Yankees Blank Sox on Two Hitter (4/27/15)

Once again the Boston Red Sox are back to .500 and just like in the first game of the year, they got blanked. This time the New York Yankees came to town and Ray Keating allowed just two hits to the anemic Sox offense. Rube Foster (1-1, 1.99 ERA) was game but couldn't match Keating as the Yankees came to Fenway Park and made a statement by handing the Sox a 2-0 defeat.

                                                 Old Hoss Radbourn is disgusted

Quite simply there was absolutely nothing to cheer about if you were a Red Sox fan unless you were at Fenway unless you are a big Rube Foster fan. Keating and Foster dueled each other for 6 innings before Roger Peckinpaugh knocked in a run in the top of the seventh. The Sox failed to counter and Peckinpaugh knocked in another in the top of the ninth off Ray Collins. That was the only scoring of the game as the Yankees won 2-0.

Jackass of the Night is a tough one since the team only mustered two total hits but I'll go with Hal Janvrin. He was 0 for 3 and one of his plate appearances came with Everett Scott on base, meaning he had a chance to double him in or hit a home run to take the lead/tie.

                                                       Janvrin the Jackass


The Good:

Del Gainer walked as a pinch hitter.

Duffy Lewis walked twice in four plate appearances.

One of the rare times the losing pitcher is on the good list. Rube Foster was outstanding tossing 8 innings allowing just 1 run. He also got one of the only Boston hits at the plate.



The Bad:

Dick Hoblitzell was 0 for 3.

Pinch Thomas was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

Olaf Henriksen was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.

Ray Collins allowed a run in the ninth.



The Ugly:

Harry Hooper was 0 for 3 but walked.

Heinie Wagner was 0 for 2 but walked and stole a base.

Tris Speaker was 0 for 3 but walked and stole a base.

Everett Scott was just 1 for 4.



Honorable Mention:

Mike McNally played second base in the top of the ninth inning.




Final Thoughts:

Another lackluster performance by the Sox who just can't seem to get out of their own way to start this season. They're at 5-5-1 and the only good news is the Philadelphia Athletics are stumbling out of the gate as well. At least the Sox have time to get things right, if the offense ever warms up. The Sox are back in action with Ernie Shore on the mound taking on Marty McHale of the Yankees at Fenway Park.

Sox Beat A's in Ninth on Error (4/22/15)

The Boston Red Sox won their first game at home this season in dramatic style. Trailing 6-5 to the Philadelphia Athletics in the final frame, the Sox rallied due to an error from second basemen Eddie Murphy to walkoff on the defending AL Champs 7-6 to open Fenway Park in style.

                                                    John F Fitzgerald approves of the win

The once great Napoleon Lajoie also committed FIVE errors throughout the game. The Sox struck first with a run in the bottom of the second but the A's responded with 4 off starter Ernie Shore in the top of the third. The Sox responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth but the A's scored runs in the top of the fifth and sixth to take a 6-2 lead and chase Shore from the game. The Sox got a run in the bottom of the seventh to chase Athletics starter Weldon Wyckoff then got 2 more in the bottom of the eighth against Bob Shawkey. Down 6-5 and at their final out, Eddie Murphy allowed a crucial error which led to the 7-6 victory for the Sox.

Hero of the Night is Ralph Comstock (2-0, 2.00 ERA). He tossed 3 innings of shut-out relief to earn the win and he scored a run at the plate.

                                                            Ralph the Hero


The Good:

Harry Hooper was 2 for 5 with a walk, run scored and an rbi.

Tris Speaker was 2 for 3 with 2 walks, a run scored and an rbi.

Duffy Lewis was 2 for 5.

Hal Janvrin was 1 for 3.

Del Gainer walked with the bases loaded as a pinch hitter.

Hick Cady was 2 for 4 with a walk, rbi and run scored.

Wally Rehg stole a base and scored as a pinch runner.

Pinch Thomas stole a base and scored as a pinch runner.



The Bad:

Mike McNally was 0 for 1 at the plate.

Ernie Shore sucked. He lasted just 6 innings and allowed 6 runs off FOURTEEN hits. He also was 0 for 1 at the plate.

Olaf Henriksen was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.



The Ugly:

Heinie Wagner was 0 for 5 but walked.

Dick Hoblitzell was 0 for 3 with an error but walked twice and drove in a run.

Everett Scott was 0 for 4 but walked, stole a base and scored a run.




Final Thoughts:

How about those runnin' Red Sox? Twice they sent in a pinch runner, twice they stole a base and twice they scored runs. Every run counted in this improbable win over last year's pennant winners. The Athletics have lost 5 of their first 7 games so they're not off to a good start. Sure the Sox are just 4-3 but its better than that. The Sox return to action against the Athletics next time with Dutch Leonard, last year's ERA champion, making his season debut opposite Herb Pennock, who blinded the Sox on Opening Day. Hopefully this time around will be different.

Rip Williams, Senators Sink Sox (4/19/15)

After yesterday's rainout allowed Walter Johnson enough time to pitch today's game, he lived up to his billing as a great pitcher. Even so, one man nearly singlehandedly beat the Boston Red Sox and it wasn't Johnson. Rip Williams, the Washington Senators 1st basemen, drove in all four of Washington's runs as Johnson shut down the Boston attack. When it was all said and done Washington had won the game 4-2 at Griffith Stadium.

                                             Archduke Ferdinand doesn't like Walter Johnson

The Sox wasted no time scoring when Tris Speaker drove in Harry Hooper in the top of the first inning, then Hooper drove in rookie pitcher Carl Mays in the top of the fifth. The Senators fought back to tie the game when Williams drove in 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth. Ray Collins replaced Mays in the 7th and allowed 2 runs in the bottom of the eighth to give the Senators the lead. Johnson slammed the door in the top of the ninth to give the game to the Senators.

Jackass of the Night is Dick Hoblitzell. He went 0 for 4 and bungled an error in the field.

                                                  Dick the Jackass


The Good:

Harry Hooper was 2 for 3 with a walk, run scored and rbi.

Tris Speaker was 1 for 3 with an rbi.

Pinch Thomas was 1 for 3.

Carl Mays tossed 6 innings of 2 run ball, also he singled and scored at the plate.



The Bad:

Heinie Wagner was 0 for 3.

Duffy Lewis was 0 for 4.

Everett Scott was 0 for 3.

Olaf Henriksen struck out as a pinch hitter.

Ray Collins took the loss allowing 2 runs in 2 innings.



The Ugly:

Hal Janvrin was 1 for 3 but committed 2 costly errors.



Honorable Mention:

Bill Carrigan caught the bottom of the eighth.




Final Thoughts:

Not much you can do against a pitcher the caliber of Johnson, luckily he only pitches once every 4 days. He shut down the Sox offense pretty good and he certainly is something else. The defense coughed up 3 errors which led to two unearned runs. Mays pitched well all things considering and hopefully next time out he'll get some run support. Tomorrow is the final game of the series and Rube Foster gets the ball against Bert Gallia at Griffith Stadium.

Sox Late Rally Sinks A's (4/15/15)

After a pathetic opening day performance by the Boston Red Sox, they redeemed themselves a day later by stunning the defending American League champion Philadelphia Athletics with a late rally in the ninth inning to take home a 5-3 victory at Shibe Park.

                                                 John L Sullivan approves of the win

The Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead but starter Ray Collins faltered and left the game trailing 3-2. Olaf Henriksen pinch hit for Ray and walked, scoring on the rbi single by Harry Hooper. Rookie Carl Mays made his major league debut in the bottom of the seventh inning and shut-out the A's the rest of the way. The Sox added two runs in the top of the ninth with Mays slamming in the door in the bottom of the frame to win their first game 5-3.

Hero of the Night is Carl Mays. In his very first professional game he tossed 3 shut-out innings for his first major league win.

                                             The submarine pitcher is the Hero

The Good:

Heinie Wagner was 2 for 4 with a walk and an rbi.

Tris Speaker was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, a stolen base and a run scored.

Duffy Lewis was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a stolen base.

Dick Hoblitzell was 3 for 5 with an rbi.

Larry Gardner was 1 for 2 with a walk and a run scored.

Ray Collins got a no-decision as he pitched 6 innings of 3 run ball.

Olaf Henriksen walked and scored as a pinch hitter.



The Bad:

None.



The Ugly:

Harry Hooper was just 1 for 4 but made the hit count as it was an rbi single.

Everett Scott was just 1 for 4.

Bill Carrigan was 0 for 2 but walked and drove in a run.




Final Thoughts:

Now that's more like it. After their freezing cold performance against Herb Pennock and the A's yesterday, this was a nice bounceback win to show that they can hang with the AL champs. After all the Sox and A's are arguably the two best teams in the American League so it may come down to one of them winning the pennant. The Sox have the offense to match the A's but the question is if they have the pitching. It remains to be seen although the big 20 year old lefty George Ruth takes the mound tomorrow in the finale against Rube Bressier at Shibe Park.