Henry Owens pitches in his major league debut against the Yankees on 8/4/15. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
This one started with so much hope. So much promise. The much-ballyhooed Major League debut of Henry Owens, in the Bronx against the first-place Yankees. For five innings, this was a lot of fun to watch. The 23 year old lefty was a little jittery to start, giving up a run in the first and generally working up in the zone in the first two innings, but then starting mixing and locating a little better. After giving up a single to start the 2nd, he settled into a nice groove, sitting down the next 12 Yankees he faced. He broke off a couple of comely eyes-to-thighs backdoor curveballs to righties and “will it ever get to me?” changeups to lefties. It wasn’t dominant debut à la Eduardo Rodriguez, but still good, solid pitching.
In the 5th, the Sox scraped together a couple of runs in support of their young starter. Napoli doubled, De Aza had a bunt single that moved Nap to 3rd, Swihart singled him home and advanced De Aza to 3rd, and Jackie Bradley Jr. lifted a sac fly to score Alejandro, giving the Red Sox a 2-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the 6th, however, Owens gave up a single and a double to start the inning, and got the quick hook from Farrell, leaving the game having struck out 5, walking one, and allowing only one run, although the runners on 2nd and 3rd were his responsibility. When Owens left the game, the virgins all wisely began to trim their wicks, because the bullpen was a disaster of biblical proportions.
Hank was relieved by Robbie Ross Jr. who hastily allowed both inherited runners to score (the kid deserved better), plus one of his own, giving the Yankees a 4-3 lead.
He was in turn relieved by Jean Machi. Machi had a 5.14 ERA and a WHIP of over one-and-a-half in the NL and was waived by the Giants, so the Red Sox thought “Hey! He’ll fit in perfectly in our bullpen! Plus he kind of looks like El Guapo” and boy! were they right. He gave up 3 runs, 2 earned and only recorded one out. He he was followed by Craig Breslow who allowed 2/2 inherited runners to score plus a few of his own, and he was followed by Alexi Ogando who allowed 2/2 inherited runners to score plus one of his own. By the time the father hen had called his chickens home, the Sox’ bullpen had surrendered 10 RUNS. Just look at this:
| Boston | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owens (L, 0-1) | 5.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5.40 |
| Ross, R (BS, 2) | 0.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.14 |
| Machi | 0.1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.65 |
| Breslow | 0.2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.25 |
| Ogando, A | 1.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.97 |
Even the beast with ten horns and seven heads was wailing and gnashing its teeth.
The only other offense was Sandoval hitting a bomb.
I take a tiny amount of comfort in the fact that the Red Sox’ starters aren’t the only ones who struggle with the gopher ball.
Notes:
–Mookie worked out on Sunday and Monday and is no longer experiencing concussion symptoms. He will travel with the team to Detroit, and hopefully play a game or two in that series.
–Brock Holt made a pretty play behind Owens in the 5th.
-Yankees’ top prospect Luis Severino will start and make his major league debut tomorrow. The Yankees think he’s the real deal, and hope he’ll provide a boost to their rotation as they push for the playoffs since they failed to add a starter at the trade deadline. I think he may be able to do that, mainly because he shares a birthday with other stratospherically successful sensations such as Phil Esposito, Charles Barkley, Cindy Crawford, Kurt Cobain, Justin Verlander, Rihanna, and Righty. Would’ve been cool to see him square off against Owens tonight, but at least it’ll give Lefty something interesting to watch tomorrow.
-To cleanse your pallet: This is Red Sox prospect Rafael Devers
He’s 18 years old and does stuff like this