This is really the first lazy Sunday I’ve had watching the Sox this year. We had Porcello on the mound for the 1:35 start and…I haven’t been Rick’s biggest fan so far. I’m not a fan of the contract, I’m not that impressed with his stuff. There’s still obviously time for me to be wrong, but he seems pretty average. Today didn’t help his case.
After a slick play by Brock Holt (playing second base for a resting Dustin Pedroia), who charged a slow roller and made a quick transition to his throwing hand to get the out at first, Porcello gave up a single to Jimmy Paredes (Jimmy Walls!) and a massive home run over the Monster by Adam Jones.
The sinker comes in high (as pointed out by sports genius Liam Bevans) and flat and oh-so-hittable, and there was pretty much no chance that Jones wasn’t putting it over the fence.
In the bottom half, Brock Holt led off instead of Mookie (possibly to avoid a lefty-lefty combo with Ortiz, as Jerry said, but more likely just because Brock is hitting better) and got on board with a single up the middle. After a fly out by Mookie, Papi drew a walk, but only after an appeal down to third base umpire Jerry Meals on the first apparent ball four (called strike two). Papi was halfway down to first and not impressed with the call, pretty actively showing up Meals on his way back to the batter’s box. THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER.
The next pitch was the first one that Hanley saw on the day, and he made it count, sending it to left field for a home run to take a one-run lead just as quickly as the Sox had fallen behind. The O’s pitcher, Miguel Gonzalez, struggled a bit more in the inning, walking both Sandoval and Victorino, but eventually got out of the 1st by striking out an overeager Xander Bogaerts.
Porcello started the next inning strong, if a bit cautiously, striking out both Travis Snider and Manny Machado. But on the third pitch to Ryan Flaherty (in for the injured Jonathan Schoop), he left another sinker up in the zone and Flaherty drove it all the way to that little green triangle below the flagpole for another home run.
After a mildly settled period for Porcello in the 3rd and beginning of the 4th, the wheels started to come off in earnest. At one point, out of nine consecutive batters faced, seven got either a single or a walk off of Porcello (this sequence also included a possible double play and eventual fielder’s choice that Holt, much as I love the guy, couldn’t get the ball out of his hand in time to start). Two runs scored in the 5th because of the preponderance of baserunners. And the wheels were officially replaced with cinder blocks when Porcello led off the 6th with this sequence: hit by pitch, single, single (bases loaded), bases-clearing double by Adam Jones. Another meatball. I was actively pissed off at this point. I’m pretty sure I yelled, “Get him the hell out of there!” at the TV. That’ll show him.
Just before this, in the bottom of the 5th, Ortiz was tossed for arguing balls and strikes yet again, and again with third base umpire Jerry Meals, who gave Ortiz strike two for going around. Words were said. Fists were shaken. Hands were put on hips. And finally, the home plate empire tossed Big Papi and got away from the big man as quickly and with as much dignity as he could muster. Daniel Nava came in to finish the at-bat from Ortiz’s 1-2 count and quickly grounded out.
The rest of the game was characterized by solid bullpen work by both teams. Starting in the sixth inning, the Red Sox batted 1-14 the rest of the way. The only baserunner was Pablo Sandoval, who got on with a two-out double in the 8th. Really, not much happened.
And okay, I was mostly watching the Celtics because a. it’s the playoffs b. I’m a bigger Celtics fan anyway? Gigi Datome needs to be brought in to shoot the lights out. But anyway, I had the Sox game streaming online on a computer, don’t worry. Totally engrossed in it. All in all, hopefully a start that Porcello can build from. But I can’t say I’m crazy optimistic. Clay has just gotta put his ace game together. I’m sure he will, and we’ll have three starting pitchers on All-Star team. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST.