Tag: mookie betts

RECAP: Hanley Ramirez and Mookie Betts Both Go Yard as #RedSox Win Fourth Straight.

Making a quick stop in South Beach, the Red Sox looked to take advantage of their matchup against a Marlins team not expected to do much this season. In the first of their two game set, Brian Johnson was matched up against Trevor Richards, who was making his Major League debut for Miami.

Like Hector Velazquez, Johnson is most likely an injury fill-in in the Red Sox rotation. The former Florida Gator got the job done on Monday, as he allowed one earned run over six full innings pitched, striking out five along the way. There were times where it looked like the Marlins were about to get to Johnson, since they did reach base eight times on him, but the southpaw avoided any major damage. The only run he gave up came on a solo shot off the bat of third baseman Brian Anderson in the second inning, which put the Marlins up 1-0 at the time. When he departed after retiring the side in the sixth, Johnson had thrown 82 pitches, 49 of which went for strikes.

The Red Sox only needed two relief pitchers to wrap up the win last night. Heath Hembree tossed a scoreless seventh inning, and Marcus Walden allowed two runs to score while pitching the last two innings. Not a great look for Walden, honestly. He has got hit pretty hard in the two games he has pitched in, but he was able to finish the game. The Red Sox did not have to go to Craig Kimbrel in this one, that’s always  a good thing when you can save him for more appearances later in the season.

Offensively, the Red Sox lineup had its best day of the season so far. They scored a season high seven runs on 12 hits and three walks. After Trevor Richards held them scoreless through the first three innings, the bats woke up in the fourth. With two outs in the inning, Xander Bogaerts got the rally started with an infield single down the third base line. Eduardo Nunez then drove Bogaerts in from first on an RBI double. A Jackie Bradley Jr. walk set up Christian Vazquez for an ideal RBI opportunity with runners on first and second. On the first pitch he saw, the catcher ripped a line drive down the third base line, scoring both Nunez and Bradley for his first RBIs of the season.

In the very next inning, the Red Sox tacked on two more runs to up their total to five. With one out and Andrew Benintendi at first thanks to his first hit of the season, Hanley Ramirez did some damage. The former Marlin must enjoy playing in Miami, because he looked really comfortable at the plate and at first base last night.

On a 1-1 slider, Ramirez took Richards deep to left field for his first long ball of the season, putting his team up by four runs.

Ramirez guaranteed a 30 HR, 30 SB season earlier in Spring Training, and he’s only 29 home runs and 28 stolen bases away from that now with the performance he put on last night.

Hanley wouldn’t be the only one to hit his first home run of the year. Fast forward to the top of the seventh, and Mookie Betts went yard to left field as well. He golfed it to put the Red Sox up by five at the time.

The last run the Red Sox scored came two innings later. Wanting to add to his team high of four RBI’s, Rafael Devers ripped a double to center for his second hit of the game, scoring Hanley Ramirez from from second after he stole his second base of the season, and all but guaranteeing the win for his club.

That makes four straight wins for the Red Sox, and by all means they should be 5-0. That’s in the past though, so I’ll take 4-1. Through their first go around in the rotation, Red Sox starters own a line of 30 IP, 22 H, 3 ER, 7 BB, and 28 K’s. With two-fifths of their regular starters missing, those are some impressive numbers.

Chris Sale gets the start an hour earlier than usual tonight. He’ll be squaring off against Marlins “ace” Jose Urena. First pitch is at 6:10 PM.

Also, almost forgot to mention the fact that the greatest Designated Hitter of all time was in attendance for last night’s win.

 

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Mookie Betts Has Priceless Reaction to a Fly Ball Going over His Head in Right Field.

The Red Sox are playing their last spring training game of 2018 today, and ESPN just so happens to be televising it. In the third inning, they stuck a microphone on Mookie Betts and started interviewing him while he was patrolling right field. These have been happening throughout spring training because why not? The games don’t hold any meaning, might as well get something out of them that you really can’t get during the regular season. I believe this Bryce Harper interview during last year’s All-Star Game on FOX is what started this trend:

Now, ESPN is doing it and they got the best position player on the Red Sox to answer some questions. I wasn’t able to watch the whole thing, but I was able to catch the highlight of it.

Kris Bryant slaps a ball to right as Mookie Betts is answering a question, and what ensues is hilarious.

I don’t know what it is, but hearing, “I ain’t getting this one, boys” as Mookie is chasing down a fly ball was funnier than I thought it would be. The moment may provide some insight into what goes through the heads of these athletes as they are chasing down a ball, or it could be Betts knowing he is on camera and making a joke. Either way, we got  a viral moment in the last spring training game of the year. I doubt Major League Baseball would allow these interviews to be conducted during meaningful games, but maybe we will see these occur more next spring training across the league.

The #RedSox Wrapped up Grapefruit League Play Today by Defeating the Twins 6-1.

Although they are not done playing exhibition games, the Red Sox did move one step closer to playing meaningful baseball today, as they defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-1 in their last Grapefruit League game of the spring. They finish Grapefruit League play at 20-8-1.

Like Chris Sale did yesterday, David Price made his final start before the regular season begins today. The lefty tossed three innings of one run ball while facing 12 batters and fanning four of them. The only run he gave up came on a solo shot off the bat of Twins slugger Brian Dozier in the second inning. He’ll be on the mound again next Friday, facing off against the team he began his career with in the Tampa Bay Rays.

Bobby Poyner, Craig Kimbrel, Matt Barnes, and Dedgar Jiminez also got some work in today, and they all combined to throw six shutout innings while only allowing three total runners to reach base.

Offensively, the Red Sox were carried by the top half of the lineup. Mookie Betts, JD Martinez, Hanley Ramirez, and Andrew Benintendi were responsible for all six runs scored. The three home runs the team hit today belong to just Betts (2) and Benintendi. To put it simply, all three were hit far.

As for what’s next, the Red Sox will be hosting the Chicago Cubs over the next two days at Fenway South. After that, it’s an off day, then we finally arrive at Opening Day in St. Pete on Thursday. It took a while, but we are just FOUR days away from meaningful baseball being back in our lives for the next seven months. I’ll make sure to have a season preview out soon.

Mookie Betts Hit His First #RedSox Home Run of 2018 Today.

For Mookie Betts, this spring has been a bit of a struggle at the plate. It’s nothing to worry about, but it is worth noting that entering today, Betts had only collected one hit in his first 19 at bats. Why is a hitter as talented as Betts having a tough go of things? Well, it’s hard to say, but it looks like he may be coming out of this slump, given how good he was today against the Baltimore Orioles. The 25 year-old took to the plate three times today, and reached base all three times, including a solo home run to lead off the first inning.

A line drive over the Fenway South monster is vintage Betts. According to FanGraphs, all but one of the 24 long balls Betts hit last year were hit to left / left-center field. In fact, the only one that wasn’t, was this one:

https://streamable.com/s/o6t7z/cqdzfe

Today was a step in the right direction for Mookie. With 18 days until Opening Day, I’ll be interested to see what he can do to bring up his numbers before the season starts.