The Boston Red Sox have officially hit rock bottom as they now can't even beat the worthless Chicago White Sox. The 17-48 ChiSox allowed a Bobby Dalbec home run in the top of the fifth but blitzed Red Sox starter Brayan Bello (6-3, 4.78 ERA) for five runs including a Gavin Sheets grand slam in the bottom of the frame. That sucked the life right out of the Red Sox bats as they managed just 5 hits against the worst team in baseball. Alex Cora was ejected arguing balls and strikes and Paul DeJong smacked a home run off Chase Anderson to wrap up the scoring. The BoSox took the humiliating defeat as the White Sox had beaten them 6-1 at Comiskey Park.
Nick Nastrini got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren Duran walked to start. Duran stole second but Enmanuel Valdez struck out swinging. Duran swiped third base but Rob Refsnyder struck out swinging. Rafael Devers lined out to first to end the inning. Bello got the ball in the bottom of the first and Corey Julks grounded out to second to start. Zach DeLoach hit a bullet to Devers and Andrew Vaughn took strike three to end the inning.
The BoSox blew a rally in the top of the second as Connor Wong and Dominic Smith drew back to back walks to start. Bobby Dalbec and David Hamilton both watched strike three go by and Ceddanne Rafaela flied out to center to end the inning. Gavin Sheets singled in the hole at short to start the bottom of the second and Paul DeJong lined out to center. Oscar Colas flied out to left but Lenyn Sosa singled to left. Danny Mendick popped up to first to end the inning.
Duran popped up to short to start the top of the third before Valdez grounded out to short. Refsnyder grounded out to short to end the inning. Martin Maldonado walked to start the bottom of the third but Julks grounded into a double play. DeLoach grounded out to first to end the inning.
Devers walked to start the top of the fourth but Wong forced him at second. Smith grounded into a double play to end the inning. Vaughn grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fourth and Sheets got a base hit to center. A wild pitch moved Sheets to second but DeJong flied out to center. Colas took strike three to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the fifth as Dalbec smashed his first home run of the season to start. Hamilton got a base hit to left and promptly stole second. Rafaela struck out swinging but Hamilton took third. Duran walked to chase Nastrini from the game. Jamie Westbrook pinch hit for Valdez to face Tanner Banks....but Duran got picked off. Westbrook took strike three to end the inning with the BoSox up 1-0.
The ChiSox rallied in the bottom of the fifth after BoSox manager Alex Cora was given the heave-ho after screaming at home plate umpire Alan Porter to get his eyes checked on the Westbrook call. Sosa grounded out to short but Mendick doubled to left. Maldonado flied out to center but Julks walked. DeLoach walked and Vaughn singled past Westbrook to score Mendick. Sheets then hit a grand slam all the way to Wrigley Field to put the game away. DeJong got a base hit to left, Colas got a base hit to left and Sosa got an infield single to third to load the bases. FINALLY that was it for Bello who got crushed for 5 runs in 4 2/3 innings. Zack Kelly came in and got Mendick flied out to right to end the inning with Chicago up 5-1.
Refsnyder struck out swinging to start the top of the sixth and Devers grounded out to second. Wong got a base hit to right but Smith flied out to left to end the inning. Chase Anderson came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Maldonado struck out swinging to start. Julks grounded out to second but DeLoach walked. Duke Ellis pinch ran for DeLoach and stole second, but Vaughn flied out to left to end the inning.
John Brebbia came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Dalbec struck out swinging to start. Gamilton struck out swinging but Rafaela singled off the glove of Ellis. Duran grounded out to short to end the inning. The White Sox got another run in the bottom of the seventh as Sheets popped up to third to star. DeJong hit a home run all the way to Soviet Russia to increase the lead and Colas grounded out to second. Sosa hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning with Chicago ahead 6-1.
Home run DeJong
Jordan Leasure came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Westbrook took strike three to start. Refsnyder took strike three and Reese McGuire pinch hit for Devers. McGuire flied out to right to end the inning. Mendick grounded out to third to start the bottom of the eighth before Maldonado flied out to right. Julks flied out to center to end the inning.
Old pal Michael Kopech came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Wong lined out to center to start. Smith was hit with a pitch and Dalbec walked before Hamilton got a base hit to right to load the bases. Rafaela took strike three and Duran struck out swinging to end the game. Chicago had won it 6-1.
Jackass of the Night is Brayan Bello. He got crushed for 5 runs in 4 2/3 innings off 9 hits and 3 walks.
The Good:
Connor Wong was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Bobby Dalbec was 1 for 3 with a walk and a home run.
David Hamilton was 2 for 4 with a stolen base.
Zack Kelly got the final out of the fifth inning.
The Bad:
Enmanuel Valdez was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Jamie Westbrook was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Rob Refsnyder was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Reese McGuire was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked twice and stole two bases.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 2 but walked.
Dominic Smith was 0 for 2 but walked and was hit with a pitch.
Ceddanne Rafaela was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Chase Anderson allowed a run in 3 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
This is officially rock bottom. Dropping 2 out of 3 to the worst team in baseball and being one game under .500 this late in the season is embarrassing. Its clear Sox owner John Henry doesn't want to spend money anymore and they can fire the general manager or the manager and it won't make a difference. Alex Cora is an analytical puppet but you can't say he doesn't care about the team. His frustration today isn't just with how things are going but with the front office not supplying him with championship caliber talent. He's supposed to mold a winning team out of Jamie Westbrook, Enmanuel Valdez and Dominic Smith? Granted Trevor Story is out and Masataka Yoshida didn't play but things are getting dire. The Sox are on the verge of their third straight last place finish and the only thing the fans can do is just not go to games. Why put money into a team that's going to spit in your face and drop 2 out of 3 to the worst team in baseball? Bello made one mistake to Sheets but the offense scoring just one run is inexcusable. If the Sox lose tomorrow they should fire Cora & Breslow, trade half the team and start all over again. Its embarrassing to call a regular season game in June a "must win" but tomorrow classifies as such. If they lose, its over. The loss dropped the Sox to 32-33, 12.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to salvage the series tomorrow against the White Sox in a damn bullpen game. Zack Kelly gets the start fort the Red Sox against Chris Flexen of Chicago. The game begins at 2:10 PM Eastern time at Comiskey Park.
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