A few factors have conspired against Righty that have prevented me from giving my normal level of attention to this game. First, I am in St. John, Canada. I walk into a restaurant at 8:30 local time (we are in the Atlantic time zone, one hour ahead of EST) hoping the game would be on. Alas, some obscure hockey tournament was on one TV (World Juniors maybe?) and Canadian football was on the other. Second, the wifi at my hotel has been maddeningly inconsistent, making the viewing of any kind of extended highlights nigh impossible. So I’ve only actually seen a couple of pitches of this entire game, making it hard to get a good feel for what went on. I’m going to have to put my blind faith in the numbers and hope they’re telling the truth. Third, I forgot my laptop in the car so I’m doing everything on my phone.
With that caveat in place, here’s what happened:
The Red Sox lost the rubber match of the series in the Bronx by a score of 2-1.
Eduardo Rodriguez pitched well, surrendering two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out five over seven innings. Duardo gave up the game winning homerun on a hanging 2-1 slider to Jacoby Ellsbury that was supposed to be outside but was middle-in. Jacoby deposited it in the upper deck. As far as I can tell it was Eddie’s only glaring mistake of the night, but it was a costly one, coming with the score tied at one in the bottom of the 7th.
Rodriguez was outdueled by C.C. Fatassia, I mean Sabathia, who picked a hell of a time to have his best outing of the year. Carsten Charles struck out 8 Red Sox over 6 innings of work, and even dialed it all the way up to 94 to strike out Big Papi with the bases loaded to end the 5th.
Once the Yankees have a lead after the 7th, the fat lady is allowed to start warming up her vocal cords. After being told her whole career in New York that she could only start warming when Mariano did, she’s had to change her whole approach. I heard she called the Royals’ fat lady for advice. Anyway, Betances and Miller have a 2.99 ERA combined. As in I added Betances’ ERA to Miller’s ERA and the result is still under three. They stuck to the script, pitching two innings of shutout baseball and the fat lady – Frank Sinatra – sang.
Notes:
-JBJ was 1-2 with two walks. I really hope he can string together a few weeks of good hitting before the season ends.
-Travis Shaw had a pinch hit single and deserves a start.
-Daniel Nava has found a new home with the Rays, which makes me incredibly sad. If I were on a computer I’d link to about 50 different highlights of him on the Red Sox and that song Michael Scott plays on repeat when he and Carol break up.
He's got the Wright stuff! God damn, I'm funny. (AP Photo)
I don’t know what it was about last night’s game. Maybe it was the fact that we’d been destroyed the night before, or that I’m gradually coming to grips with the idea that this season is a complete lost cause. But I REALLY wanted the Sox to win. Very, very badly. I wanted them to ruin Luis Severino’s major league debut and his entire career. I wanted Steven Wright to embarrass the Yankees one by one, leaving them tangled in knots and wondering where the ball had gone. One of these, fortunately, actually came true.
Things started off well for Severino, as he put the Red Sox down in order in the 1st inning (including perhaps the most frustrating shift-robbery of a hit that David Ortiz has had all year). But the Red Sox’ patient approach with the rookie showed its face early on, as Holt, Bogaerts, and Ortiz saw 17 pitches in the first frame. In fact, every Boston starter got two looks at Severino tonight, and every one of those eighteen at-bats started with either a ball or a non-swinging strike. The count-bleeding paid off: Severino threw 94 pitches through 5 innings before Joe Girardi elected to pull him.
Wright did Severino one better in his half of the first, and had a better 2nd inning than his counterpart too. Each of the first five outs he recorded was a strikeout. He also walked a batter in each inning, but they were the only free passes he’d allow all night. Meanwhile, in the top half of the 2nd, Hanley popped out, Sandoval grounded to first, and Mike Napoli grounded out to third—whoops, no he didn’t. Chase Headley short-armed the throw to first and gave Mark Teixeira no chance to scoop it. Napoli advanced to second and Alejandro De Aza made sure to make the mistake count, smacking a double to the wall in right-center to drive in the go-ahead run. Blake Swihart ended the inning with a runner in scoring position for the first of three times on the night.
After an uneventful 3rd inning (probably most notable for containing the first of three unimpressive Jackie Bradley, Jr. at-bats), Ortiz took two Severino balls and then CRUSHED a middle-in fastball to right-center:
Things went in order from there, with the Red Sox lineup taking just enough pitches to end Severino’s night after 5 innings. In Wright’s half of the 5th, the knuckleballer finally ran into some real trouble, giving up singles to both Didi Gregorius and John Ryan Murphy. But he got Jacoby Ellsbury to strike out for the third time on the night to escape the situation.
Adam Warren came in for the Yankees in the 6th and gave them 3 innings of scoreless relief. He did give up a double to Sandoval in the top of the 6th and hit Napoli, but neither De Aza nor Swihart could do anything about it, and the runners were stranded harmlessly.
Wright made his only real mistake of the night in the bottom of the 7th, giving up a leadoff solo shot to Carlos Beltrán. It was definitely the product of the short porch in New Yankee Stadium’s right field. But even though Wright was getting away with high knuckleballs all night, it was inevitable that one would come back to bite him. The damage done, the former second-round pick retired the side from there.
He gave up a single to start the 8th, but what might have been the second consecutive hit of the inning became a momentum-killing double play when an Ellsbury ground ball kicked off of Wright’s foot and directly to Xander Bogaerts, who stepped on the bag and made a good athletic play to get Ellsbury at first.
Boston made a good two-out effort to get some insurance in the top of the 9th against lefty and terrible name-haver Chasen Shreve. Sandoval hit his second double of the night, this one a ground-rule job. Napoli intentionally walked (after two non-intentional balls) and Rusney Castillo, pinch-hitting for the lefty De Aza, walked to load the bases. Unfortunately, after a good 8-pitch at-bat, Swihart couldn’t find the right ending for it, striking out looking to move to the last frame of the night.
Koji Uehara came in for the save, relieving Wright after eight strong innings from the knuckler. The closer ran into some trouble, giving up a 1-out single to Teixeira that Castillo trapped and tried to sell:
Chris Young pinch-ran for Teixeira and advanced to second on a splitter gone wrong. Koji got Beltrán to fly out to Bradley in center, walked Chase Headley on five pitches…and finally got a pinch-hitting Brian McCann to fly out to center to end the game.
Only 8.5 games back of a wild card spot…
Notes:
You should watch this highlight reel of Steven Wright’s performance, but mostly you NEED to skip to 0:34 in the video to see the break on strike three to Didi Gregorius. It’s probably one of the nastiest knuckleballs I’ve ever seen.
At some point (the 7th?), John Farrell had Robbie Ross, Jr. start to warm up in the bullpen, and one of the ESPN announcers suggested that it was to dissuade the Yankees from pinch-hitting Brian McCann. Pretty cool move.
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
The whole crew. Minus Brock (I think) and the young'ns. (Andy Marlin/USA TODAY Sports)
I thought I’d give all you diehards out there a little treat after an off day to get you amped for the upcoming series against the Yankees. That’s right, it’s a player-by-player breakdown of the infielders on a 47-win team! Boy, are you lucky.
The plan, going into 2015, was to have an offense-first 1st baseman (Mike Napoli), a four-time Gold Glove winner and career .300 hitter at 2nd base (Dustin Pedroia), a free-swinging, pretty-good-defensively 3rd baseman (Pablo Sandoval), and an unproven but clearly talented commodity at shortstop (Xander Bogaerts) playing on the dirt. Of course, this hasn’t gone entirely according to the script. Pedroia’s been held back by nagging injuries (he’s currently on the DL), Sandoval’s continued his offensive regression and started a defensive one, Napoli’s having the worst offensive season of his career by a country mile, and Xander – well, Xander’s been great, actually. But, obviously, it hasn’t been enough. Oh, and there’s also an All-Star by the name of Brock Holt who’s been hanging around.
(AP Photo)
Mike Napoli
On April 5: Despite amassing 500 plate appearances, Nap was never fully healthy in 2014, battling a slew of injuries that kept him from performing at a high level. Combine that with the fact that the dude hadn’t dreamt in EIGHT YEARS due to his sleep apnea, and it’s no surprise that he had his lowest OPS since 2010 (.789) and a career low slugging percentage (.419). Thanks to a few surgeries, Napoli finally looks to be healthy entering the season. He’s dreaming with regularity, has ten straight fingers, and is lifting weights without feeling like he wants to die afterwards. He slugged 6 homers this spring, and I expect him to continue to rake once the season starts. – Righty
On August 3: I think it’s safe to say that dreams haven’t helped Napoli’s performance. I’d hazard a guess that he’s had nothing but nightmares since his apnea was cured. Yeah, last year’s slugging percentage was a career low at .419, but he’s sitting at a robust .386 in 2015. Decent, if not excellent months in May and July are framed by putrid offensive stretches in April and June. When he leads off an inning, he’s 6 for 64 on the season. Napoli’s struck out 30 times to end an inning and gone down immediately to fiddle with his shoes or his shin guard or whatever it is. There’s no nice way to talk around it. He’s been a complete black hole in the lineup.
And yet, even though he’s spent the entirety of 2015 dancing under and over the Mendoza line, he’s still played in 95 games as John Farrell has let him attempt to work himself out of the slump. It hasn’t worked. On the defensive side, Napoli leads the American League in both Total Zone Runs at 1B (good) and errors (bad). The Sox weren’t able to move him at the deadline for anything. His contract, which he certainly didn’t live up to ($32 million over two years) expires at the end of the year, and it would be a surprise to see him return.
(John Angelillo/UPI)
Dustin Pedroia
On April 5: Pedey might quietly be one of the keys to the Red Sox 2015 campaign (the rotation obviously being the other). Similar to Napoli, Pedroia was bothered by a nagging injury last year (wrist) that had given him problems in the past, and required off-season surgery to fix. 2014 saw Dustin post career lows in almost every major offensive category. The wrist sapped his power and really hampered his ability to turn on inside pitches and keep them fair (the ones he did turn on, he hooked foul). If he can return to form and hold down the 2-hole, this Sox lineup will be downright scary. He’s been talking shit to Shaughnessy (and anyone else who will listen) about how great he’s going to be this year. Good sign. And of course, Pedey will play Gold Glove defense, sacrifice his body, and make you say “wow” almost nightly. – Righty
On August 3: If Pedroia was to be one of the keys to the Red Sox’ season, it’s no surprise that he’s been hurt, because this team stinks. When he’s been available, he’s been performing well on defense and hitting about as well as he did in 2013. He’s stopped running almost entirely, but he’s 31 now and has been caught as many times as he’s been successful from 2014-2015. His home/away splits are glaring: he’s hitting .361/.421/.519 at Fenway and .229/.288/.353 on the road. And as he goes, so goes the team. In wins: .369/.423/.500. In losses: .232/.296/.376. But anyway you splice it or split it, it’s just been a depressing year. Make me feel better Dustin.
Thanks. That helped.
(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Pablo Sandoval
On April 5: Everyone knows the story here. His OPS has fallen for three straight years, but he still brings the noise in the playoffs, having won a WS ring in two of those three years of decline. Sox are hoping for a return to form offensively (seems like we’ve found a common theme amongst these infielders) for the big man who’s a surprisingly good defender at the hot corner. Cherington is hoping the next 2-3 years of production justify the money guaranteed to a hefty man seemingly already in decline. The Kung Fu Panda is sure to be a fan favorite, so be prepared to bear (get it?) with lots of kids wearing panda hats. I’m sure John Henry has some promotion in mind featuring the Fenway green paint and bamboo. Or something, I don’t know, I’m not Jackie Moon, you come up with something better. – Righty
On August 3: Well, Sandoval’s OPS has continued to fall in 2015. It’s at a measly .683, which is lower than Mike Napoli’s (.692), who’s batting .207. TWO OH SEVEN. In terms of WAR, he’s the worst regular hitter on the team, and he’s only performing marginally better than Rick Porcello and Joe Kelly. So that should give you some idea of what we’re dealing with here.
The free swinging thing isn’t just infuriating to watch, it’s been a statistically bad approach. If he makes contact on that first pitch he sees, great, he’s hitting .347 and slugging .612. But if he doesn’t, in 184 plate appearances after he’s down 0-1, he’s slashing a terrible .219/.239/.264. Whereas if he takes a ball, he’s hitting .286/.375/.455 in 128 plate appearances. Sure, Sandoval has been good when he makes contact on the first pitch. But the advantage gained isn’t worth the disadvantage he’s at when he’s down 0-1. Situations after the count is at 1-1 aren’t much better (.223/.254/.286 in 112 plate appearances). Unfortunately, leopards (pandas?) don’t usually change their spots on stuff like this. And the Red Sox are tied up in a bad contract for this Panda’s services ($72.4 million over the next four years).
(OutsidePitchMLB.com)
Xander Bogaerts
On April 5: After being a vital piece of the Sox 2013 playoff and World Series run, it was a rough 2014 campaign for the X-man. He showed flashes of brilliance, especially towards the end of the season (encouraging), but overall he posted meager offensive numbers while playing subpar defense. Not a winning combination, especially given the importance of his position to the team’s overall defense. HOWEVER. Given the strength of the starting 9, Xander should slot in around #7 in the order, taking a lot of pressure off his shoulders. Something would have to go terribly wrong for Bogaerts to not post significantly better offensive numbers. More cause for optimism: he’s still just 22, and reports out of the Fort cite Xander’s improved first step, range, and overall defensive instincts. This should make the Red Sox groundball-happy pitching staff smile. – Righty
On August 3: 11th-best batting average in baseball at .319. He’s tied for the AL lead in singles, with 95. 7th in MLB with 123 hits. And all this while Farrell wasted him in the 6, 7, and 8 spots in the lineup for 53 games. Since moving to the 3-spot, he’s hitting .347/.359/.419. He still doesn’t walk, and he doesn’t hit home runs, but this is one guy whose approach I wouldn’t want to mess with right now. And, of course, he’s gotten a well-deserved reputation for hitting with runners in scoring position, slashing .391/.391/.529 with men on 2nd or 3rd (with 6 doubles and 3 triples).
Defensively, he’s come a long way from a year ago, when he was 2nd in the AL with 20 errors. He’s 3rd in range factor per game (putouts + assists / games played) among AL shortstops, and 3rd in fielding percentage as well. He looks miles more confident, and he’s been an absolute rock up the middle with Pedroia missing significant time.
(ABCNews.com)
Brock Holt
On April 5: Everyone’s favorite Matt Damon lookalike. The consummate professional (utility) player. A sparkplug. A dynamo. Did you know he finished 8th in Rookie of the Year voting last year?? Probably not, but you do now! It’s natural to expect a regression from the Brock Star, as he showed signs of slowing down even before his injury in September. Inconsistent playing time and competing for at-bats with not only the Sox’ starters, but also their stacked bench, will make it difficult for him to duplicate last year’s early-season success. But a trade of Craig/Nava/Victorino could help him get more consistent reps. I don’t see the Sox moving their most versatile bench player. – Righty
On August 3: If you claim to have thought that Brock Holt was going to be an All-Star in 2015, I’m sorry, but you’re a liar. Even if you thought he’d have enough production, he had to compete with too many other bats on this team. But Allen Craig was (okay, predictably) terrible, Daniel Nava was (less predictably, but equally) terrible, and Shane Victorino got hurt twice, only playing 33 games for Boston before being traded to the Angels before the deadline. So Brock got his share of outfield run in the early going, and allowed Farrell to give literally anyone a day off in the infield. And Pedroia’s only played 6 games since June 24, so Holt’s slotted in at second base since then.
Games by position: 33 at 2B, 16 in RF, 14 at 3B (when Sandoval hit the DL), 8 in LF, 7 at 1B, 7 at SS, 2 in CF. The guy is incredible. He’s hitting .284, has walked 33 times, and has 23 extra base hits on the year. Brock’s problem is a habit of fading as the season progresses. He’s only hit 2 doubles (and no triples or HRs) since the end of June, and his career OPS averages in July (.672), August (.546), and September (.628) aren’t impressive. He needs to break out of that pattern this year to change the story.
(Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Josh Rutledge
On April 5: In Anaheim.
On August 3: Rutledge is the return the Sox got for Shane Victorino and cash. I don’t know anything about him other than his pretty good fantasy baseball year in 73 games in 2012 (.775 OPS). He followed that up with a much lower quality performance in 88 games in 2013 (.630) and a slight return to form in 105 games in 2014 (.728). He was traded to the Angels in the offseason and spent 2015 slashing .274/.323/.403 in AAA. He’s played 3 games at third base for the Sox so far, and I’m sure the best is yet to come with him, but I’m not sure how good that is. Probably pretty middling.
(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
Travis Shaw
On April 5: In Pawtucket.
On August 3: Shaw has also spent most of his year in AAA, where he hasn’t been very good (.249/.318/.356). He wasn’t very memorable in his spring call-ups to Boston either, failing to record a hit in 10 plate appearances over 6 games. But on July 7th, he went 3 for 4, and on August 1st, he went 4-4 with 2 home runs. So maybe Shaw still has something to show. He can play both first and third base, and the Sox are weak at both corner spots, so the opportunity is there.
