Red Sox Take Second Straight From A’s

Posted on June 7, 2015 in Game Recap
A swing of beauty (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

A swing of beauty (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

This game started out eerily similar to the horrible, no good, very bad game against the Twins on Thursday. The Red Sox jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a Brock Holt! single and a Hanley Ramirez homer.

This was a real dead-center job. The pitch came in straight down the middle, and Hanley sent it back out to straightaway center. After spending all of yesterday in basepath purgatory, it was good to see Brock finally reach the promised land. Happy Brock Holt!

(Boston Herald/Matt Stone)

(Boston Herald/Matt Stone)

The Sox would add two more in the bottom of the 3rd thanks to a Hanley single, a Papi double, and a Napoli single. That would make the score 4-1 and unfortunately that would account for all of the scoring done by the hometown nine. It seems like the Sox can’t score more than four in games they win. A quick check of their recent game scores says that’s only somewhat true but that’s the way I feel so you can’t tell me I’m wrong.

Unlike Thursday, this one didn’t fall apart for Boston and that was thanks in large part to Joe Kelly. The man was pitching for his job as a starter and he came through.

Pitchers IP  H  R ER BB SO HR ERA
Kelly (W, 2-4) 6.0 4 1 1 2 6 0 5.40

He wasn’t Pedro in ’99 but he was effective, and has made John Farrell’s job of trimming the starting staff down to 5 a lot more difficult. John is essentially choosing between Kelly and Steven Wright, with one keeping his spot in the rotation, while the other will most likely be moved to the bullpen. Wright has been rock solid as a starter, and gave the rotation some stability and consistency when it needed it the most. Kelly has been up and down, but has been generally trending in the right direction over his last five starts. This is going to be a tough call. Wright has been in the bullpen before and would have a much easier time making the transition back to the pen. On the other hand, Kelly has the potential to be an extremely valuable reliever. The guy throws 98 consistently as a starter, if he was only going out there for an inning he’d be able to let loose with his fastball and simplify his approach.

But Righty, is there any precedent for a guy with a power arm and incredible raw stuff making the transition from a “tantalizing potential” starter to an effective reliever? Why, yes I’m glad you asked. Remember Andrew Miller? He made the exact same transition for the Sox a few years back. And while it’s tough to see him posting a 1.08 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP in a Yankee uniform this season, remember that he’s the guy they traded for Eduardo Rodriguez. That one is sitting pretty well with me right now.

Notes:

-If you had told me a month ago that Farrell would have a tough decision to make involving two starters who were pitching effectively I would’ve thought there was a trade involved. Or El Tiante came out of retirement.

-It was good to see Koji have a quick 1-2-3 inning after a string of shaky performances.

-There were a lot of positives to take away from this game, but I think the most encouraging sign was that the middle of the lineup was able to get the job done. Hanley, Papi and Napoli combined to go 6 for 12 with 4 RBIs. We’re going to need a lot more performances like this if the offense is going to resemble the juggernaut that was promised in the offseason.

 

Red Sox Win, Brock Holt Never Finds His Way Home

Posted on June 6, 2015 in Game Recap

Graceful stuff as always from Brock. (Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

I’ll just start this off with a note that baseball is completely unimportant compared to the reality of a woman receiving life-threatening injuries from a broken bat at Fenway Park yesterday [link contains graphic video and picture]. Our thoughts are with her.

Wade Miley got the start and took advantage of the opportunity, lowering his ERA to 4.67 by the end of the day. Respectable! In practice, his first three (perfect) innings took the form of nine consecutive outs, all of them either strikeouts or groundouts. The Red Sox’ offense, meanwhile, got to work immediately, offering a Pedroia single and a Brock Holt RBI double to start things off in the 1st.

Brock Holt Gets Stranded at Second Base, Part 1

Poor Brock. He was on second with no outs. He must’ve been thinking he’d at least get moved over to third, right? Not so. Hanley struck out on a ball right down the middle, Napoli struck out on a ball that literally bounced off home plate, and Bogaerts grounded out to end the inning. Very sad stuff. 5/5 Sad Brock Holts.

Sad Brock HoltSad Brock HoltSad Brock HoltSad Brock HoltSad Brock Holt

 

 

 

 

In the third, the Sox put together another run after back-to-back singles by Rusney Castillo and Pedroia to start things off. Holt avoided a double play by beating out the throw to first, so Ramirez was able to lift a sacrifice fly to right with men on the corners, scoring Castillo. Holt advanced to second on the errant throw home by Josh Reddick.

Brock Holt Gets Stranded at Second Base, Part 2

This one was probably a little less heartbreaking, because it came with 2 outs. But watching the same man fail to get you home twice must’ve been at least a little dispiriting. Napoli flied out to right. 3/5 Sad Brock Holts.

Sad Brock HoltSad Brock HoltSad Brock Holt

 

 

 

 

Miley gave up his first hit of the night to the leadoff man in the 4th, but got a double play and another groundout to end the inning. The offense kept manufacturing runs, taking advantage of a leadoff double by Xander Bogaerts by having Mookie Betts (batting in the 6-hole now) attempt to advance him on a bunt. Not only was it a good bunt, but Bret Lawrie’s throw was off the mark, and Bogaerts would come around to score. The Red Sox led 3-0 at this point.

But Oakland finally got to Miley in the 5th. Nothing too groundbreaking, but it’s just tough to keep a team scoreless in an inning when you give up three singles. To his credit, two of Miley’s six strikeouts on the day came in the 5th as he helped himself to get out of the jam. 3-1, Boston.

The Sox, though, came right back in the bottom half of the inning to erase the damage done, starting with a leadoff double by Pedroia. Brock Holt followed that up by knocking him in with a ground ball to the right side that bounced off the glove of second baseman Eric Sogard (a play that I have no doubt that Pedroia would have made). Hanley struck out immediately after that, so Holt decided to take matters into his own hands on the first pitch to Mike Napoli, stealing second base without a throw, as the catcher, Josh Phegley, had trouble getting a handle on the pitch from Scott Kazmir.

Brock Holt Gets Stranded at Second Base, Part 3 (3rd Base Edition)

Last chance, Nap. With a 3-2 count, he nubbed it to the left side of the mound, and Kazmir nearly threw it away, but Mark Canha made a really nice scoop for the out. Holt, though there were now two outs, had advanced to third, and he couldn’t be too disappointed in Napoli. But after a walk by Bogaerts and a pitching change (to Fernando Rodriguez), the pressure was on. And Mookie Betts couldn’t handle it, striking out swinging to end the inning. Maybe it wasn’t this particular chance that had Brock so down in the dumps – the guys had done a good job getting him over to third base. But a man can only take so much disappointment. 4/5 Sad Brock Holts.

Sad Brock HoltSad Brock HoltSad Brock HoltSad Brock Holt

 

 

 

 

What else happened in this one?

  • Bret Lawrie hit a solo shot off Miley, who ended up going 7 1/3 and giving up 2 runs. Good stuff Wade!
  • The switch-pitcher, Pat Venditte, came in for the A’s and went two scoreless innings, only giving up a single to Hanley Ramirez.

  • Junichi Tazawa came in to get the last two outs of the 8th, solid as usual.
  • Koji Uehara had a dicey outing, giving up an infield single and a two-out double. Mark Canha had a chance to drive in both runners, but flew out to left to end the game.

1/1 Happy Brock Holts!

(Boston Herald/Matt Stone)

(Boston Herald/Matt Stone)

Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Game

Posted on June 5, 2015 in Game Recap
"I wish I was faster" (Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

“I wish I was faster” (Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

This one had so much promise. The bats came alive. They jumped out to a lead. They hit with men in scoring position. They hit with two out. Wright was pitching well. They outhit the Twins 12-11. But they committed 3 errors. They ran into 4 outs on the bases. Koji got tagged and didn’t record an out.

I really don’t want to write what happened. I drew some pictures after the game and calmed down, and now I’m gonna get myself all riled up again. But I’ll do it for you, the fans. Here’s how it went down:

Mookie doubled to lead off the 2nd, Pedey walked with two outs, Hanley had an infield single, Papi reached on an error, and Napoli reached on an infield single. 2-0, Red Sox.

In the bottom of the 3rd, Blake Swihart hit his first major league homer!

In the bottom of the 4th, Pedroia went la luna! It was his eighth of the year, already surpassing last year’s total of seven. Not to toot my own horn, but I sort of called this back in our roster breakdown post. 4-0, Sox.

I’d say that this was the point where the wheels came off, but a wheel-less wagon probably would’ve been more stable and in control than the Red Sox were in the late innings.

In the top of the 5th, Steven Wright had one of those innings that knuckleballers tend to have once every outing, or every other outing if they’re pitching well. A couple of singles followed by a 3-run homer by Torii Hunter. That’s gonna happen. Sox were still up 4-3.

In the top of the 6th, Wright got the first two men without throwing a ball. The third batter, Eduardo Escobar, grounded to third on an 0-1 pitch, but Sandoval threw it away. Escobar went to second. The next batter, Kurt Suzuki, singled him home to tie the game at 4.

In the bottom of the 7th, Hanley singled, Papi fisted a little infield popup, and Escobar’s only play was at first, so Hanley was at 2nd with one out. The next batter was Napoli, who hit a grounder to third. Hanley inexplicably tried to advance and Trevor Plouffe tagged him out. And wouldn’t you know, the next batter, Xander Bogaerts, hit a liner in the gap. With two outs, Hanley would’ve scored easily had he stayed put at second. That was frustrating. Even worse, Napoli was off with the pitch and tried to score from first but was thrown out by 15 feet, ending the inning.

So the game was tied at 4 heading into the top of the 9th. Koji gave up back-to-back singles to start the inning, which brought Joe Mauer to the plate with two men on and no one out. Joe Handsome squared around to sacrifice. Swihart pounced on it immediately and threw to third (which was the right play, the bunt went almost nowhere). The throw was a little low and it went through Sandoval’s wickets. Panda absolutely should’ve caught it; he now has 7 errors on the season. He should’ve stretched for it like a first baseman instead of trying to field it like it was a grounder. The go-ahead run came around to score and the floodgates would open. Uehara would be lifted without recording an out, and before the third out was recorded, the score was 8-4 Minnesota.

The Red Sox went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th and that was that. Given how well this one started, this game left an especially bad taste in my mouth. Like drinking some OJ right after I brushed my teeth.

TWELVE HITS! 3-9 with RISP! If they didn’t play defense and run the bases like a bunch of drunk Little Leaguers this would’ve been an easy win. It seems like they can’t get everything going at once. First the pitching was the problem, then it was the hitting. Today it was defense, baserunning, and the bullpen (kind of the baseball equivalent of special teams). Let’s hope they put it all together soon.

Notes:

-A tough game for the big guys. Sandoval had the aforementioned errors, and he and Ortiz combined to go 0 for 9 with six men left on base.

-Another incredible play by Brian Dozier. On Tuesday night he made a superman stop on a grounder. Yesterday afternoon it was a superman dive on a tailing Mookie Betts liner. He’s real fun to watch.

-Don and Jerry had a nice little bit where they made fun of Dice-K and his elusive (i.e. non-existent) gyroball.

-Hey look! Sunset made another great play in the field.

Sox Win First Game of Doubleheader; Everyone Too Tired to Really Try in Second Game

Posted on June 4, 2015 in Game Recap

Don Orsillo might love lamp more than Brick.

The First Game

Eduardo Rodriguez was on the mound in the the first game yesterday, and he continued to deal, going 7 innings with 7 strikeouts, 2 hits, and 2 walks. The only run he’s surrendered so far in the big leagues came on a 3rd inning Brian Dozier solo home run over the Green Monster, a line drive just a foot right of the foul pole. It came with two outs, and Rodriguez missed his spot, taking a would-be outside fastball inside, and Dozier cleaned it out.

But why focus on the negative? Now that that’s out of the way, I can tell you that the Sox were a healthy 3 for 10 with runners in scoring position in this one, getting four runs out of those three hits. What a difference mild competence makes, huh?

In the 3rd, and with the score knotted at 1 after Dozier’s blast, Pedroia singled and stole second, but was sent back to first after Mookie Betts was ruled to have interfered with the catcher’s throw. Ortiz came up to the plate and hit his second double of the night, but Pedroia was unable to score from first this time (as he had in the 1st inning), and so the runners were at 2nd and 3rd for Hanley Ramirez. He went with an outside fastball to right field, scoring Pedroia to give the Sox a one-run lead. And if Napoli couldn’t get Ortiz home from third with one out, well, let’s not get greedy here.

With two outs in the 4th, Pedroia continued to torch Phil Hughes (.390 career batting average against Hughes) with his third single of the game, this one scoring Xander Bogaerts from 2nd to add an insurance run. Bogaerts had gotten there after a single of his own and an iffy (airborne) but ultimately effective sacrifice bunt from Sandy Leon.

Like Pedroia, Bogaerts also had three singles against Hughes in this one. His third hit came after Hanley and Brock Holt had each singled and then executed a double steal, setting up 2 RBIs for Xander. This was enough to get Hughes yanked.

Meanwhile, while the strikeout pace slowed for Rodriguez as the game went on, he continued to flat get batters out, inducing fielder’s choices when runners were on base in the 6th and getting the Twins to go in order in four of his seven innings pitched.

Napoli hit a solo bomb:

And Ogando gave up a two-run shot with two outs in the 9th, but induced a groundout moments later to finish things up. Yaaayyy. Okay, done celebrating? Good. On to the nightcap.

The Second Game

There’s really not much to say. And I’m not just being lazy! Okay, I’m being a little bit lazy.

Trevor May, in by a solid margin his best start of the year, held Boston to two hits and that’s it. He also had 9 strikeouts, matching his season high. The hits were consecutive, and they both came with two outs in the 3rd inning: a single by Carlos Peguero and a double by Dustin Pedroia. Peguero didn’t quite have the legs to get all the way around, so when Brock Holt, batting in the two-hole, grounded out to end the inning, it marked the last time a Red Sox batter would come to the plate with the chance to drive anyone in.

That’s right: 8 up, 8 down. Two on! 19 up, 19 down. No walks. I honestly think that everyone was too impatient to try to draw a walk. May, like Hughes, certainly throws strikes (they’re 5th and 2nd, respectively, in walks allowed this year), and it must’ve been tempting to swing early and often at balls in the strike zone, especially after the Sox’ success earlier in the day against Hughes. For whatever reason though, May (who has been a little sharper than Hughes in 2015) frustrated Boston’s hitters through seven nearly untouchable innings. Boyer and Perkins took over, with similar results, in the final two frames.

Rick Porcello was on the mound for Boston and, like May, he got his mistakes out of the way early. Unfortunately, he just made a few more than May did. He stranded a double in the first, but the second inning – single, double (run), single, safety squeeze (run) – ended up being the difference in this one. He also gave up a single in the 6th, but the runner was erased in a double play to end the inning. After giving up those two runs in the 2nd, though, Porcello saw similar results to May’s: 10 up, 10 down. One on. 8 up, 8 down. But it was all, eventually, for naught. Listen, Porcello was perfectly excellent today. I can’t be upset with him today. So I’m just gonna move on.

For all that the Sox’ offensive EXPLOSION in the afternoon game was great, they’re averaging 2.33 runs per game in the series. Same old, same old.

Notes:

Remy buying Orsillo a lamp is the must-see event of Boston’s season so far. Best entertainment of the year. “So I can’t see the pitcher, which is a slight problem…”: