Tag: sunday

RECAP: #RedSox bullpen wastes a great start for Drew Pomeranz in 5-3 loss.

After a feel good walk-off win last night, the Red Sox got back to the way things were on Sunday, being an extremely frustrating team to watch. Drew Pomeranz was good in the 6.2 innings he pitched. At no point did Pomeranz dominate, but he was able to limit the damage. Seven hits, one earned run, one walk, and four strike outs. In relief of Pomeranz, Brandon Workman got out of the seventh inning while giving up a hit. Matt Barnes started the eighth, and the game went downhill from there. Barnes failed to record an out while allowing three hits and four runs, three of which were earned. Despite the sucky outing for Barnes, I will give him this: that inning could have gone completely different if Xander Bogaerts did not juggle that ground ball that allowed Lorenzo Cain, the first batter, to reach base. Robby Scott came in, gave up a hit, and got the first two outs of the inning, making way for Heath Hembree. Hembree finished the eighth, then went on to pitch a scoreless ninth as well. Like I said earlier today, Addison Reed could help this team. He’s not great, but he could serve as a viable eighth inning guy until Joe Kelly returns.

On the offensive side, Mitch Moreland had one of his best performances in a while. The first baseman drove in the first run of the game in the second, scoring Hanley Ramirez on an RBI single. That would be the first of Moreland’s two hits today, making it the first time since Independence Day that Moreland has recorded more than one hit in a game. The bats would go quiet until the fifth, when the rookie, Rafael Devers barely got the ball over the Green Monster for his second career home run and his first at Fenway Park. That would be it for the Red Sox in terms of runs. After the Royals took the lead in the eighth, they had the chance to win the game in the ninth. Before Mookie Betts came up with two outs, a JBJ walk, a Christian Vazquez single, and a Devers walk loaded the bases. You’d figure Mookie could at least make things interesting with a hard hit ball, but he popped up to Lorenzo Cain instead, ending the game.

Seeing a good amount of guys from the 2007 World Series team was cool, and David Ortiz was great the inning he was in the NESN booth. It’s too bad the Red Sox couldn’t have won on what was a pretty good day.

Also, shout out to Adrian Beltre for 3,000 hits. Miss that guy in a Red Sox uni.

57 down, ? to go. 

RECAP: #RedSox split double doubleheader, series with Yankees.

Alright, I’m kind of in a hurry so I apologize if you wanted a long read.

In the first game, Rick Porcello looked good yet again. 6 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 0 BB, and 6 K’s. Only one of those runs was earned though. Two runs scored in the fourth because of a Xander Bogaerts fielding error, and Didi Gregorious took Porcello deep in the fifth. The defending Cy Young Award winner has put together a nice July, despite the lack of offense from his teammates. There were several occasions where runners were on scoring position, and no one could capitalize. Twenty-one runners were left on base in total, leading to the shutout.

In the second game, David Price looked even better than Porcello. He went eight innings, scattered seven hits, walked none, and struck out eight. He has contributed a lot this season considering he started the year on the DL. It looked like Aaron Judge was going to take him deep to cut the lead to one run in the eighth, but Jackie Bradley Jr. came up huge yet again, robbing Judge in that triangle in center field.

Mookie Betts hit a two-run blast in the third, his seventeenth of the season, and Dustin Pedroia drove in Betts on a RBI single in the sixth. Masahiro Tanaka was good, but David Price was better, giving Craig Kimbrel the chance to redeem himself after Saturday’s blown save, and that’s what Kimbrel did.

A series split against the Yankees is good enough. I expect the Todd Frazier move to be happen soon, as the offense has been disappointing thus far in the second half. Four games against the Blue Jays are on deck, starting with the return of Eduardo Rodriguez tomorrow.

On a personal note, I’ll most likely be unable to watch a ton of baseball over the next week. I may be able to watch the games in Anaheim, but it will be tough for me to blog, so don’t expect a lot until next Monday.

52 down, ? to go. 

RECAP: For second day in a row, #RedSox waste great starting pitching in 5-3 loss.

Yesterday, Rick Porcello pitched eight great innings and got a loss out of it. Today, David Price limited the Rays to two runs and he could not get the win. Price got off to a rough first, allowing the Rays to tie the game after the Red Sox scored once in the first. After that though, the southpaw only allowed one run while scattering  three hits and two walks over the next five innings he pitched. Today’s outing marks the fourth consecutive time Price has gone out and had a quality start. Unfortunately for Price, he got hit with some bad luck, from the Red Sox bats as well as the bullpen. In the first six innings, the Red Sox only scored once, but a two-run seventh which gave them the lead made it look like Price was going to get his fifth win. But in the bottom half of the inning, Matt Barnes allowed a walk, a sac bunt, and a single, putting the tying run at third with only one out. Joe Kelly would come in and he would get the final two outs. In the eighth, Kelly’s streak of scoreless appearances would end as Brad Miller took the righty deep, driving in the go-ahead run as well as himself and giving the Rays the 5-3 lead. Not a good day for the ‘pen, for as good as the numbers look, I still find it hard to have confidence in them in any big game situation. Matt Barnes currently owns a 5.91 ERA in 21.1 IP while pitching on the road. I haven’t heard anything about Carson Smith for a while, so I assume Dave Dombrowski will be on the look out for veteran relievers over the next three weeks.

Surprisingly, the three runs the Red Sox scored all came on home runs. The first one came in the first, as Mookie Betts hit his eleventh career lead-off home run, passing Jacoby Ellsbury for most in Red Sox history. The second home run appeared to be clutch at the time it was hit. Trailing by one in the top of the seventh, Dustin Pedroia took Chris Archer deep for his fourth long ball of the season. There were plenty of times when the Red Sox had runners on base with only one or fewer outs, but nothing could be done with the twenty base runners who were left on base.

A frustrating way to end the first half to say the least. Now the Rays are only 3.5 games out of first place along with the Yankees. No more meaningful games until Friday against those Yankees. Chris Sale and Mookie Betts are starting for the American League on Tuesday, so I’m looking forward to that.

50 down, ? to go. 

RECAP: Drew Pomeranz tosses quality start; Mookie Betts drives in EIGHT runs as #RedSox sweep Jays with 15-1 win.

For the first time since 2011, the Boston Red Sox have swept the Toronto Blue Jays. Drew Pomeranz has become a reliable guy in the rotation, which seemed unlikely two months ago. The southpaw has gone at least 6 innings in three of his last four starts, as he has lowered his ERA from 4,48 to 3.64 over that span. In the six innings he pitched on Sunday, Pomeranz consistently got out of any jam he was in, allowing seven total base runners. The only run he gave up came in the second, when Justin Smoak scored on a sac fly. So, when the only run you allow doesn’t even come on a hit, that’s a pretty solid outing. Since he had already thrown more than 100 pitched by the time he ended the sixth, Fernando Abad came on in relief. Abad notched his first save of the season, pitching three no-hit scoreless innings. Ever since Pomeranz got chewed out by Manager John, he arguably has been the second best starter behind Sale. He’ll make his next start on Friday in Tampa against a surprisingly kinda good Rays team.

Mookie Betts, Mookie Betts, Mookie Betts. That’s who sticks out most after today’s blowout. The now 2x All-Star reached recorded four hits, including two home runs. With all those hits and dingers, Betts drove in a total of eight runs. That’s more runs than the Blue Jays scored this entire series (6). Despite Mookie’s day at the plate, the Red Sox still scored 9 more runs. Every starter except Christian Vazquez got on base two or more times. Hanley Ramirez stayed hot by extending his hitting streak to seven, as the DH blasted his twelfth home run of the season in the seventh, a two-run shot. That homer was part of a very long seventh inning, as eight runners crossed the plate which gave the Red Sox a 15-1 lead. A few surprises today were the days Tzu-Wei Lin and Deven Marrero had. Marrero wasn’t even supposed to start but Xander Bogaerts got scratched from the lineup late. Lin and Marrero went a combined 6-10 with 2 RBIs and 5 Runs Scored. Since he was called up last week, Lin has already hit more triples (2) than Pablo Sandoval has in his three years with the club (1). The 23 year-old also already has a positive WAR with the Red Sox, while Sandoval’s is currently sitting below zero while a member of the team. Jackie Bradley Jr. continues to hit well, raising his BA to .284 with a three hit performance Sunday. Overall, hell of a day for these bats. 17 runs on 21 hits is insane stuff, that seventh inning alone was great. They pretty much put the final nail in the coffin for the 2017 Blue Jays, which is reassuring.

Four wins in a row, the Yankees keep losing, twelve games over .500, undefeated in the second half of the season, things are looking up!

Also, sup?

47 down, ? to go.

RECAP: Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi play key roles for #RedSox in series clinching 6-5 win.

Looking to wrap up Father’s Day with a series win over the Houston Astros, David Price took the mound for his first Sunday Night Baseball start of the season. The southpaw had an okay night, nothing extraordinary. 5+ innings, eight hits, three earned runs, three walks, and three strikeouts. The accuracy wasn’t quite there, but I’m not about to blame Price for the third run he gave up. After a rough fifth, Price came back out for the sixth and gave up another home run immediately. The fact that John Farrell didn’t make a change in between innings is really baffling. It seems like Farrell is really good at leaving a pitcher out there too long and then taking him out the second he makes another mistake. The bullpen got the job done last night, but the streak of 26 scoreless innings was snapped when Heath Hembree gave up a home run in the sixth. The Astros had the chance to tie the game in the eighth. With two outs and bases loaded, Robby Scott gave up a single to Carlos Beltran, which did score a run, but Andrew Benintendi’s cannon of an arm did not let Jose Altuve score the tying run. Great tag by Christian Vazquez too.

The Red Sox offense broke things open early with Xander Bogaerts blasting his first of two home runs in the top of the first. After going scoreless for the next four innings, Bogaerts went deep again, driving in Dustin Pedroia along with himself. Jackie Bradley Jr. also drove in two runs in the inning, lining a double to right that scored Hanley Ramirez and Benintendi. The last run the Red Sox scored came on Bogaert’s third hit of the game, a RBI single that scored Mookie Betts. X was the only guy in the lineup with more than one hit, while also hitting multiple home runs in the same game for the first time in his career.

Injury updates: Dustin Pedroia had to be removed from the game and spent the night at a Houston hospital because a HBP got his ribs. Also, Mookie Betts got roughed up twice last night. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s out of the lineup tonight in Kansas City,

Oh yeah, tied for first place feels pretty good too.

39 down, ? to go. 

RECAP: Chris Sale and Andrew Benintendi help #RedSox split series with O’s in 7-3 win.

Things didn’t look great for the Red Sox on Friday night. The Sox had just dropped their second consecutive game to the Orioles, who seemed to be hitting their stride after a rough May. Luckily for the Red Sox, David Price and Chris Sale were there to salvage the series. Price pitched eight quality innings Saturday, and Sale pitched six solid innings on Sunday. There probably weren’t many people who thought Sale could go six after the first inning he had, but here we are talking about. The southpaw allowed three runs in the first, although I don’t completely blame him for all those runs. With one out in the inning and runners on first and second, the Orioles decided to try a double-steal, and it looked as if Sandy Leon picked off Joey Rickard at third. However, a challenge from Buck Showalter would show that Rickard’s hand touched the bag before Pablo Sandoval tagged him, resulting in runners on second and third with only one out. This play just says everything you need to know about Pablo Sandoval’s tenure as a member of the Red Sox thus far, just about worthless in every aspect of the game. If Deven Marrero was at third, that’s an out and that’s a fact. Instead Chris Sale gives up a double to Chris Davis, which allowed those runners to score. The Orioles would score their last run of the game in the first, when Jonathan Schoop drove in Davis on an RBI double. Sale really grinded his way to another quality start, only allowing three hits over the next five innings while striking out nine total. The Red Sox bullpen held their own on Sunday, as Blaine Boyer, Robby Scott, and Matt Barnes combined to pitch three innings while giving up three hits, zero runs, and striking out two. I saw a stat saying that Sale has like a 4.30 ERA over his past three starts, but I’m not worried about that, no Red Sox fan should.

The Red Sox offense recorded nine hits for the second day in a row Sunday afternoon. Jackie Bradley Jr. continues to break out of his early struggles, as he drove in two runs on a single in the first. Andrew Benintendi had his best game as a Major Leaguer, reaching base four times, including two home runs and a single, which drove in a total of three runs. With those two bombs from Benintendi, not only was it the first multi-home run game of his career, yesterday’s game could be the first step to getting Benintendi out of this slump. The other two runs the Red Sox scored came on a fielding error in the sixth, when Francisco Pena, the catcher, overthrew Manny Machado, and that allowed Mitch Moreland and Jackie Bradley to score.

To me, it feels weird to say this, but, if the Red Sox sweep the Yankees this week, they could have sole possession of first place going into next weekend’s series against the Tigers. No game today, FWIW, off-day.

31 down, ? to go. 

RECAP: Rick Porcello struggles as #RedSox drop series finale 5-0.

Saturday’s game was described by many as the best Red Sox victory of the season. Brian Johnson threw a complete game shutout and the Red Sox got their sixth straight win. Well, that high didn’t last that long, as Sunday’s loss was filled with plenty of frustrating moments. Rick Porcello was matched up against M’s righty Christian Bergman, and the best pitcher was not who you’d expect. Porcello found himself in jams throughout the game, surrendering 11 hits in only 6.1 IP. The only inning in which Porcello did not allow a hit was the sixth. After allowing two of the first three batters to reach base in the seventh, Porcello was relieved for Robby Scott. Scott got Robinson Cano to fly out to Mookie Betts, and that was the only hitter he faced. Heath Hembree would be used next, and he allowed an inherited runner to score before getting out of the inning. Hembree also pitched the entire eighth inning, and he gave up a solo home run to Guillermo Heredia. Fernando Abad, whose had a quietly good season up to this point, started the eighth, and he only recorded one out while giving up a two-run home run to Robinson Cano. The last pitcher who saw action for the Red Sox was Blaine Boyer, a 35-year-old journeyman reliever who just got called up Sunday morning. Boyer had a fine debut, getting Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager out on a foul out and a line out. Yeah, so, Rick Porcello’s recent performances haven’t been awful, but they haven’t been 2016 Cy Young Award winner performances either. And for as good as the numbers are, this bullpen is far from perfect, I’m just waiting for Carson Smith to come back.

Not much to report on the Red Sox offense. They made Bergman look like an ace Friday afternoon, which is something they have done before this season. Dustin Pedroia was the only batter who reached base more than once. Plenty of opportunities were given to this lineup, but they failed to capitalize on them. Red Sox hitters grounded into four double plays, and Andrew Benintendi grounded into two of them. What I have been paying attention to recently is how Mookie Betts’ average has dipped over the past few weeks. On May 14th, Betts began that day with a BA of .305 and a OBP of .381. After today’s 0-4 performance, Betts’ BA and OPS stand at .269 and .352. You obviously hope this slump is just a blip in Mookie’s season, since for a good part of the season, he has looked like a legit MVP candidate.

David Price pitches in Chicago against the White Sox tomorrow, 2:10 EST is first pitch. Should be interesting to watch, I’m expecting the worst but hoping for the best.

27 down, ? to go. 

RECAP: Eduardo Rodriguez pitches eight solid innings as #RedSox take final game in Oakland, 12-3.

Looking to avoid the sweep against the lowly Athletics, Eduardo Rodriguez took the mound on Sunday afternoon. With the bullpen needing some rest after going five innings Saturday, the Red Sox needed Rodriguez to go pretty deep into the game, and that’s just what he did. Rodriguez went eight innings strong, only running into trouble in the second and fourth innings, where he gave up all three of his runs. The Venezuelan native also fanned an impressive eight batters. With six straight quality starts, Rodriguez has really solidified himself as a legitimate middle of the rotation starter. What I find interesting is how Rodriguez could have started the season in Pawtucket, if David Price never got hurt. But, since Price did get hurt during spring training, Rodriguez has capitalized on a great opportunity. With Rodriguez going deep into this game, the only other pitcher who saw in-game action was Matt Barnes, who struck out one while getting the Athletics in order, in the ninth, to end the game.

Offensively, the Red Sox did just about everything right. With the lack of power that is present in this lineup, it makes sense that they have become more aggressive on the bases. On Sunday, the Red Sox kicked things off early, scoring twice in the first, highlighted by Mookie Betts going from first to home on a Dustin Pedroia single. The scoring would halt until the fifth, when Christian Vazquez and Mookie Betts would both score in the inning. Two more runs would be tacked on in the sixth, with Mitch Moreland hitting his third home run in as many days, also driving in Hanley Ramirez. The eighth was highlighted by Jackie Bradley Jr.’s hustle double, reaching second on what looked like a routine single, and also scoring later in the inning. To wrap things up, the Red Sox bats poured it on in the ninth. Five runners crossed the plate, highlighted by Hanley Ramirez’s line drive, 2 RBI double, which scored Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi. Every batter in the lineup, including Deven Marrero surprisingly, recorded at least one hit. It would be nice to see the Red Sox carry any momentum from this win, but with their inconsistency throughout the season, it’s tough to say if that could happen.

22 down, ? to go. 

RECAP: Drew Pomeranz exits early as #RedSox lose ugly one 11-2.

After picking up a win for Chris Sale on Saturday, the Red Sox looked to take the series from the Rays on Mother’s Day Sunday. Drew Pomeranz made his seventh start of the season, and it was his shortest. After allowing two runs through the first three innings, Pomeranz would have to leave the game with tightness in his left triceps. According to Pomeranz, he thinks he will be able to make his next start, which would be in Oakland I believe. This trade really has not looked good for the Red Sox since it happened last July. Pomeranz has been at his most valuable when he came out of the bullpen towards the end of last season and the postseason. What makes it worse is Dace Dombrowski had the opportunity to rescind the trade last year since the Padres disclosed injury information.

With Pomeranz only lasting three innings, John Farrell had to rely on his bullpen for two-thirds of this game. To make it short, the bullpen was pretty awful on Sunday. Ben Taylor, Fernando Abad, Matt Barnes, Robbie Ross, and Heath Hembree combined to pitch six innings, give up 13 hits, 9 runs, and one home run. The performance of the bullpen recently adds to the issues that this team has. The bridge from the starter to Kimbrel is a shaky and unreliable one right now.

The Red Sox offense has been picking things up over the past few days. Hopefully, Sunday’s performance was just an outlier. After Mookie Betts scored on an RBI double from Xander Bogaerts, the Red Sox only scored one run over the next eight innings. That run would come in the fifth when Dustin Pedroia drove in Deven Marrero on a RBI single to center. The scoring opportunities were there on several occasions, but the Red Sox failed to capitalize. Andrew Benintendi continues to go through a slump, arguably the first of his young career. Overall, I really never expected this team to be this mediocre. Without Chris Sale, this is a sub .500 team right now. The level at which this team is underperforming is almost unacceptable. With an important road trip coming up this week, including stops in St. Louis, home of the first place Cardinals, and Oakland, which is always an interesting series. Finishing the trip with 3 or more wins will be pretty important for this team.

19 down, 75 to go. 

RECAP: #RedSox use eighth inning to take series from Cubs; win 6-2.

On Sunday night, in primetime, Eduardo Rodriguez and the Red Sox were looking to take two out of three from the reigning World Series champions Chicago Cubs. They did just that.

ERod had himself a solid performance on Sunday, pitching six innings, allowing five hits, striking out nine (every batter), all while only surrendering two walks and one earned run. The one mistake Rodriguez made that cost him was a home run in the fifth inning that came off the bat of Kris Bryant. It’s clear that if the Red Sox want to seriously contend this season, they need Rodriguez to perform the way he did on Sunday night. The Cubs are a team that likes to work the count, and unfortunately for Rodriguez, that shortened his start. With around 100 pitches after pitching six innings, Rodriguez’s day was over. The Red Sox bullpen got off to a rocky start on Sunday, with Joe Kelly walking two out of the first three pitchers he faced. A wild pitch would allow Jon Jay to score from third, and Robby Scott would come in with two outs in the seventh and was able to get out of it. Matt Barnes returned from his suspension, assuming set-up responsibilities and pitching a scoreless eighth. Craig Kimbrel would come in to close things out, even after the Red Sox scored four times in the eighth, but that did not affect him. Nine pitch saves are always good to see, it looks like Kimbrel is really pitching his best right now.

The Red Sox offense got things started right away in the bottom of the first, with Hanley Ramirez mashing another home run over the Monster, his third of the season, which also scored Andrew Benintendi. Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks would settle down after the first, pitching five shutout innings. Like I said, the Red Sox scored four runs in the eighth, and I don’t think the ball left the infield once. Old friend Koji Uehara took the mound to start the inning, and he loaded the bases while failing to record an out. After Mookie Betts struck out, Marco Hernandez managed to score on a wild pitch. Xander Bogaerts would then score on a Mitch Moreland groundout, which led to Andrew Benintendi and Hanley Ramirez scoring on a Dustin Pedroia groundout that resulted in a fielding error from Addison Russell.

Based on the way the Red Sox scored those runs to take the lead, you can’t say it was pretty but I’d take it any day against the defending Champs. Cubs skipper Joe Maddon said he’d like to see the season end with seven games at Fenway and Wrigley, we’ll see.

13 down, 81 to go. 

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