Patriots’ Day: Sox Win in Rain-Shortened Affair

Posted on April 21, 2015 in Game Recap

Patriots’ Day is always one of the best days of the year in Boston, and while the weather didn’t cooperate for the spectators, I’m sure a lot of the Marathon runners were happy that it was cool and wet. As one participant pointed out, it was huge step up from the sub-30 temperatures and snow that defined their training leading up to the race.

The Red Sox jumped out to a 5-1 lead and would go on to win by a score of 7-1 in seven soggy innings. I don’t think anyone involved was too upset when this one was called.

Masterson pitched pretty well, going 5 innings, surrendering 1 run on 3 hits, walking 3 and striking out 6. He looked very hittable at times. All the Orioles hits went for extra bases, but he was able to limit the damage with timely strikeouts.

On offense the Sox were once again the benefactors of some sloppy defense. The Birds committed three errors, two of which were on run-scoring plays, with the other leading to a run on the next play. One of the errors was committed by Gold Glover Manny Machado. It seems like the Red Sox have gotten unusually lucky in this department so far. If I wasn’t so late posting this blog, I’d look up how many errors have been committed against them, as compared to the rest of the league. I think they have to be near the top. This will most likely even out over the course of the season; if this team is going to be a serious contender, the bats need to come alive. Just look at these batting averages:

Boston AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Betts, CF 4 2 1 0 0 0 3 .196
Pedroia, 2B 3 1 2 1 0 1 1 .280
Ortiz, D, DH 2 0 0 1 1 0 4 .220
Ramirez, H, LF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250
Craig, LF 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 .133
Napoli, 1B 2 0 0 1 2 0 2 .136
Victorino, RF 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .133
Holt, B, 3B 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 .462
Bogaerts, SS 2 1 0 0 1 0 3 .319
Hanigan, C 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 .160
Totals 22 7 5 4 6 3 16 .239

Pretty gross, especially since this is supposed to be the strength of the 2015 squad. That also doesn’t look like the box score of a team that scored seven runs (except for the run column saying that they scored seven runs).

Ryan Hanigan had a good day, reaching base safely in all three plate appearances, singling and getting hit twice, once on the kneecap. Dude has really gotten beat up this season, taking a couple foul balls directly to the hand while catching, and now getting hit twice in the same game.

Allen Craig had a solid RBI single up the middle and drew a walk. It was encouraging to see him square one up, especially since he was playing because Hanley Ramirez had to leave the game in the 3rd inning due to sickness. Hopefully it’s a 24 hour bug or something, but Craig, Nava, and Holt are all more than capable to fill in in the mean time.

Notes:

-I didn’t get to watch any of this one with the sound on so I unfortunately have no Don and Jerry highlights to report. But I imagine there were a few. Maybe something about how Don would have to wear a diaper to run the Marathon because he couldn’t go 5 hours without peeing?

–Pedroia has been pretty consistent so far in the young season. He collected two hits on Monday, including his 3rd double of the year. He’s already struck out 10 times, which is unusually high for the little guy. Something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

-Someone once said that Lavarnway sounds like it should be a stop on the Green Line. I can’t remember where I first heard this, but it is the truest sentence I have ever heard. Lefty thinks this could be it, but I’m pretty sure Olbermann stole this from the comment section of an article that I read around the same time.

We may never know the answer to this question.

 

A Losing Streak? Oh Nooooo

Posted on April 20, 2015 in Game Recap

This is really the first lazy Sunday I’ve had watching the Sox this year. We had Porcello on the mound for the 1:35 start and…I haven’t been Rick’s biggest fan so far. I’m not a fan of the contract, I’m not that impressed with his stuff. There’s still obviously time for me to be wrong, but he seems pretty average. Today didn’t help his case.

After a slick play by Brock Holt (playing second base for a resting Dustin Pedroia), who charged a slow roller and made a quick transition to his throwing hand to get the out at first, Porcello gave up a single to Jimmy Paredes (Jimmy Walls!) and a massive home run over the Monster by Adam Jones.

The sinker comes in high (as pointed out by sports genius Liam Bevans) and flat and oh-so-hittable, and there was pretty much no chance that Jones wasn’t putting it over the fence.

In the bottom half, Brock Holt led off instead of Mookie (possibly to avoid a lefty-lefty combo with Ortiz, as Jerry said, but more likely just because Brock is hitting better) and got on board with a single up the middle. After a fly out by Mookie, Papi drew a walk, but only after an appeal down to third base umpire Jerry Meals on the first apparent ball four (called strike two). Papi was halfway down to first and not impressed with the call, pretty actively showing up Meals on his way back to the batter’s box. THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER.

The next pitch was the first one that Hanley saw on the day, and he made it count, sending it to left field for a home run to take a one-run lead just as quickly as the Sox had fallen behind. The O’s pitcher, Miguel Gonzalez, struggled a bit more in the inning, walking both Sandoval and Victorino, but eventually got out of the 1st by striking out an overeager Xander Bogaerts.

Porcello started the next inning strong, if a bit cautiously, striking out both Travis Snider and Manny Machado. But on the third pitch to Ryan Flaherty (in for the injured Jonathan Schoop), he left another sinker up in the zone and Flaherty drove it all the way to that little green triangle below the flagpole for another home run.

After a mildly settled period for Porcello in the 3rd and beginning of the 4th, the wheels started to come off in earnest. At one point, out of nine consecutive batters faced, seven got either a single or a walk off of Porcello (this sequence also included a possible double play and eventual fielder’s choice that Holt, much as I love the guy, couldn’t get the ball out of his hand in time to start). Two runs scored in the 5th because of the preponderance of baserunners. And the wheels were officially replaced with cinder blocks when Porcello led off the 6th with this sequence: hit by pitch, single, single (bases loaded), bases-clearing double by Adam Jones. Another meatball. I was actively pissed off at this point. I’m pretty sure I yelled, “Get him the hell out of there!” at the TV. That’ll show him.

Just before this, in the bottom of the 5th, Ortiz was tossed for arguing balls and strikes yet again, and again with third base umpire Jerry Meals, who gave Ortiz strike two for going around. Words were said. Fists were shaken. Hands were put on hips. And finally, the home plate empire tossed Big Papi and got away from the big man as quickly and with as much dignity as he could muster. Daniel Nava came in to finish the at-bat from Ortiz’s 1-2 count and quickly grounded out.

The rest of the game was characterized by solid bullpen work by both teams. Starting in the sixth inning, the Red Sox batted 1-14 the rest of the way. The only baserunner was Pablo Sandoval, who got on with a two-out double in the 8th. Really, not much happened.

And okay, I was mostly watching the Celtics because a. it’s the playoffs b. I’m a bigger Celtics fan anyway? Gigi Datome needs to be brought in to shoot the lights out. But anyway, I had the Sox game streaming online on a computer, don’t worry. Totally engrossed in it. All in all, hopefully a start that Porcello can build from. But I can’t say I’m crazy optimistic. Clay has just gotta put his ace game together. I’m sure he will, and we’ll have three starting pitchers on All-Star team. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST.

Sox Drop One to the O’s, but Don and Jerry Are in Mid-Season Form

Posted on April 19, 2015 in Game Recap

Gary!

The Red Sox fell 4-1 to the Orioles in a low-scoring and slow-moving game on Saturday afternoon in the Fens. Clay Buchholz squared off against the O’s de facto ace Chris Tillman. Both pitched well enough, but neither was particularly sharp, resulting in a lot of three-ball counts (but only three walks between the two starters) and neither man making it past the 6th inning.

The old cliché would say that Buchholz “scattered” 11 hits (yes, eleven) over 6 innings, since he only yielded two runs, but that’s not what happened. Eight of the eleven came in the 4th and 5th innings. Clay gave up five hits to the first six batters of the 4th, surrendering two runs before striking out De Aza and Pearce to leave the bases loaded. In the 5th he gave up three straight singles to load the bases, got Manny Machado to ground into a 3-2-3 twin killing, walked Caleb Joseph to reload the bases, then struck out Ryan Flaherty to end the frame. I could use another cliché and tell you that Buchholz “worked out of trouble” in the aforementioned innings; this is accurate but I feel like it doesn’t do the situation justice. This was more like a 5-year-old doing his best Basquiat impression on the dining room wall, getting caught, getting a half-hearted admonition from a disinterested parent, then turning around and finishing his masterpiece just seven minutes later.

I was really encouraged by this performance by Buchholz. While he was sharp at times, he clearly didn’t have his best stuff today. He was able to battle through anyway and turned in a quality start, walking only 1 and striking out 7. This is a huge step forward from the disaster in the Bronx last week.

Offensive highlights:

There were really only two.

1) Brock Holt – Batting leadoff and playing centerfield, Holt went 3 for 4 with a stolen base, raising his average to .579.

2) David Ortiz – Went 3 for 3 with a double and a walk, scoring the only run of the evening for the Sox. His first hit was off the Monster but De Aza played it perfectly, throwing Papi out trying to reach second.

Napoli strung together a couple good ABs, lining out after nine pitches in the 4th, then singling hard up the middle in the 6th. This is more of a silver lining than a highlight.

Tillman has had the Sox’ number over the years. He had a career ERA of 2.69 against Boston coming into this game, and that number is obviously smaller now.

Notes:

–Pedey had a rough day, leaving a handful of runners on. In the 3rd he grounded out on a soft dribbler to Machado with runners on the corners to end the inning. However, Machado may be one of only three or four guys in league who make that play.

-Gary Striewski has really grown on me, he’s good at balancing being personable and professional. I still miss ex-flames Jenny Dell and Heidi Watney though.Jenny DellFullSizeRender

-The real Red Sox highlight in this one was Jerry Remy explaining the sea breeze to Don Orsillo. Orsillo thought the reason the breeze was cold was because it originated in Canada. This eventually led to Don and Jerry being very smudge about the fact that they have their broadcast booth closed, while everyone else was exposed to the cold breeze.

-Adam Jones is really dialed in, getting hits on a fastball, a curveball, and a cutter. He’s hitting close to .500 in his last six games.

-One of the hits Buchholz gave up was a fly ball that Hanley dropped in left. It was ruled a hit because he was right up against the Monster, and and his glove might’ve hit the wall before the ball got there, but it was a really catchable ball that bounced off the heel of his glove. It loaded the bases with 0 outs. The similarities to Manny continue.

-This was the second straight outing Robbie Ross Jr. has given up a 2-run homer. Ross served up a center-cut fastball on a 3-1 count to Crush Davis, who smacked it over the Monster.

Orioles Get Bogaerted

Posted on April 18, 2015 in Game Recap

We’ve had home games all week, but today was the first day that I’d really had to deal with Sox traffic on the T. I’d kinda forgotten how much it stinks. I can’t wait until it’s 90 degrees outside in late July on top of the congestion. I ended up with my right arm pressed up against this chubby dude’s back, trying to read my book (in a really boring part right now, so not even a good distraction) while actively sweating and trying to push the train towards Kenmore by sheer force of will. Needless to say, it took like a full twenty-plus minutes to get to Kenmore from South Station. FEEL THE EXCITEMENT.

Anyway, THE GAME. Joe Kelly was on the mound for the Sox, and he looked decently sharp, but his command was juuuust off enough to be a problem, as he racked up 118 pitches in 5 and 2/3 innings. The kid obviously throws gas, yeah, but he doesn’t have a real out pitch. Not yet anyway.

On the other side, the Orioles had Ubaldo Jiménez, he of the mercurial performance. Both pitchers had 1-2-3 innings in the first, including a beautiful full-count two-seam fastball on the outside edge by Jiménez that completely fooled Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia was shocked – I don’t think he believed that the ball could’ve come back into the zone.

After striking out Adam Jones with his own brand of fastball on the outside edge, Kelly gave up a wall-ball double off the Green Monster to Chris Davis, but he had a little help from Hanley Ramirez in getting to second.

Tough look. For now, let’s chalk it up to an adjustment period for Hanley. But having the last name “Ramirez” and a tenuous grasp on how to play left field at Fenway is definitely gonna get you some jokes tossed in your direction, Hanley. Head on a swivel.

Kelly eventually got out of what turned into a 1st-and-3rd situation with 2 outs by striking out Everth Cabrera with gas thrown off the plate to the outside. In the bottom half of the 2nd, Sandoval worked a walk, setting the stage for a curiously important play. The next batter, Napoli, grounded into what probably wouldn’t have been an inning-ending double play anyway, but especially not after an ambitious takeout slide by Sandoval, who plowed directly through Orioles’ second baseman Jonathan Schoop’s legs.

He was fully touching the bag for sure, and Righty thinks he had a chance to be safe at second if he’d just gone for the base instead of the takeout. In any case, it went down as a fielder’s choice, and the inning ended two batters later as Bogaerts grounded out hard to Manny Machado at third base, who ran ahead to touch the base himself.

Bogaerts made a terrific play to start off the top of the third and keep Kelly happy, diving to his right and making an iffy one-hop throw (with a great stretch from Napoli) to rob Schoop of a single. Around this time, Don and Jerry were making a real hard sell on some $300 million lottery jackpot. This quickly became a discussion about what you would do with $300 million. Don made a crack about never seeing Jerry again if Jerry were to win the jackpot, and then things got very serious and Jerry seemed mildly offended that Don assumed he would ever leave his job at NESN. It was kind of weird.

In the top of the 4th, Kelly gave up back-to-back singles, with Travis Snider advancing to third on Adam Jones’ hit. The next batter, Davis, hit into a double play (4-6-3) but the runner scored, making it 1-0. With two outs in the next inning, Jiménez plunked Sandoval and was IMMEDIATELY ejected.

The ejection was probably the right move, assuming that it was retaliation for the Sandoval takeout slide on Schoop. But it was also still one of the quicker hooks I’ve ever seen. I was shocked until Jerry brought the takeout slide to the attention of viewers with diminished memory skills (me). For what it’s worth, I don’t think Sandoval meant for the takeout slide to be a dirty play in any way – he even gave Schoop a gentleman’s butt pat after he was forced out at second on another fielder’s choice by Napoli to end the inning. It looked like Schoop ignored it, but hey, what can you do?

To lead off the 5th inning, Kelly got ahead of Baltimore catcher Caleb Joseph 0-2, but on a pitch intended to be outside, he left it over the plate. Joseph sliced it down the line towards the Pesky Pole and over the outstretched arm of Shane Victorino to double the lead to 2-0. The next 3 Orioles went down in order.

In the bottom half, Bogaerts hit another screamer down the third base line, but this one skipped over the base and careened off the wall into short left, getting Bogaerts to 1st with one out. Ryan Hanigan, who struck out looking in his other two at-bats on the night from the 9-hole, took advantage.

With the score now knotted at two thanks to Hanigan’s golf shot to left, the Orioles led off the inning with a line shot by Steve Pearce into Dustin Pedroia’s shift-aided glove…but Pedroia dropped it. Did the shift throw him off? Possibly, but it’s his second error in the first ten games of the season. Hopefully it doesn’t become something to really worry about. Three batters later, Kelly was pulled after his 118th pitch of the night and Edward Mujica came in to strike out Manny Machado and end the threat.

This is getting way too long again because I am a long-winded…windbag. So 7TH-9TH INNING LIGHTNING ROUND!:

  • Hanigan threw too high to catch a stealing Everth Cabrera (it looked like he cocked his arm back too far, according to Righty) and was visibly pissed about it. Fortunately, Cabrera was stranded at second.
  • Junichi Tazawa came in and performed dominantly, striking out both Travis Snider and Adam Jones with nasty splitters. Hanigan had to block both third strikes after they bounced off the dirt and throw the runners out at first.
  • Uehara looked equally dominant in the 9th, going 1-2-3 with two strikeouts himself.

Okay. BOTTOM OF THE NINTH. Napoli started out the inning by walking on four pitches.

Nava, who replaced Pedroia in the 6th inning, then laid down, frankly, a pretty bad bunt to the 1st base side. Steve Pearce had a legitimate chance to get Napoli at second. Instead, he hesitated and elected to toss over to 1st for the easy out. Two pitches later, Bogaerts slapped a bloop to right field and Napoli, depending on your point of view, either took a crazy chance or had an unbelievable read on the ball. He booked it towards third base virtually on contact, and scored the winning run fairly easily ahead of the throw from right.

Sorry this is so long. Bogaerts is hitting pretty well, huh? We even won this one without any contributions from Brock Holt! What are the odds? The end.