Things are going real south, real fast for Boston Red Sox general manager Craig Breslow. Between scathing articles in the media and apparent John Henry quotes, its clear he's on the hot seat. That seat just got even hotter as the Sox came home and once again laid an egg in front of their own crowd. The Baltimore Orioles scored four runs against an ineffective Connelly Early (5-3, 3.26 ERA) with the highlight being a 2 run Pete Alonso home run. Meanwhile the mediocre Shane Baz held the Sox to 2 runs and 4 measly hits in a 7 inning gem. The Sox had their chances after putting the tying run at the plate in the sixth inning but couldn't deliver the knockout blow. The Sox fell to 9-20 at home on the season and 9 games under .500 as the Orioles won 4-2 at Fenway Park.
Early got the ball in the top of the first inning and Taylor Ward walked to start. Gunnar Henderson doubled to left but Adley Rutschman popped up to center. Pete Alonso struck out swinging and Samuel Basallo grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Baz got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jarren Duran continued his hot streak with a triple to left. Naturally Ceddanne Rafaela grounded out to short, failing to bring home Jarren. Somehow Wilyer Abreu hit a sac fly to center to score Duran and Willson Contreras walked. Masataka Yoshida struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Naturally as soon as the Sox got the lead, Early coughed it up in the top of the second. Coby Mayo looked to have hit a home run off the top of the Monster but it was ruled a double....after review, it was called a home run to tie the game. Old pal Tyler O'Neill flied out to center and Leody Taveras took strike three. Blaze Alexander got a base hit to center but Ward forced him at second to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Mickey Gasper grounded out to second to start the bottom of the second and Isiah Kiner-Falefa flied out to right. Marcelo Mayer also flied out to right to end the inning.
The O's took command in the top of the third as Henderson grounded out to first to start. Rutschman singled to center and Alonso hit a home run into the Charles River to put the O's up for good. Basallo struck out swinging and Mayo took strike three but the game was already over 3-1 Baltimore.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the third as Caleb Durbin popped up to first to start. Duran struck out swinging and Rafaela flied out to right to end the inning.
The O's got another run in the top of the fourth as O'Neill got a base hit to left to start. O'Neill stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Taveras. The gamble worked as Alexander hit a sac fly to right to score O'Neill. Ward struck out swinging to end the inning with the O's up 4-1.
Abreu struck out swinging to open the bottom of the fourth and Contreras flied out to center. Yoshida grounded out to first to end the inning.
Henderson grounded out to short to start the top of the fifth and Rutschman flied out to left. Alonso flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fifth as Gasper got a base hit to right to start. A wild pitch moved Mickey to second and he moved to third on the fly ball to right by Kiner. Mayer hit a sac fly to center to score Gasper and Durbin doubled to left. Duran struck out swinging again to end the inning with the Sox down 4-2.
Basallo struck out swinging to start the top of the sixth and that was it for him. He didn't have his best stuff as he got knocked around for 4 runs in 5 2/3 innings. Greg Weissert came in and struck Mayo out swinging. Colton Cowser pinch hit for O'Neill and popped up to third to end the inning.
Rafaela got a base hit to left to start the bottom of the sixth but Abreu flied out to center. Contreras struck out swinging and Yoshida also went down hacking to end the inning.
Taveras struck out swinging to start the top of the seventh and Alexander popped up a bunt to Weissert. Ward took strike three to end the inning. Gasper walked to start the bottom of the seventh but Kiner grounded into a double play. Mayer lined out to left to end the inning.
Tyler Samaniego came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Henderson grounded out to first to start.....but wait? O's manager Craig Albernaz challenged he was safe. Replays showed he was out and Rutschman walked. Alonso got a base hit to right but was ruled out when a grounder by Basallo hit him on his way to second. Mayo popped to first to end the inning. Jeremiah Jackson took over for Mayo with Andrew Kittredge on the mound for the bottom of the eighth. Durbin grounded out to third and Duran struck out swinging. Rafaela got a base hit to left but Abreu grounded out to first to end the inning.
Cowser struck out swinging to open the top of the ninth then Taveras caught Samaniego asleep with a bunt single. Alexander forced Taveras at second then promptly stole second. Ward struck out swinging to end the inning. Rico Garcia came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Contreras struck out swinging to start. Yoshida struck out swinging and Gasper flied out to right to end the game. The Orioles had won 4-2.
Jackass of The Night is a tough one since the whole team failed hard but Masataka Yoshida going 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts out of the 5 hole isn't gonna cut it.
The Good:
Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 4.
Mickey Gasper was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Caleb Durbin was 1 for 3.
Greg Weissert tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Tyler Samaniego tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Connelly Early was tagged for 4 runs in 5 1/3 innings to take the loss.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa was 0 for 3
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but scored a run.
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Willson Contreras was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Marcelo Mayer was 0 for 2 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
For those that weren't aware, during yesterday's off-day David Ortiz apparently talked to John Henry. Ortiz claims Henry said he was concerned about the Sox performance and wants to go back to the old days when they were winners. On top of that, the Boston Globe interviewed Theo Epstein who's very displeased at how the Sox are run. Apparently Craig Breslow is up to his ears in spreadsheets and his analytic driven system is too much. If this doesn't sound like a media already writing an epitaph for an eventual firing, I don't know what would. Then after the game someone asked Isiah Kiner-Falefa how they could be so bad at home and he answered they have a lot of "distractions" at home that they don't on the road. All signs point to Breslow as the scapegoat. Still, the games are won and lost on the field and it wasn't Breslow that allowed a 2 run home run to Pete Alonso or struck out 3 times in four plate appearances like Yoshida and Duran did. You could have Craig Breslow or Tucker Carlson as your general manager and what happens on the field determines the outcome. The bottom line is the problem with the Sox goes far beyond simple losing streaks, injuries (Garrett Crochet AND Kutter Crawford recently suffered setbacks) and bad offense. This could be an entire philosophy that's causing all this. Getting four hits off Shane Baz and 5 total isn't going to cut it and that's been the problem all season no matter who's in uniform. The Sox themselves need to find a way to either play AGAINST Breslow like Rachel Phelps in Major League or come out and say he's the problem. Something has to change or they're going to be in last place for good. The Sox look to right the ship tomorrow night against the Orioles when Peyton Tolle (2-2, 2.61 ERA) goes up against Chris Bassitt of Baltimore. The game begins at 6:45 PM at Fenway Park.
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