Dang it! (Darren Calabrese\The Canadian Press via AP)
Wade Miley had a halfway decent start but the Red Sox’ bats were deader than Zed. They were shutout, losing by a count of 7-0. It’s a sad state of affairs when my first thought when looking at this pitching line:
| Boston | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miley (L, 1-4) | 6.0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 6.91 |
is “Nice! Pretty good start.” Donaldson, Bautista, and Encarnacion comined to go 6 for 11 and score 4 runs. This isn’t surprising because they are the Jays’ three best hitters, but Joey Bats and Encarnacion came into this game hitting .198 and .216, respectively. It seems like the Red Sox’ pitching staff has made a habit of helping good hitters get out of slumps (see: Longoria, Evan). I’m all for selflessness and helping your fellow man, but maybe help the guys on your own team first. That’s actually not a bad idea. Maybe the Sox hitters should take live batting practice against the Sox starters. Either way, one party is coming out of it with a boost in confidence. I’m a genius.
Papi was serving a one-game suspension for inadvertently bumping an umpire when he got tossed in April. He had to serve it last night because he appealed and lost. Obviously he had no way of knowing Hanley would get hurt when he decided to appeal instead of serving right away, but this couldn’t have come at a worse time.
The 9 they trotted out there featured four guys hitting under .200 and rookie Travis Shaw who was hitting .189 in Pawtucket before yesterday’s call-up. The team managed only two hits all night (Mookie and Pedey, obvi). The Red Sox had a decent amount of baserunners thanks to 22 year-old starter Aaron Sanchez walking the same number of batters as 11 year-old starter Nicky for my Little League team (5). Unfortunately the hometown nine continued to struggle hitting with men on, going 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. They’re 4-52 with RISP this month.
Usually there’s some silver linings to include when recapping losses, but this one was pretty bad top to bottom. On RedSox.com the video highlights from last night’s game are:
- Catching Bautista in a pickle.
- Turning a double play on a baserunning mistake.
- Shaw’s first major league at-bat (a fielder’s choice that should’ve been a double play).
Notes:
-Hanley hit off a tee and took swings in the cages yesterday. He can’t get back in the lineup fast enough.
-It looks like the Red Sox will hire former Indians pitching coach Carl Willis to replace Juan Nieves. I bet he has all the answers!
-My Little League team lost 11-1.
-The night is darkest just before the dawn.