Red Sox Take an Entertaining One From the Orioles, Righty Has A Lot to Say

Posted on April 25, 2015 in Game Recap

This was the first game in a while that I’ve been able to watch all the way through (with the sound on) and keep score. As a result I took a lot of notes. This is all notes and it’s way longer than any recap I’ve done so far, but it’s Saturday and you have nothing better to do, so read on:

-Bottom of the second, Porcello strikes out Jones on a disgusting hook.

-His season high before today was 6 K’s, he struck out the first 5 he faced, and 6 out of the first 7.

-I love Mookie‘s scowl. It seems like it’s just his resting face after getting a hit. I can’t find a picture of it yet, but his upper lip is drawn up just a little bit on his left side.

–What a pick by Pedroia to start a double play. I will never get tired of watching him do stuff like that.

-Don and Jerry commented that Pablo Sandoval will really swing at anything. I read an article at some point last year that said that one of the reasons he’s had so much success in the postseason is because he is willing to swing at balls out of the strike zone. If management has compiled a team of hitters with similar hitting approaches (in Moneyball terms, nine Scott Hattebergs), a pitcher painting corners will be able to shut down your entire lineup. Having someone like Sandoval who isn’t afraid to swing at pitches out of the strike zone (which is putting it lightly. He singled on a pitch literally at his eyes in the 2nd) will help you get something going against a pitcher who is mowing the rest of your lineup down.

-After facing the minimum through the first 3 1/3 innings, Porcello gave up a single to Manny Machado and a four-bagger to Jimmy Paredes on a FLAT slider that barely spun, much less broke. It’s already the 6th home run Porcello has surrendered, most in the league. Followed by a single to Adam Jones. Then Chris Davis hit a comebacker while Jones was stealing second. Porcello threw to second anyway. Brock Holt stretched like a first baseman to make sure he got the ball before Jones got to the bag, then pivoted and fired on to first to complete the double play to end the inning.

-“The Red Sox have squared some balls up but they still can’t seem to solve Gonzalez and I don’t understand why. To this point, 66% of his pitches have been fastballs around 90 MPH, and the Sox are missing some meatballs. Sure, Betts walked and Pedey singled, but it feels like we should be smacking this guy around.”

-…And as soon as I’m done writing that, Papi hits a skyscraping home run. The ball definitely clears the fence, but it looks like a kid reaches his glove above a leaping Dimitri Delmon Young (thanks to the Old Boy for pointing that out), taking the ball away from him. Somewhere Jeffrey Maier smiles. (Little known fact about Jeff: He went on to play baseball at my sister’s alma mater, Wesleyan University, and became their all-time hits leader). Sox are up 3-2.

-Two pitches later, Hanley goes back-to-back with Papi on a slider. To say it was hanging would besmirch the legacy of every brave partially-punctured chad in Florida in the 2000 presidential election. Hanley swung so hard that his helmet flew completely off, and he circled the bases with just a skull cap on his head, which must’ve been a pretty cool feeling. Like he was just messing with his buddies on a summer afternoon and took a victory lap after he parked one. It was Ramirez’s 6th dinger of the year, putting him 3rd in the league behind Mark Teixeira (who hit two last night), and Nelson Cruz. I found it very fitting that Ortiz and Ramirez went deep for the first back-to-back of the season, just like old times. 4-2 lead, and all of it came with 2 outs.

-As we’ve discussed several times over the course of the season, Hanley and Manny Ramirez are one and the same. And true to form, Hanley giveth, Hanley taketh away. After going deep in the top half of the 5th, Hanley “misplayed” a fly ball into a double (it was over his shoulder and ruled a hit, but in reality he just dropped it) in the bottom half of the frame. This ended up directly leading to a run.

-After taking the lead, it’s ideal for your starter to throw up a zero in the next frame. Porcello gave a run right back after the Sox took a lead. It wasn’t his fault, since Hanley 100% should’ve caught that ball, and Cabrera’s RBI hit came on a good pitch (sinker down and away), but it was frustrating all the same.

-In the bottom of the 6th, Paredes flew out to foul territory in left field. Hanley ran as far as he could, caught the ball against the wall, and threw out Manny Machado who had tagged up and was trying to take second. Now the similarities to Manny Ramirez are downright scary. Subpar outfielder who screws up a fairly routine ball, but later his underestimated arm nabs an unsuspecting opponent. Remember that year Manny was leading the league in outfield assists? Also, Hanley lost his hat on the play.

-There’s a running joke in our group of friends that Lefty is a jinx when it comes to sports. Well yesterday, Lefty commented that the Sox were 12 for 12 in stolen base attempts so far this season. Well lo and behold, Pedey got caught stealing second last night. Farrell challenged the call. Remy started breaking down the replay, but then said “I should just shut up” because he’s in the midst of a “challenge slump.” Lefty is confirmed as a jinx.

-Once again, a Red Sox starter looks dominant at times, but doesn’t pitch deep into the game and ends up with a pedestrian line:

Boston IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Porcello 6.0+ 6 4 4 2 7 1 6.48

–Alexi Ogando came in in a big spot in the bottom of the 7th, and while preparing to face his first batter, he went to his mouth while on the rubber, resulting in an automatic ball.

Farrell came out to get out an explanation from Dana DeMuth (who had a horseshit zone all day, by the way). Once DeMuth said his piece, it looked like Farrell responded with an emphatic “Oh for fuck’s sake!” before returning to the dugout. Ogando got into some trouble, but got Manny Machado to strike out on a full count in a HUGE spot.

-After two quick outs in the top of the 8th, Panda drew a walk in a long at-bat while batting righty. Allen Craig then pulled a grounder that Machado olé’d, giving the Gold Glover his second surprising error in as many series against the Red Sox. That brought up Brock Holt! who hit a quadruple on a 2-2 pitch up and in, giving the Sox the lead for good. THE BROCK STAR NEEDS REGULAR AT BATS. Again, all of this came with two outs. The Sox were 2-5 with RISP for the game.

-Koji came in and threw 21 splitters and 2 fastballs to ease the door shut (he gave up two singles, so he didn’t quite slam it).  

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