White Sox - 010 000 000 2 - 3 7 1 Red Sox - 000 000 100 0 - 1 5 2Steven Wright - the AL leader in ERA - pitched another gem (9-5-1-3-6, 112; the run was unearned, and Wright's ERA dropped to 2.01), but the Red Sox squandered a bases-loaded/no-out situation in the bottom of the ninth. Then Craig Kimbrel allowed a two-run double to Jose Abreu in the tenth.
Facing Zach Putnam, Hanley Ramirez walked. And Jackie Bradley walked. And Chris Young walked. Zach Duke came in to pitch and manager John Farrell sent Dustin Pedroia up to hit for Travis Shaw. Pedroia, after hitting a few loud, deep foul balls, struck out. The White Sox then played a five-man infield, and Christian Vazquez grounded into a force play at the plate. Then, because Pedroia would be playing second base if the game went into extra innings, Farrell was forced to hit for starting second baseman Marco Hernandez. Ryan LaMarre grabbed a stick and was overmatched, striking out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the tenth, trailing by two against David Robertson, Mookie Betts grounded to shortstop and Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging. David Ortiz's pop-up to left fell in for a single, but Hanley Ramirez fanned.
Betts, RFThe Red Sox placed outfielder Rusney Castillo on outright waivers this weekend. Castillo is owed more than $50 million on the 7/72.5 deal he signed in 2014 and if any team claims him, they will take over that contract. If Castillo passes through waivers (which seems likely), he will be sent to Pawtucket and will be off the 40-man roster. In 99 major league games, Castillo, who turns 29 in July, has hit only .262 with a .679 OPS. He has made only eight plate appearances this season. [UPDATE: Castillo cleared waivers, will report to Pawtucket.]
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Bradley, CF
Young, LF
Shaw, 3B
Vazquez, C
Hernandez, 2B
Yoan Moncada has been promoted from Salem (High A) to Portland (AA). Moncada hit .307/.427/.496 with 36 stolen bases (in 44 attempts) for Salem.
David Ortiz stole his second base of the season yesterday - without a throw! He received a standing ovation from the fans at Fenway. Ortiz is 2-for-2 in steal attempts in 2016.
I was at the game and the cheering for Papi's stolen base was louder and longer than for the Betts home run -- everything is in the shadow of the big man...
ReplyDeleteSome people are irrationally putting some blame on Farrell for tonight's nut-crushing loss. That's just silly. The manager doesn't swing the bat! This loss is squarely on the players. I mean, if you can't count on Ryan Lamarre to come through in a clutch situation, then who can you count on?
ReplyDeleteRyan Lamarre is usually the man. So much so, that I'm always going on and on about what a great hitter Lamarre is, especially in clutch situations. The fact that tonight he didn't get the big hit is just, well, shocking. Make no mistake, this loss falls squarely on Ryan Lamarre's shoulders.
"Then Craig Kimbrel allowed a two-run double to Jose Abreu in the tenth."
ReplyDeleteWith two outs and two strikes.
bad loss hopefully doesn't stand out as a killer loss down the road....this team has really only had a few shoulda games, this one was inexcusable...
ReplyDelete