. Justin Turner flied out to right but Rafael dumped a base hit to right to score Verdugo. Jarren Duran lined out to first to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Brendan Donovan took strike three to start the top of the second but Paul DeJong hit a home run all the way to Madagascar to put the Cards up for good. Dylan Carson singled to right but Andrew Knizner popped up to second. Nootbaar lined out to left to end the inning with the Cards up 2-1.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the second as Triston Casas grounded out to second to start. Enmanuel Valdez walked but Reese McGuire flied out to left. Pablo Reyes made his Sox debut by popping up to shirt to end the inning.
Goldschmidt lined out to center to start the top of the third but Gorman walked. Arenado forced Gorman at second then swiped second base. Contreras and Donovan walked to load the bases but DeJong struck out swinging to end the inning. Alec Burleson took over for Carson to start the bottom of the third and Verdugo grounded out to short to start. Yoshida and Turner both grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Cards struck again in the top of the fourth as Burleson caught Kluber asleep with a bunt single. Knizner then hit a home run all the way to Morocco to ice the game. Nootbaar grounded out to first but Goldschmidt doubled to right. Gorman flied out to right and Arenado struck out swinging to end the inning with the Cardinals ahead 4-1.
Devers dumped a base hit to center to start the bottom of the fourth but was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. Duran lined out to center but Casas singled to left. Valdez forced Casas at second to end the inning.
Contreras grounded out to short to start the top of the fifth and Donovan flied out to center. DeJong flied out to left to end the inning and that was it for Kluber. He got hammered again for 4 runs in just 5 innings of work. Just not good enough.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fifth as McGuire grounded out to third to begin. Reyes walked and moved to second on the Verdugo grounder to second. Yoshida also grounded out to second to end the inning.
Brennan Bernardino came in to take a beating in the top of the sixth as Burleson flied out to center to start. Knizner singled to center and Nootbaar singled to right, but Goldschmidt struck out swinging. Gorman walked to chase Bernardino and Ryan Brasier came in to face Arenado. Naturally Nolan ripped a base hit to center to score Knizner and Nootbaar. Contreras hit a bullet to Casas to end the inning but the Cards led 6-1.
Turner flied out to right to start the bottom of the sixth and Devers flied out to center. Duran grounded out to short to end the inning.
Casas threw a grounder by Donovan away for an error to start the top of the seventh but DeJong lined out to short. Burleson flied out to left and Knizner struck out swinging to end the inning. Genesis Cabrera came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Casas walked to start. Valdez struck out swinging and McGuire went down hacking but Reyes blooped a base hit to right to move Casas to third. Verdugo walked and with a chance to do some damage....Yoshida flied out to left to end the inning.
The Cards poured it on in the top of the eighth as Nootbaar doubled to left to start. A wild pitch moved Lars to third but Goldschmidt struck out swinging. Gorman pounded a ground rule double down the left field line to score Nootbaar and Arenado hit a home run all the way to London to wrap up the scoring. Contreras grounded out to short and Donovan grounded out to second to end the inning with the Cardinals up 9-1.
Jordan Hicks came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Turner took strike three to start. Devers whiffed but Duran walked. Casas watched strike three go by to end the inning.
Richard Bleier came in to pitch the top of the ninth and DeJong grounded back to the mound to start. Burleson singled to right but was forced at second by Knizner. Nootbaar grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Tommy Edman came in for Goldschmidt, Juan Yepez came in for Arenado and Chris Stratton took the mound for the bottom of the ninth. Valdez took strike three, McGuire grounded out to first and Reyes took strike three to end the game. The Cards had completed the sweep 9-1.
Cardinals win
Jackass Kluber
Jackass of The Night is Corey Kluber. He put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of, allowing 4 runs in 5 innings.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Pablo Reyes was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Richard Bleier tossed a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Masataka Yoshida was 0 for 4.
Justin Turner was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Reese McGuire was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Brennan Bernardino allowed 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning.
Ryan Brasier allowed 3 runs in 2 1/3 innings.
The Ugly:
Triston Casas was just 1 for 3 with a strikeout and an error.
Jarren Duran was 0 for 3 but walked.
Enmanuel Valdez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Final Thoughts:
This game and this series was a microcosm of ineptitude that's plaguing the Red Sox. How do you lose three straight at home to a team that bad? Kluber so far has been a 10 million dollar bust but the bullpen didn't do him or the Sox any favors by allowing 5 runs to put the game out of reach. Not that the bats were going to do much anyway. Then again, when you lose Trevor Story in spring training and lose two big bats in Xander Bogaerts and JD Martinez in free agency, can't expect to have the same offense. I don't know what the Sox can do to fix anything, they may have to go with what they have for a while. Maybe they'll turn things around, who knows? The loss dropped the Sox to 22-19, good for last place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow when they welcome in the Seattle Mariners in for a three game set. George Kirby goes for the Mariners against Tanner Houck (3-2) of the Sox. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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