Tigers - 000 002 110 - 4 8 0 Red Sox - 010 000 010 - 2 10 0Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the eighth, the Red Sox loaded the bases off Tigers reliever Justin Wilson with no one out, as David Ortiz singled off the Wall, Hanley Ramirez singled to left, and Jackie Bradley singled to center. Things looked promising. But then Bryce Brentz pinch-hit for Travis Shaw and struck out swinging. Sandy Leon's single to center brought in one run, but Brock Holt struck out looking and - after Francisco Rodriguez took over on the hill - Mookie Betts hit into a fielder's choice.
Boston left 11 men on base in this frustrating loss, including a total of seven men in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. The Red Sox went quietly in the ninth, as Dustin Pedroia fanned, lunging at an outside pitch, Xander Bogaerts popped to short to end a nine-pitch at-bat, and Ortiz grounded back to the mound.
The Red Sox grabbed a 1-0 lead with two outs in the second as Bradley singled and scored on Travis Shaw's double into the right field corner. Drew Pomeranz (6-4-2-2-7, 99) pitched very well, allowing only two baserunners through the first five innings. Nick Castellanos doubled to begin the second inning, but Pomeranz left him there as he recorded two strikeouts and a foul pop to Leon. Miguel Cabrera led off the fourth with a single, but was erased in a double play.
Andrew Romine singled to center to open the Tigers sixth. With one out, Jose Iglesias lined a two-run homer down the left field line - and Boston's lead was history.
Joe Kelly pitched the seventh. He gave up a leadoff triple to Justin Upton, who later scored on James McCann's one-out single. Most of the eight pitches Kelly threw to McCann were 100+, which velocity I'm sure made Dave O'Brien, NESN's radar gun worshipper, giddy. However, what O'Brien seemingly doesn't understand (after watching decades of baseball) is that major league hitters can hit pitches that are 100+ - and McCann's single over the drawn-in Red Sox infield gave Detroit a 3-1 lead. The Tigers tacked on another run against Clay Buchholz in the eighth.
The Orioles beat the Rockies, so Boston dropped 2.5 GB.
Betts, RFHanley Ramirez was named AL Player of the Week after batting .333 (7-for-21) with six runs scored, five home runs and 12 RBIs over six games.
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Bradley, CF
Shaw, 3B
Leon, C
Holt, LF
Elias:
ReplyDeleteMike Mayers [of the Cardinals] allowed nine earned runs while recording just four outs in his first major-league appearance. Mayers is the first pitcher to allow nine or more earned runs while pitching fewer than two innings in his major-league debut since earned runs became an official statistic in 1912.