Tag: orioles

RECAP: #RedSox defense falters in 5-2 loss to Orioles in series opener.

After feeling pretty good about taking two out of three from the Chicago Cubs, Rick Porcello and the Red Sox were looking to take another series, this time, from the Baltimore Orioles. Porcello got off to a fantastic start, only allowing two hits through the first four innings. The Orioles would get their first run in the first, off an RBI double from Caleb Joseph that scored Jonathan Schoop. Porcello’s day would be over after the sixth, where he gave up a solo home run to Manny Machado. Another quality start from the defending Cy Young Award winner, finishing with a line of 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, and 7 Ks. The pitch count was sort of a problem for Rick, and it started when it took 11 pitches to get leadoff hitter Seth Smith to ground out. Porcello falls to 1-4, his fourth consecutive loss, despite throwing three straight quality starts. It comes as a surprise that the Red Sox aren’t scoring for Porcello, especially since he got a lot of run support last year. Obviously, can’t blame Rick for this loss.

Heath Hembree would come in to relieve Porcello, and he did great in the seventh, getting the Orioles 1-2-3 while striking out two. Things would go downhill for Hembree in the eighth. After walking Seth Smith (who was replaced by Craig Gentry), Adam Jones grounded out to Hembree. Having the chance to turn a double play, Hembree threw the ball towards second base. Unfortunately for Hembree, the ball didn’t find a glove and found its way onto the outfield, allowing Gentry to reach third and Jones to reach first. Manny Machado would come up to bat, and he was able to reach first on a Marco Hernandez fielding error, which also allowed Gentry to score. Mark Trumbo would single to left, and Andrew Benintendi’s error allowed Jones to score and Trumbo would advance to second. Fernando Abad would come in for the Red Sox with one out in the eighth, and got out of the inning, but not before allowing Manny Machado to score on a sac-fly from Chris Davis. So, the Red Sox defense clearly has issues. Ten errors over the past four games is unacceptable, especially for a team that finished fourth in the league in fielding percentage last season. I really think the Red Sox are going to need a third baseman who’s not a defensive liability. I don’t know if that would happen via trade or within the farm system but I do think a change will have to be made soon.

After averaging five runs per game against the Cubs, the Red Sox went back to their usual offensive ways on Monday. Not scoring until the eighth inning, when they were already down 5-0, honestly stinks. Andrew Benintendi has been the most valuable player with the bat, as he leads the Red Sox in just about every offensive statistic besides batting average (Vazquez). It was good to see that Hanley Ramirez finally got a hit after an 0 for 16 slump, even if it was just a bunt single. Other than Leon, I’d say the player to be most worried about offensively is Jackie Bradley Jr. After an 0 for 3 performance (1 BB), Bradley’s batting average now sits at .196. Now, we always knew that Bradley’s bat wasn’t exactly a strength, but it seemed like Bradley put that behind him last year with that massive hitting streak he had. It would not surprise me if Bradley got the day off tomorrow, or maybe even more time off.

13 down, 81 to go.   

Follow @brendan_camp on Twitter

Advertisement

RECAP: Benintendi, Ramirez, Betts help #RedSox avoid sweep; beat Orioles 6-2.

( I’m writing this after the Bruins just lost. So, sorry if that has any effect on this recap.)

The Red Sox were looking to avoid the sweep on Sunday heading into their off day on Monday. Eduardo Rodriguez took the mound, making his first start since coming back from paternity leave. Rodriguez put on a solid performance, not giving up a hit until the fifth inning. Overall, the Venezuelan-born southpaw went seven innings, allowing only the one hit, while walking five and recording seven strikeouts. This performance out of Rodriguez was nice to see, especially after Steven Wright’s disaster of a start Saturday night. The Red Sox bullpen did an okay job in relieving Rodriguez, allowing two runs in 3 innings pitched. The biggest controversy of the game came from reliever Matt Barnes.

In the bottom of the eighth, Manny Machado came to the plate and, not surprisingly, was thrown at by Barnes. Again, I did not find this surprising at all. Going for the head is a bit much, but if Barnes just hit him in the back, it really wouldn’t be that eye-opening. As Barnes and John Farrell were being ejected, the cameras picked up an interesting exchange between Manny Machado and Dustin Pedroia, who was in the Red Sox dugout. Basically, Pedroia said that hitting Machado was not his idea and if it was, it would have happened sooner. We’ll get Pedroia’s postgame comments later.

Back to the game, the top of the Red Sox lineup put on a show on Sunday. Batters 1-2-3, Bogaerts, Benintendi, and Betts all recorded multiple hits, going a combined 9 for 12 at the plate with one home run and four RBIs. Rookie left fielder Andrew Benintendi had himself a day, becoming the youngest Red Sox player to collect five hits since The Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth. With his performance, Benintendi’s batting average now sits at .347, currently the 12th best in all of baseball. With 11 RBIs on the season, Benintendi is on pace to collect 99 total by the end of the season. Now, that probably won’t happen, but it’s something I like to look at. The biggest highlight of the game came in the top of the first when Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez hit back to back home runs to make it a 4-0 game right away.

Now, let’s talk about Dustin Pedroia’s comments postgame. Here’s what he had to say:
“That’s not how you do that, man,” Pedroia said. “I’m sorry to (Machado) and his team. If you’re going to protect guys, you do it right away. He knows that. We both know that. It’s definitely a mishandled situation. There was zero intention of him trying to hurt me. He just made a bad slide. He did hurt me. It’s baseball, man. I’m not mad at him. I love Manny Machado. I love playing against him. I love watching him. If I slid into third base and got Manny’s knee, I know I’m going to get drilled. That’s baseball. I get drilled, and I go to first base. That’s it.”

I honestly think this came off as unusual. This whole series has been weird. From the way he has looked in the dugout, it would appear that Pedroia has been uncomfortable with what has been going on. We’ll have to wait until next Monday when the Orioles come to Fenway to see how this rivalry plays out.

11 down, 83 to go. 

RECAP: JBJ hits one to the moon; #RedSox drop game two in Baltimore.

The Red Sox took the field a little later than expected on Saturday because of a little rain delay. First pitch was officially at 7:33, instead of the original 7:10 time. Steven Wright started in this one and, unfortunately for the Red Sox, he put up another clunker of a performance. Giving up four earned runs and nine hits in only 3.2 innings of work is the definition of a disappointing performance. I don’t know if it was because of the rain or not, but it seems that Wright can struggle at times with his knuckleball. It wasn’t until the bottom of the fourth when Wright surrendered all four runs. Giving up back to back home runs to Trey Mancini and Jonathan Schoop, then giving up a single to Adam Jones which scored Caleb Joseph. Wright’s night would end sooner than expected, and, once again, a lot of credit has to go to the Red Sox bullpen. Heath Hembree was put in to the game in the fourth and held the Orioles scoreless in 3.1 inning pitched, while striking out five. Robbie Ross Jr. would come in for the eighth and got outs in 1-2-3 fashion. Steven Wright’s inconsistency puts the Red Sox in a unique situation. Wright is out of minor league options, so the only way to send him to Pawtucket would be for him to clear waivers, which is highly unlikely. It’s hard to rely on a starting pitcher when he can only pitch well in certain conditions. If it’s wet, or dry, or humid, you’re getting a different Steven Wright. So, I’m curious to see how that situation plays out.

The only runs the Red Sox scored came on a two run home run from Jackie Bradley Jr. in the top of the third. As it says in the title, JBJ hit an absolute rocket to right field. The ball ended up landing on Eutaw Street, which means that JBJ will get his own plaque, since that’s how the Orioles commemorate those long home runs. This marks the 89th time in Orioles Park history where a ball has landed on Eutaw Street. Jackie’s plaque will look something like this, with the correct information, of course:
Image result for eutaw street plaques

As I said, those two runs were the only runs the Red Sox got across all game. With Dustin Pedroia out of the lineup with that calf issue, Xander Bogaerts led off while Marco Hernandez patrolled second base. Six hits in nine innings is a shame, really. It appears that the Sandy Leon craze is starting to falter, as a 0-4 performance puts his batting average just above the Mendoza line at .205. There’s a good chance that Leon’s struggles could lead to Christian Vasquez seeing more playing time and getting more at bats. The biggest disappointment right now is Hanley Ramirez. Hanley has yet to hit a home run this season, and his batting average is only .211. After the season he had in 2016, you’d expect more out of Hanley, I might even drop him from my fantasy team. With Kevin Gausman coming off his worst start of the season, hopefully, the Red Sox can continue that trend Sunday afternoon.

10 down, 84 to go. 

RECAP: #RedSox loss gets overshadowed by Manny Machado’s late slide.

I’m gonna be honest here when I say that I am not the biggest fan of Manny Machado. I used to like him, and even today I appreciate what he does on the field. But, man, some of the stuff he’s done during games is really questionable. The first time I saw this was in 2014 during a game between the Oakland Athletics and the Orioles.

Then, in the same series, he does this:

The point should be made that this was from three years ago and it does appear that Machado has done some growing up since then. There was another incident last season between Machado and Yordano Ventura (RIP), but I didn’t think Machado was in the wrong for that one, so we’ll move on to the game.

Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz was looking for back to back quality starts on Friday night, facing the Orioles for the second time this season. Pomeranz was not awful, as he kept the Red Sox in the game the entire time he was on the mound, going 5.1 innings and giving up two earned runs and five hits while walking two and striking out four. Again, this was far from a great start, but it certainly wasn’t terrible. With Pomeranz’s ERA currently sitting at 4.60, the type of start we saw on Friday might be his standard. The Red Sox bullpen was able to shut down the Orioles offense, as Joe Kelly went two scoreless while Fernando Abad finished off the bottom of the eighth by getting the last two outs.

The star of the game had to be Orioles starter Dylan Bundy, who pitched seven scoreless, scattering six hits, and only walking one. The Red Sox offense came up short in a game they could have won. The only players that reached base more than once were Marco Hernandez and Dustin Pedroia. Despite leading the league in hits with 162 in 17 games, the Red Sox are only 14th in runs scored, with 69 (nice). This correlation can most likely be attributed to the lack of power in the lineup, since they have only hit 7, which is the worst total in all of baseball. In fact, Brewers first baseman Eric Thames has hit more home runs (8) than the entire Red Sox team. Hopefully, as the weather gets warmer, the balls off the Red Sox bats will travel further, leading to more home runs.

Now, let’s talk about the biggest moment of the game. In the bottom of the eighth, with Manny Machado reaching first on a single, Mark Trumbo grounded out to Marco Hernandez. While Hernandez flipped the ball to Pedroia, Machado slid into the bag. During the slide, Machado’s foot caught the calf of Pedroia, leading to Pedroia being taken out of the game. On Twitter, there was a lot of bickering between Red Sox and Orioles twitter debating if the slide was dirty or not. The beginning of the slide looks fine, but then Machado raises his right leg, which leads to that right cleat going into Pedroia’s left calf.
Screen Shot 2017-04-21 at 11.21.53 PM

With Machado’s history, it’s hard to say this was not a dirty slide. After it happened, it looked like Machado was genuinely upset about what he did, as he tried to keep him up on his feet after. Most of the team was not happy with Machado. Joe Kelly was seen yelling at Machado, and then Brian Butterfield got ejected for arguing with the third base umpire. Anyway, my verdict is…dirty slide.  After the game, Pedroia was asked about the slide, and his response was classic Laser Show:

10 down, 84 to go.  

 

RECAP: Wright, Red Sox split series with Orioles; lose 12-5

The Red Sox were losing the moment they took the field. By the time Steven Wright got out of the first inning, the Orioles had already put 6 runs on the board. In the second inning, Wright gave up another two runs and was taken out after recording only four outs total. The bullpen was not stellar either. Ben Taylor, Fernando Abad (Whoa), Joe Kelly, and Robby Scott gave up a combined 4 earned runs and 9 hits over 7.2 innings. Actually, don’t include Robby Scott in that group because he was the only Red Sox reliever to not give up any runs.

Not much to say about the Red Sox offense. Pablo Sandoval hit his second home run of the season. He’s still batting .133, but the home run is a positive step. Hanley Ramirez and Xander Bogaerts went a combined 5 for 9. I hope and pray that Bogaerts gets moved up in the batting order. Batting him sixth will most likely limit his productivity, and that’s not nice. The Red Sox actually got back in this game, at one point they were down 9-5 with the bases loaded, but could not capitalize. Then, the Orioles tacked on an additional 3 runs in the top of the 7th and that was that. Also, Mitch Moreland hit ANOTHER double, he now has 7 doubles in 8 games, and his 7 doubles account for 70% of his hits.

4 down, 90 to go. 

RECAP: Pomeranz shines in 2017 debut; Red Sox down Orioles 8-1.

Drew Pomeranz took the mound for his first start of the 2017 season on Tuesday night, and he looked dominant. Giving up ony one run and four hits over 6+ innings while recording six strikeouts is quite impressive. Expectations were very low for Pomeranz, as many were expecting the 28 year-old to get shelled by Baltimore’s lineup. I had Pomeranz starting for my fantasy team yesterday, so I was very impressed with the outing. The only run he gave up came in the top of the 7th and that probably should not have happened. After completing six shutout innings, Pomeranz was sent back out to face Chris Davis. Unfortunately for Pomeranz, Davis was able to get a hit off of him, and that was the last batter he faced. I did not see the point in bringing Pomeranz back out for the seventh, especially if he was just going to face Chris Davis no matter what happened. Despite that, it was a good first step for Pomeranz’s 2017 season. After getting hurt in Fort Myers, Pomeranz was able to silence his doubters while picking up his first career victory at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox offense was actually productive last night, and what do you know, Hanley Ramirez and Xander Bogaerts were back in the lineup. It was a big night for Dustin Pedroia, collecting 4 RBI’s while reaching base twice on two singles. The biggest surprise of the night, though, was Christian Vazquez, who went 4 for 4 with a triple and two RBI’s. Vazquez is not known for his offense, so this was certainly not expected. It will be interesting to see how he builds on this performance in the limited role he has behind Sandy Leon.

The offense did most of their damage in the later innings, scoring a combined six runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Orioles starter Dylan Bundy was putting together a solid performance through six innings, only giving up two runs. Things changed in the bottom of the seventh though. After walking Pablo Sandoval with 1 out, Darren O’Day came in to relieve Bundy. Chris Young reached on an error, Vasquez singled, then Pedroia drove in Sandoval and Young with a single. The scoring concluded after Vazquez scored on an Andrew Benintendi single. In the eighth inning, Orioles reliever Oliver Drake, a Massachussetts native, got rocked for three runs on five hits. Vazquez stayed hot by driving in Bogaerts and Young on a triple, and Pedroia stayed hot (7 game hit streak to start the season) by driving in Vazquez on an RBI single. In the top of the ninth, Joe Kelly took the mound and was able to end the game by pitching a shutout inning.

This may be the best overall game from the 2017 Red Sox thus far. Plenty of scoring, capitalizing on the other team’s mistakes, and solid pitching all around make for a feel-good victory. This team can only get better as they get healthier, the flu has nothing on them.

Oh yeah, Mitch Moreland hit another double by the way, now leads the league with six of them. So, shout out to Mitchy Two Bags.

4 down, 90 to go.