The Sox came out firing against Jack Kochanowicz in the top of the first as Jarren Duran grounded out to short to start. Abraham "El" Toro singled to right, Roman Anthony singled to left and Trevor Story singled to right to load the bases. Wilyer Abreu got a base hit to left to score Toro and Anthony. Ceddanne Rafaela got a base hit to left to score Story. Marcelo Mayer forced Rafaela to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.
Buehler got his teeth kicked in to start the bottom of the first as Zach Neto hit a home run into the Pacific Ocean to start. Nolan Schanuel flied out to center but Mike Trout walked. Taylor Ward walked but Travis d'Arnaud hit one up the elevator shaft. Jo Adell got a base hit to left to score Trout and LaMonte Wade Jr was hit with a pitch to load the bases and Luis Rengifo walked to tie the game. Christian Moore walked and Zeto was hit by a pitch to increase the lead. Schanuel flied out to center to end the inning with the Angels up 5-3.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the second as Connor Wong walked to start. David Hamilton forced him at second then Duran flied out to left. Hamilton was thrown out at second trying to steal to end the inning. Trout struck out swinging to begin the bottom of the second but Ward walked. d'Arnaud struck out swinging and Adell lined out to right to end the inning.
Toro struck out swinging to open the top of the third but Anthony walked. Story flied out to left and Abreu grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Wade Jr grounded out to first to start the bottom of the third before Rengifo flied out to left. Moore grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox rallied in the top of the fourth as Rafaela was hit with a pitch to start. Rafaela swiped second and Mayer grounded out to short to move him to third. Wong hit a sac fly to left to score Rafaela but Hamilton popped up to second to end the inning with the Sox down 5-4.
Neto singled to left to start the bottom of the fourth but was forced at second by Schanuel. Trout and Ward drew back to back walks but d'Arnaud took strike three. Adell popped up to second to end the inning. That was it for Buehler who got hammered for 5 runs in just 4 innings allowing SEVEN walks and 3 hits.
Frustration boiled over in the top of the fifth as Duran doubled to start. It looked like Duran should have been safe at third on an obstruction call after a grounder to sort by Toro....instead both Duran and Toro were thrown out in rundowns. Alex Cora ran out of the dugout screaming and had to be escorted out of the building by armed security. Anthony grounded out to third to end the inning with the manager gone.
Luis Guerrero came in to pitch the bottom of the fifth and Wade Jr grounded out to sort to start. Rengifo walked but was thrown out at second trying to steal. Moore struck out swinging to end the inning.
Old Sox prospect Ryan Zeferjahn came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Story greeted him with his 11th home run of the season to tie the game. Abreu, Rafaela and Mayer all struck out swinging to end the inning but the game was tied 5-5.
Zeto grounded out to second to start the bottom of the sixth before Schanuel went down hacking. Trout also whiffed to end the inning.
Brock Burke came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Wong got a base hit to left to start. Hamilton caught the Angels asleep with a bunt single down to third and Duran dropped his own bunt to move the runners over. Reid Detmers came in to pitch to Toro and interim manager Ramon Vazquez brought in Romy Gonzalez to pinch hit. Gonzalez was intentionally walked to get to the rookie Anthony and Roman struck out swinging. Story also struck out swinging to end the inning, what a waste. Garrett Whitlock came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Ward grounded out to short to start. d'Arnaud flied out to right and Adell lined out to right to end the inning.
Sam Bachman came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Abreu struck out swinging to start. Rafaela flied out to center and Mayer took strike three to end the inning. The floodgates opened in the bottom of the eighth as Wade Jr beat out a roller to short to start. Wong turned and fired the ball over the FIRST baseman's head on a steal attempt for an error to allow Wade to make it to third. Rengifo walked and Moore hit a sac fly to right to score Wade. Neto singled to left to move Rengifo to third and Neto promptly stole second. Schanuel struck out swinging and Trout was intentionally walked to load the bases. Naturally Ward walked to FINALLY chase Whitlock. Jorge Alcala came in and d'Arnaud singled to left to score both Neto and Trout. Adell struck out swinging to end the inning with the Angels up 9-5.
Kenley Jansen came in to close out the top of the ninth....and keeled over clutching his arm. He had to be carried out on a stretcher and Hector Neris came in to pitch. Wong grounded out to third, Hamilton struck out swinging and Duran went down hacking to end the game. The Angels had won 9-5.
Jackass of the Night is Garrett Whitlock. He allowed 4 runs in 1 2/3 innings to take the loss.
The Good:
Abraham Toro was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Romy Gonzalez walked as a pinch hitter.
Roman Anthony was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Trevor Story was 2 for 4 with with a home run and 2 total runs scored.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 1 for 3 with an rbi, a stolen base and a run scored.
Luis Guerrero tossed two scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Marcelo Mayer was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Walker Buehler got hammered for 5 runs in 4 innings allowing 3 hits and 7 walks.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Wilyer Abreu was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in 2 runs.
Connor Wong was 1 for 2 with a walk and an rbi but committed an error.
David Hamilton was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jorge Alcala allowed 2 inherited runners to score in 1/3 of an inning.
Final Thoughts:
That's three losses in a row and reality is setting in. Trading Devers when the Sox are already missing Masataka Yoshida, Alex Bregman and Triston Casas was a death knell. The offense had a good rally early but when the Sox needed it later, they didn't get it. Abraham Toro, Romy Gonzalez, Rob Refsnyder and others are nice little role players but no substitute for star players. Still, the name of the game is pitching and Walker Buehler coming out of the gate getting shelled is not what they needed. Whitlock and Alcala getting beat up was also a sign they didn't have it tonight. Whitlock has been solid all season so this was just a hiccup, but it came at a bad time with the Sox scuffling in the wake of the Devers trade. Maybe they'll wake up to turn it around soon but right now this looks BAD. The loss dropped the Sox to 40-40, back to .500, 6 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to snap the three game streak tomorrow with the stopper Garrett Crochet on the mound against Ty Anderson of the Angels. The game begins at 9:30 PM Eastern time at Angels Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment