Talk about worst case scenario for the Boston Red Sox. For four innings tonight's game against the Washington Nationals was going like every game the past 5 days, Connelly Early had tossed 4 shutout innings and the Sox took an early lead on Washington Nationals starter Cade Cavalli. Then it all fell apart as Early was pulled from the game with an elbow injury and Willson Contreras got himself ejected for the second game in a row. After that, the Red Sox bullpen imploded, Cavalli pitched the game of his life and the Nationals spanked the Red Sox 8-1 at Fenway Park.
Early got the ball in the top of the first inning and Wood popped up to third to start. Andres Chaparro struck out swinging but Curtis Mead walked. Mead stole second but CJ Abrams struck out swinging to end the inning. Cavalli got the ball in the bottom of the first and Anthony Seigler doubled to left to start. Ceddanne Rafaela grounded out to second to move Seigler to third but Wilyer Abreu struck out swinging. Willson Contreras hit a routine grounder to Mead....booted for an error to score Seigler. Contreras stole second but Jarren Duran flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Dylan Crews got a base hit to right to start the top of the second and promptly stole second. Jacob Young struck out swinging and Daylen Lile flied out to right to move Dylan to third. Nasim Nunez walked but Keibert Ruiz grounded out to third to end the inning. Romy Gonzalez struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second and Caleb Durbin did the same. Carlos Narvaez also went down hacking to end the inning.
Wood singled off the glove of Tsung-Che Cheng to start the top of the third but Chaparro grounded into a double play. Mead took strike three to end the inning. Cheng grounded out to third to start the bottom of the third and Seigler struck out swinging. Rafaela also struck out swinging to end the inning.
Abrams struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth but Crews singled in the hole at short. Young grounded into a double play to end the inning. Abreu struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fourth and Contreras took strike three. Cavalli started barking at him and Contreras started walking toward him. Duran jumped in front of him and then Abreu jumped into the pile and it was on. Contreras fired his helmet at Cavalli and Sox manager Chad Tracy was tossed for screaming at the umpire that Cavalli started it. Contreras, Nate Eaton and Miles Mikolas were tossed as well. When action resumed Duran grounded out to second to end the inning.
Not only did Andruw Monasterio have to replace Contreras, apparently lost in all the confusion Early had to leave the game due to injury. Danny Coulombe came in to pitch the top of the fifth and Lile got a base hit to left to start. Nunez lines out to right but Ruiz walked. Wood got a base hit to right that scored Like but Nunez was thrown out at third. Greg Weissert came in for Coulombe and Luis Garcia Jr pinch hit for Chaparro. Garcia struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Gonzalez grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the fifth and Durbin struck out swinging. Narvaez flied out to center to end the inning.
Mead grounded out to short to start the top of the sixth and Abrams flied out to right. Crews flied out to left to end the inning. Cheng grounded out to second to start the bottom of the sixth and Seigler struck out swinging. Rafaela took strike three to end the inning.
Jose Tena pinch hit for Young to start the top of the seventh and got a base hit to right. Lile popped up to third but Nunez walked. Justin Slaten came in and Monasterio booted a grounder by Ruiz for an error to score Tena. Wood struck out swinging but Garcia doubled off the Monster to clear the bases & ice the game. Mead struck out swinging to end the inning with the Nationals up 4-1.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the seventh as Abreu took strike three to start. Monasterio grounded out to third and Duran took strike three to end the inning. Not only did Early leave the game with an elbow injury and Contreras get ejected, Cavalli pitched the game of his life allowing 1 hit and striking out 13.
Tommy Kahnle came in to pitch the top of the eighth and instantly gave up a home run to Abrams to increase the lead. Crews popped up to second but Tena walked. Lile singled to right to move Tena to third but Jose was thrown out at home on a grounder to the mound by Nunez. Naturally Ruiz doubled to right to score both runners and Wood doubled to center to score Ruiz. Garcia flied out to left to end the inning with the Nationals up 8-1.
Orlando Ribalta came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Gonzalez got a base hit to center to start. Durbin got a base hit to left but Narvaez grounded into a double play. Cheng flied out to right to end the inning.
Ryan Watson came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Mead grounded out to second to start. Abrams popped up to third and Crews grounded out to second to end the inning. Zak Kent came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Seigler grounded out to second to start. Rafaela grounded out to third but Abreu singled to center. Monasterio lined out to third to end the game. The Nationals had won it 8-1.
Jackass of The Night is Tommy Kahnle. He turned a 4-1 game into 8-1 real quick.
The Good:
Chad Durbin was 1 for 3.
Romy Gonzalez was 1 for 3.
Connelly Early tossed 4 shutout innings before leaving with injury.
Ryan Watson pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Andruw Monasterio was 0 for 2 with an error.
Jarren Duran was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Carlos Narvaez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Tsung-Che Cheng was 0 for 3.
Danny Coulombe was charged with a run in 2/3 of an inning.
Greg Weissert allowed 2 runs in 1 2/3 innings.
Justin Slaten allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Anthony Seigler was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
Willson Contreras was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts but stole a base.
Wilyer Abreu was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Final Thoughts:
Just when you thought the season was turning around, they crash off a cliff. Willson Contreras is very likely about to be suspended, Connelly Early is very likely having Tommy John surgery and both Tommy Kahnle and Justin Slaten look absolutely washed. With Aroldis Chapman dealing with an injury, the Sox just got a lot thinner in just one game. The worst part about tonight's game is Cavalli shoved it up their ass after the scrum in the fourth. You would have thought it would have rallied the Sox but instead it did the opposite. The Nats getting 8 runs off the Sox bullpen and the demeanors of the players as they rounded the bases showed they were the ones fired up. How do you come back from this? You lose your two best players in one game with half the team already out injured for the rest of the season. Its unlikely Roman Anthony, Trevor Story, Triston Casas or Garrett Crochet pitch again this season and now Early is about to join that list. At least you can't blame Craig Breslow for the Sox being made of glass. The loss dropped the Sox to 37-47, good for last place in the AL East. The defeated, lifeless Sox most likely drop tomorrow afternoon's game against Washington. Payton Tolle (4-5, 2.79 ERA) takes on Andrew Alvarez of Washington. The game begins at 1:35 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment