Cubs - 000 201 301 - 7 10 0 Red Sox - 012 010 000 - 4 10 4Steven Wright (6.1-7-5-1-4, 100) failed to hold leads of 3-0 and 4-2. He pitched into the seventh inning, and that was when the game slipped away.
Miguel Montero hit Wright's first pitch of the fateful seventh into the Cubs' bullpen, tying the game at 4-4. When John Jay doubled with one out, manager John Farrell brought in Robby Scott. Kyle Schwarber singled on Scott's 0-2 pitch, scoring Jay with the Cubs' go-ahead run.
New reliever Ben Taylor walked Kris Bryant. Anthony Rizzo reached safely on a force at second, but there were two errors on the play, allowing Schwarber to score: Xander Bogaerts threw Rizzo's ball wildly back to first and when Mitch Moreland tracked it down, he ended up throwing it into left field.
Trailing for the first time in the game, the Red Sox were quiet over the final three innings. Koji Uehara retired the side in the seventh. Mookie Betts singled off Hector Rondon in the eighth, but was forced at second before a double play ended the inning. Wade Davis allowed a single to Dustin Pedroia (3-for-4) in the ninth, but struck out the next three batters (Jackie Bradley, Christian Vazquez, Marco Hernandez).
Earlier in the game, the Red Sox were able to get their bats going against John Lackey (6-8-4-1-4, 93). A walk by Moreland and singles from Pedroia and Bradley gave Boston a second-inning run. In the third, Bogaerts tripled and scored on Andrew Benintendi's fly to center. With two outs, Hanley Ramirez crushed a solo homer to deep left, measured at 469 feet.
Chicago quickly got two runs back against Wright in the fourth when Bryant doubled and Rizzo homered (hitting a 62 mph knuckleball). ... Benintendi hit his third home run of the year in the fifth.
Bogaerts, SSMLB's preview states that much of Wright's trouble on the mound (8.66 ERA) "can be attributed to his arm angle being a few inches higher than it should be". ... So, he's going to fix that, right?
Benintendi, LF
Betts, RF
Ramirez, DH
Moreland, 1B
Pedroia, 2B
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C
Hernandez, 3B
Many Red Sox players felt a buzz in the ball park last night. Christian Vazquez: "It was like a World Series game. They have a great team and great hitters, good players. We do too. Hope to see them in the World Series."
Why did Dustin Pedroia hit sixth (for the first time*) last night? Manager John Farrell: "Looked for ways to get a little bit more running speed at the top of the order. Had a chance to talk to Pedey about this ... He's working to regain his timing and getting back into it ... I wouldn't say this was a one-day deal. We'll see how it goes."
*: Pedroia has now batted in each spot in the order in his 12-year career.
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Last night, as the Sox pounded the Cubs for five runs on six hits and a walk in the bottom of the first through the first eight batters, Joe Castiglione and Tim Neverett on WEEI pondered whether this would be the night that the offense comes to life and breaks out of its recent slump.
Over the last 7.2 innings at the plate, the Sox had no runs on seven hits and two walks. They've scored in only two of the last 26 innings. I'd say the slump continues.
A win is a win, but it would be nice to see the Boston offense take further advantage of the Chicago pitching staff. Some missed opportunities:
B4: bases loaded and no outs, followed by strikeout and GIDP
B5: first and second with one out, followed by GIDP
B6: first and second with one out, followed by GIDP
Some Elias stuff:
Jake Arrieta allowed five runs in the first inning of the Cubs' 5-4 loss to the Red Sox. That is the most runs he has surrendered in the first inning of a game, regular season or postseason, in his MLB career. His previous high was four, allowed in the first inning of his very last start, on April 22 against the Reds.
The Yankees, trailing 9-1 in the sixth inning, mounted an improbable comeback in which they hit four home runs from the sixth inning on. That's just the second home win for the Yankees, regular season or postseason, in which they trailed by at least eight runs in the sixth inning or later. The first was on May 27, 1933 against the White Sox. In that game, New York faced an 11-3 deficit entering the bottom of the eighth inning. The Yankees proceeded to score 12 runs in the eighth and came out on top, 15-11.
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The 12 runs came with only one out: F7, single, walk, walk, single, single, walk, single, single, double, intentional walk, single, home run, K, K.
A Nice Story: Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish recently rescued a pit bull from a pound. His family now has six dogs!
Mark Buehrle also has a pit - and, when he was with the Blue Jays, he spoke out against Ontario's unjust ban on pit-bulls.
David Price faced hitters in two simulated innings on Saturday, throwing 30 pitches. He did not report any discomfort in his left elbow. If everything goes well, Price will throw a light bullpen session on Monday and a three-inning, 45-pitch simulated game on Thursday. No return date has been mentioned, but Price could begin a minor league rehab assignment during the second week of May.
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