Don't look now but the Boston Red Sox have lost four out of five coming out of the All-Star break to the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. Its easy to see why as they absolutely haven't hit the ball at all apart from the rally against the Cubs on Sunday. Tonight it was Cristopher Sanchez that took his frustrations out from being snubbed at the All-Star game on the Red Sox. Sanchez tossed a complete game 4 hitter while striking out 12 batters. A Rob Refsnyder home run was the only blemish on Sanchez during the game. Meanwhile "Big" Dick Fitts (1-4, 4.86 ERA) got rocked by the Phillies for two home runs and four runs allowed. Nick Castellanos knocked in a run in the first while Max Kepler went yard in the second. Kyle Schwarber hit his 33rd home run of the season as well as Fitts was gone in the fourth inning. The sad part was the bullpen held the fort the rest of the way but the bats were asleep again. It added up to a 4-1 Phillies win at Citizens Bank Park.
Sanchez got the ball in the top of the first inning and Rob Refsnyder grounded out to second to start. Roman Anthony struck out swinging and Alex Bregman grounded out to second to end the inning. The Phillies got to Fitts immediately in the bottom of the first as Trea Turner singled to left to start. Kyle Schwarber struck out swinging but Bryce Harper got a base hit to right to move Turner to third. Nick Castellanos singled to center to score Turner and move Harper to third. Castelllanos stole second and JT Realmuto took strike three. It looked like Harper had a straight steal of home but the umpires ruled a balk on Fitts to score Harper anyway and catcher's interference on Carlos Narvaez to move Brandon Marsh to first. Otto Kemp flied out to right to end the inning with the game already over, 2-0 Phillies.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the second as Romy Gonzalez struck out swinging to start. Trevor Story struck out swinging and Masataka Yoshida grounded out to second to end the inning. The Phillies iced the game in the bottom of the second as Max Kepler hit a home run all the way to Pittsburgh to start. Bryston Stott lined out to left and Turner flied out to right, but Schwarber crushed his 33rd home run of the season to ice it. Harper grounded out to second to end the inning with the Phillies up 4-0.
Ceddanne Rafaela grounded out to short to start the top of the third before Narvaez struck out swinging. Abraham Toro grounded out to second to end the inning. Castellanos flied out to center to start the bottom of the third before Realmuto struck out swinging. Marsh went down hacking to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fourth as Refsnyder launched his sixth home run of the season to cut the lead. Anthony struck out swinging but Bregman got a base hit to left. Gonzalez struck out swinging and Story forced Bregman at second to end the inning with the Sox down 4-1.
The Phillies finished off Fitts in the bottom of the fourth as Kemp got a base hit to left to start. Kepler lined out to left and Sox manager Alex Cora had seen enough of Fitts. He got rocked for 5 runs in just 3 1/3 innings in his first start since July 7th, rusty was an understatement. Brennan Bernardino came in and Stott flied out to left, but Turner got a base hit to right. Schwarber grounded out to second to end the inning.
Yoshida grounded out to first to begin the top of the fifth before Rafaela flied out to center. Narvaez grounded out to second to end the inning. Harper walked to start the bottom of the fifth but Castellanos took strike three. Realmuto popped up to second and Marsh struck out swinging to end the inning.
Toro struck out swinging to start the top of the sixth before Refsnyder went down hacking. Anthony also swung at air to end the inning. Chris Murphy came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Kemp was plunked to start. Kemp was picked off but Kepler walked. Kepler swiped second but Stott flied out to left. Turner struck out swinging to end the inning.
Bregman grounded back to the mound to start the top of the seventh before Gonzalez grounded out to second. Story got a base hit in the hole at short and Yoshida grounded out to short to end the inning. Schwarber led off the bottom of the seventh with a grounder to first. Harper struck out swinging and Castellanos grounded out to third to end the inning.
Rafaela singled off the glove of Sanchez to start the top of the eighth then Narvaez forced him at second. Narvaez went to second on a grounder to first by Toro but Refsnyder struck out swinging to end the inning. Greg Weissert came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Realmuto grounded out to short to start. Marsh lined out to center and Kemp grounded out to second to end the inning.
Edmundo Sosa came in to play third as Sanchez came out to complete the game in the top of the ninth. Anthony took strike three, Bregman lined out to third and Gonzalez struck out swinging in short order. Sanchez tossed a complete game 4 hitter as the Phillies won 4-1.
Jackass of the Night is Dick Fitts
The Good:
Trevor Story was 1 for 3.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 1 for 3.
Brennan Beranrdino tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Chris Murphy tossed 2 scoreless innings.
Greg Weissert tossed a scoreless inning.
The Bad:
Roman Anthony was 0 for 4 with a golden sombrero of 4 strikeouts.
Romy Gonzalez was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Masataka Yoshida was 0 for 3.
Carlos Narvaez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout and an error.
Abraham Toro was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Rob Refsnyder was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but the one hit was a home run.
Alex Bregman was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
This is definitely a glass half empty or full situation. The half empty is the Sox walked into two straight good teams and have totally failed, going 1-4 in five games. They beat up on bad teams but lose to the good ones. The half full way to look at it is they walked into four aces in five games. Sanchez should have been an all-star and Zack Wheeler was well. Not many teams could do well when faced against four aces in five games. The Sox definitely need to win some of these games if they want to inspire confidence, but today wasn't good enough. Fitts got pounded but the bullpen stepped up in his absence. The bottom line is the offense isn't hitting coming out of the break no matter how you look at it. The Sox may need to get a bat at the deadline as well as a number 2 starter. The Sox are right in the thick of things currently and need to make some moves if they want to keep in contention. The loss dropped the Sox to 54-49, six games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. The Sox look to salvage the series tomorrow when Lucas Giolito takes on Jesus Lazardo of Philadelphia. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Citizens Bank Park.
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