Saturday, July 15, 2023

Cubs Pound Paxton, Sox (7/15/23)

It took James Paxton's (5-2, 3.51 ERA) worst start all season to snap the Boston Red Sox's six game win streak as the Chicago Cubs took their advantage. After bad defense put the Sox in a 2-0 hole in the bottom of the third, Cody Bellinger hit a backbreaking grand slam to put the game out of reach. Triston Casas hit a 2 run bomb to put the game at 8-3 but Brandon Walter allowed two runs in the seventh inning. The Cubs pounded out 12 hits and 10 runs to take the game 10-4 at Wrigley Field.
                                                           Angry Sox fan

Marcus Stroman got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren Duran grounded out to second to start. Masataka Yoshida took strike three but Justin Turner pounded a ground rule double down the left field line. Rafael Devers grounded out to short to end the inning. Paxton got the ball in the bottom of the first and Nico Hoerner struck out swinging to start. Seiya Suzuki struck out swinging and Ian Happ grounded out to second to end the inning.

Alex Verdugo struck out swinging to open the top of the second before Triston Casas grounded out to short. Christian Arroyo flied out to right to end the inning. Cody Bellinger flied out to right to start the bottom of the second before Yan Gomes flied out to right. Trey Mancini struck out swinging to end the inning.

Connor Wong singled to center to start the top of the third before Enrique Hernandez flied out to center. Duran walked but Yoshida banged into a double play to end the inning. The floodgates opened in the bottom of the third as Christopher Morel walked to start. Miguel Amaya was plunked and Patrick Wisdom walked to load the bases with nobody out. Hoerner then hit a routine grounder that Hernandez failed to corral for a "base hit" to score Morel, putting the Cubs up for good. Suzuki then hit a grounder to Devers who stepped on third to force Wisdom then turned and inexplicably fired the ball into the left field bleachers for an error to score Amaya. Hoerner and Suzuki pulled off a double steal and Happ drew a walk. Bellinger then crushed a grand slam all the way to Edenia, Minnesota to ice the game. Gomes singled to center but Mancini forced him at second. Morel struck out swinging to end the inning with the Cubs up 6-0. That was it for Paxton who allowed 6 runs in just 3 innings
                                                               So much for this game

The Sox tried to fight back in the top of the fourth as Turner doubled to right to begin. Devers grounded out to short to move Turner to third and Justin scored on the grounder to short by Verdugo. Casas grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox down 6-1.
                                                                Sox get one back

Tayler Scott came in to crap his pants in the bottom of the fourth as Amaya doubled to right to start. Wisdom hit a home run all the way to Bombay, India to make this one a laugher. Hoerner lined out to right but Suzuki got a base hit to right. Happ popped up to second but Bellinger walked. Gomes struck out swinging to end the inning with the Cubs up 8-1.
                                                        That one's out of here

Arroyo grounded out to second to start the top of the fifth and Wong lined out to right. Hernandez flied out to center to end the inning. Joely Rodriguez came in to pitch the bottom of the fifth and Mancini grounded out to third to start. Morel struck out swinging and Amaya took strike three to end the inning.

Duran took strike three to start the top of the sixth and Yoshida flied out to left. Turner flied out to center to end the inning. Joe Jacques came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Wisdom grounded out to third to start. Hoerner grounded out to second and Suzuki took strike three to end the inning.

Julian Merryweather took over for Stroman in the top of the seventh and Dervers doubled to center to start. Verdugo flied out to center but Casas belted his 11th home run of the season to cut the lead. Arroyo and Wong both struck out swinging to end the inning but the Sox were down 8-3.
                                                           Casas gets two back

Jorge Alfaro came in for Wong and Brandon Walter came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh only for Happ to get a base hit to center to start. Bellinger got a base hit to center and Gomes flied out to right. Both Bellinger and Happ got into rundowns but Happ was thrown out at third. Mancini got a base hit to right and Morel got a base hit to left to score Bellinger. Amaya got a base hit to center to score Mancini but Wisdom flied out to right to end the inning with the Cubs up 10-3.
                                                     The beating continues

Michael Fulmer came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Hernandez walked to start. Duran walked and Yoshida moved both runners over with a grounder to first. Turner grounded out to third but Hernandez scored to cut the lead. Devers took strike three to end the inning with the Sox down 10-4.
                                                          Sox get a run back

Walter returned for the bottom of the eighth and Hoerner struck out swinging to start. Suzuki struck out swinging but Happ got a base hit to right. Bellinger struck out swinging to end the inning. 

Daniel Palencia came in to close out the top of the ninth and Verdugo lined out to right to start. Casas struck out swinging but Arroyo doubled to left. A wild pitch moved Arroyo to third but Alfaro was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to end the game. The Cubs had won it 10-4.
                                                               Cubs win


Jackass of The Night is James Paxton. He allowed 6 runs in 3 innings to put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of.
                                                          Nice going Jackass


The Good:

Jarren Duran walked twice in four plate appearances.

Justin Turner was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.

Connor Wong was 1 for 3.

Joely Rodriguez pitched a scoreless fifth inning.

Joe Jacques pitched a scoreless sixth inning.



The Bad:

Masataka Yoshida was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.

Jorge Alfaro was 0 for 1 at the plate.

Tayler Scott allowed 2 runs in the fourth inning.

Brandon Walter allowed 2 runs 2 innings of work.



The Ugly:

Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout and an error but scored a run.

Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run.

Triston Casas was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but the one hit was a two run home run.

Christian Arroyo was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.

Enrique Hernandez was 0 for 2 but walked and scored a run.




Final Thoughts:

That game was a root canal with no painkiller. The Cubs beat their brains in for 12 hits and 10 runs. The sad part was that was James Paxton's worst start all season as he had been solid up to this point. Another problem the Sox have is relief pitching, especially when they're down. A good bullpen has relievers that can settle things down for the bats to bop their way back but Tayler Scott and Brandon Walter prevented any hope of a comeback. Granted some of the Sox best relievers are down but this is a concern moving forward. The Sox bullpen turned a 6-1 game into 10-4 and that can't happen in the second half. Rafael Devers and Kenley Jansen are practically screaming at Sox GM Chaim Bloom to do something to help the team at the trade deadline and another good reliever will help. The best thing to do about this game is to forget about it and try to start a new win streak. The loss dropped the Sox to 49-44, good for last place in the AL East. The Sox look to take the series with the Cubs tomorrow afternoon when Kutter Crawford (3-4) takes on Justin Steele of Chicago. The game begins at 2:20 PM eastern time at Wrigley Field.

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