Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Bobby Dalbec was mercifully sent back to Worcester and newly acquired Pablo Reyes was called up to take his place. Reyes can't be any worse....right?
As for the game, talk about Groundhog Day. The night after the Sox blew a ninth inning lead to the St. Louis Cardinals, they did it again in much more heartbreaking fashion. Chris Sale dazzled the Cardinals for 8 innings allowing just one run in a masterpiece. Rob Refsnyder and Rafael Devers provided 3 runs of offende that should have been enough. Then in the top of the ninth it all fell apart. Facing an exhausted Kenley Jansen (1-2, 4.26 ERA), the Cardinals rallied for a run and loaded the bases with one out. Alex Burleson hit a double play ball to Pablo Reyes but Kike Hernandez threw the ball away for a 2 run error. The Sox got the tying run on in the bottom of the ninth but couldn't get it done as they lost 4-3 to the Cardinals at Fenway Park.
Sale got the ball in the top of the first and Tommy Edman grounded out to short to start. Paul Goldschmidt grounded out to first but Wilson Contreras doubled to left. Nolan Arenado flied out to right to end the inning. Steven Matz got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Alex Verdugo lined out to third to start. Justin Turner doubled to center then moved to third on a Rob Refsnyder fly out to right. Rafael Devers got a base hit to left to score Turner but was thrown out at second to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Juan Yepez struck out swinging to start the top of the second but Dylan Carson walked. Paul DeJong struck out swinging and Lars Nootbaar grounded out to first to end the inning. Masataka Yoshida grounded out to third to begin the bottom of the second but Kike Hernandez dropped a base hit to right. Jarren Duran grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Andrew Knizner flied out to center to start the top of the third but Edman singled to right. Goldschmidt flied out to center and Contreras popped up to short to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the third as Connor Wong lined out to left to start. Pablo Reyes doubled to left and Verdugo was hit with a pitch, but Turner took strike three. A wild pitch moved both runners over and they scored on the Refsnyder double to center. Devers grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.
Arenado flied out to left to open the top of the fourth and Yepez watched strike three go by. Carlson struck out swinging to end the inning. Yoshida got a seeing eye single into right to start the bottom of the fourth but Hernandez grounded into a double play. Duran grounded out to second to end the inning.
DeJong flied out to center to start the top of the fifth and Nootbaar struck out swinging. Knizner grounded out to first to end the inning. Wong struck out swinging to begin the bottom of the fifth but Reyes singled to left. Verdugo and Turner both took strike three to end the inning.
Edman flied out to center to start the top of the sixth before Goldschmidt grounded out to first. Contreras struck out swinging to end the inning. Refsnyder singled to right to begin the bottom of the sixth before Devers popped up to second. Refsnyder stole second but Yoshida walked to chase Matz. Drew VerHagen got Hernandez to pop up to short to end the inning.
The Cards struck back in the top of the seventh as Arenado hit a home run all the way to San Jose to start. Yepez, Carlson and DeJong all struck out swinging to end the inning with the Cards down 3-1.
Carlson got to run around in the bottom of the seventh as Wong flied out to him to start. Reyes and Verdugo also flied out to center to end the inning.
Sale returned for one final inning in the top of the eighth as Nootbaar grounded out to third to start. Knizner flied out to right and Edman also flied out to right to end the inning. Sale was outstanding allowing just the 1 run in 8 masterful innings.
Andrew Pallante came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Turner grounded out to short to start. Refsnyder singled to left before moving to second on the grounder to second by Devers. Yoshida struck out swinging to end the inning.
Kenley Jansen came in to close out the top of the ninth and walked Goldschmidt to start. Goldschmidt stole second and Contreras walked, but Arenado popped up to second. Nolan Gorman pinch hit for Yepez and doubled to right to score Goldschmidt. Brendan Donovan pinch hit for Carson and was intentionally walked. Alec Burleson pinch hit for DeJong and hit a double play ball to Reyes. He flipped to Hernandez for one...AND THREW THE BALL AWAY! Contreras and Gorman scored to put St. Louis on top. Nootbaar forced Burleson at third to end the inning with St. Louis ahead 4-3.
Giovanny Gallegos came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Raimel Tapia pinch hit for Hernandez. Tapia grounded out to short and Duran lined out to left, but Triston Casas pinch hit for Wong. Casas got a base hit to center and Enmanuel Valdez pinch ran for him. Reese McGuire pinch hit for Reyes and grounded out to third to end the game. The Cards had won it 4-3.
Jackass of the Night is Kike Hernandez. His error in the ninth led to the Cardinals victory.
The Good:
Rob Refsnyder was 3 for 4 with 2 rbis.
Masataka Yoshida was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Triston Casas got a hit as a pinch hitter.
Pablo Reyes was 2 for 3 with a run scored.
Chris Sale tossed 8 innings of 1 run ball allowing 3 hits and a walk while striking out nine.
The Bad:
Raimel Tapia was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Connor Wong was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Reese McGuire was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Kenley Jansen took the loss by allowing 3 rubs in the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Justin Turner was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Honorable Mention:
Enmanuel Valdez ran for Casas in the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Words can't describe the frustration around Fenway. The Sox just lost two straight in the ninth inning against a terrible team. Jansen was horrible tonight again but he shouldn't have been out there after last night. Even so, he got the double play ball he wanted but Hernandez threw it away. Then for whatever reason Sox manager Alex Cora pinch hit Reese McGuire for Reyes who was 2 for 3 already. It seems like we're repeating last year where everything goes wrong. Chris Sale pitched his best game of the season and has nothing to show for it, otherwise he would have been the hero of this one. This is the kind of game that starts a losing streak so I hope it doesn't come to that. The less said of this game, the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 22-18, 7.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to avoid the sweep tomorrow night when Corey Kluber (2-4) takes on Miles Mikolas of the Cardinals. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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