We have a winner and new champion for most frustrating loss of the season for the Boston Red Sox. The Sox and the Kansas City Royals engaged in a battle of attrition, scoring no runs through the first 10 innings of tonight's game. Hunter Dobbins tossed 6 shutout innings for the Sox while Michael Lorenzen allowed just 3 hits in 7 shutout innings. The bullpen for both teams locked it down but the Sox got a run in the 11th only for the Royals to tie it. The Sox failed to score in the 12th and Freddy Fermin drove in Michael Massey to end the game. Sean Newcomb (0-4, 3.58 ERA) took the loss but if the bats weren't completely asleep they wouldn't have lost 2-1 to the Royals in 12 innings at Kauffman Stadium.
Lorenzen got the ball in the top of the first and Jarren Duran grounded out to second to start. Rafael Devers grounded out to third and Alex Bregman struck out swinging to end the inning. Dobbins got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jonathan India lined out to center to start. Bobby Witt Jr took strike three and Vinnie Pasquantino struck out swinging to end the inning.
Kristian Campbell flied out to right to start the top of the second and Wilyer Abreu popped up to third. Trevor Story popped up to second to end the inning. Salvador Perez took strike three to start the bottom of the second and Maikel Garcia grounded out to third. Michael Massey singled in the hole at second but Mark Canha flied out to right to end the inning.
Abraham Toro lined out to left to start the top of the third and Connor Wong struck out swinging. Ceddanne Rafaela flied out to right to end the inning. Freddy Fermin flied out to left to begin the bottom of the third and Kyle Isbel got a base hit to center. India took strike three and Witt Jr struck out swinging to end the inning.
Perez made a good stab on a Duran liner to start the top of the fourth but Devers got a base hit to right. Bregman lined out to left but a wild pitch moved Rafael to second. Campbell grounded out to second to end the inning. Pasquantino grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fourth but Perez singled in the hole at second. Garcia took strike three but Massey got a base hit to left. Canha grounded out to short to end the inning.
Abreu grounded out to short to start the top of the fifth and Story flied out to center. Toro singled off Lorenzen but Wong struck out swinging to end the inning. Fermin lined out to right to start the bottom of the fifth but Isbel tripled to right. India hit a grounder to short and not only did Isbel get caught in a rundown, but so did India to end the inning. Bad baserunning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the sixth as Rafaela doubled to left to start. Duran and Devers both struck out swinging but Bregman was hit with a pitch. Campbell took strike three to end the inning. Dobbins returned for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth as Witt Jr flied out to center to start. Pasquantino grounded out to first and Perez grounded out to short to end the inning. Dobbins tossed 6 shutout innings allowing just 5 hits.
Abreu flied out to left to start the top of the seventh and Story struck out swinging. Toro grounded out to second to end the inning. Greg Weissert came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Garcia walked to start. Garcia stole second and Massey walked. Canha grounded into a double play and Fermin lined out to right to end the inning.
Old pal John Schreiber came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Wong got a base hit to center to start. Rafaela struck out swinging and Duran popped up to short. Lucas Erceg came in to face Devers and Rafael grounded out to second to end the inning. Justin Wilson came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Isbel took strike three to start. India doubled to left and Drew Waters pinch ran for him. Witt Jr was intentionally walked and Pasquantinto struck out swinging. Justin Slaten came in to face Perez and got him to ground out to short to end the inning.
Bregman popped up to second to start the top of the ninth but Campbell got a base hit to right. Abreu flied out to right and Story grounded out to second to end the inning. Garcia grounded out to first to start the bottom of the ninth and Massey flied out to center. Cavan Biggio pinch hit for Canha and flied out to center to end the inning.
Carlos Estevez came in to pitch the top of the tenth with Story starting at second. Rather than bunt, Toro popped up to first to start. Wong struck out swinging and Rafaela lined out to left to end the inning. Aroldis Chapman came in to pitch the bottom of the tenth with Biggio starting at second. Fermin struck out swinging and Hunter Renfroe pinch hit for Isbel. Renfroe struck out swinging and Waters popped up to first to end the inning.
Daniel Lynch came in to pitch the top of the 11th with Rafaela starting at second. Rather than bunt, Duran swung away and grounded out to short. At least that moved Ceddanne to third and Devers beat out a roller to short to score Rafaela...but wait! The Royals challenged Devers was out at first and sure enough, the call was overturned. The call was huge because Bregman got a base hit to left and Campbell grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Sox strike first
Garrett Whitlock came in to close out the bottom of the 11th with Waters starting at second. A wild pitch moved Waters to third and Witt Jr walked. Pasquantino got a base hit to right to score Waters. Perez and Garcia both struck out swinging and Brennan Bernardino came in to face the lefty Massey Massey popped up to third to end the inning.
Campbell started the top of the 12th at second base and once again the Sox refused to bunt. Abreu flied out to right and Steven Cruz came in to face Story. David Hamilton pinch ran for Campbell but Story popped up to short. Toro struck out swinging to end the inning. What was the point of Hamilton in there if he wasn't going to run? Sean Newcomb came in to pitch the bottom of the 12th with Massey starting at second. Biggio dropped down a bunt to move Massey to third and Fermin got a base hit to center to score Massey with the winning run. The Royals had won it 2-1 in 12 innings.
Royals win
Jackass Whitlock
Jackass of The Night should be Alex Cora but by default its Garrett Whitlock. Allowing the runner to go to third on a wild pitch is more embarrassing than being the victim of a bunt or base hit.
The Good:
Hunter Dobbins tossed 6 shutout innings allowing just 5 hits while striking out 6.
Greg Weissert tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
Justin Wilson got the first two outs of the eighth inning.
Justin Slaten tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless 10th inning.
Brennan Bernardino got the final out of the 11th inning.
The Bad:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 5.
Trevor Story was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Sean Newcomb allowed the winning run to score.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Alex Bregman was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Kristian Campbell was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Abraham Toro was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Connor Wong was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Ceddanne Rafaela was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Honorable Mention:
David Hamilton played second base in the final innings.
Final Thoughts:
Same story every year regardless of who the players are. Alex Cora yanks the starters early and then when the game goes to extra innings, he refuses to play small ball. As usual his response is "We play for two, not one". Well the Royals played for one and they won because of it. Dobbins pitched a hell of a game and so did the bullpen. Newcomb and Whitlock might have had clean innings if there wasn't a runner starting at second base. The Sox play so stupid its hard to watch. This is now the fourth year in a row the Sox have come out flat as a pancake and are .500 or worse by this point in the season. At what point do you take a serious look at the manager who's led the team every year this happened? The season isn't over by a long shot but being .500 or worse in the middle of May is getting old. If things aren't bad enough, apparently owner John Henry himself is here in Kansas City and he's expecting to talk with Rafael Devers tomorrow. Fans are speculating that he's going to say "play first base, or else" which still makes no sense. How hard was it to get Garrett Cooper and Dominic Smith last year, you mean to tell me Henry is so cheap he doesn't want to get someone like those two or at the very least roll with Toro for a while? They were so afraid of his glove in the field they told him to sit down and let Bregman play third. Now they want him to play out of position? No wonder he's mad. All in all this whole situation is toxic and needs to change immediately. The loss dropped the Sox to 20-20, 3 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow against the Royals when Garrett Crochet (3-2) takes on Cole Ragans of Kansas City. The game begins at 7:10 PM eastern time at Kauffman Stadium.
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