Red Sox - 000 000 000 - 0 5 0 Phillies - 000 000 01x - 1 4 0Chris Sale (8-4-1-1-10, 110) was the tough-luck loser on Thursday night, as Philadelphia snapped an eight-game losing streak. Nick Pivetta (7-4-0-2-9, 107) matched zeroes with Sale before the Phillies bullpen took over.
After Sale doubled to begin the top of the eighth and got to third with one out, the Red Sox squandered the opportunity to score. Dustin Pedroia struck out on three pitches and Xander Bogaerts fouled out to first. In the bottom half, Sale gave up a one-out single to Andrew Knapp and a run-scoring double into the left field corner to Ty Kelly.
Sale: "I threw the worst pitch of the game at the wrong time."
(Philadelphia's other two hits were Maikel Franco's one-out double in the second and Tommy Joseph's single with two outs in the fourth. Sale also walked Howie Kendrick with two outs in the sixth.)
Jackie Bradley drew a two-out walk in the ninth, but Pablo Sandoval went down a-hackin', striking out on three pitches (the last two bounced in front of the plate).
Boston loaded the bases in the second inning. Mitch Moreland singled and Andrew Benintendi walked. After Bradley and Sandoval both fanned, Sandy Leon walked. Sale grounded out to second, with Kendrick making a dive to his right and getting up and throwing to first in time.
In the fifth, Leon singled with one out. He went to second on a wild pitch and when Betts hit a two-out single to left, Leon was thrown out at the plate.
Since the DH rule went into effect in 1973, only three American League starting pitchers have hit an extra-base hit in the eighth inning or later. Sale's double tonight was one of them. The other two happened on the same day (!), in separate games. On June 18, 2006, Detroit's Kenny Rogers doubled in the eighth against the Cubs and Jon Garland of the White Sox hit a two-run homer in the eighth against the Reds.
Sale's double was also the first hit by a Red Sox pitcher since Rick Porcello singled on April 25, 2016 (a 1-0 win over Atlanta). Sale's double snapped an 0-for-35 streak (with 25 strikeouts) for Boston pitchers.
Betts, RFThe Phillies have lost eight straight games, and now they have to face Chris Sale, who leads the majors in swings-and-misses on pitches within the strike zone (20.2%).
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Benintendi, LF
Bradley, CF
Sandoval, 3B
Leon, C
Sale, P
Brian Johnson, on the discomfort in his shoulder (he has returned to Boston for some tests): "Warming up in the bullpen I felt a little tightness and the more and more I threw, it got a little bit more uncomfortable. When Carl [Willis] came out I said something."
The Red Sox began last night's game as the only major-league team without a player with at least 10 home runs. It was the furthest into a season (65th game) that the Red Sox had gone without a player hitting 10 homers since 1993, when Mo Vaughn hit his 10th in the team's 76th game.
Also: Yaisel Puig was being heckled by some Cleveland fans ... so he hit a home run and then gave the fans the finger(s). (He has been suspended for one game.)
2 comments:
Scott Lauber ESPN Staff Writer:
"Red Sox announce reliever Tyler Thornburg will undergo surgery to treat thoracic outlet syndrome in his right shoulder tomorrow. The procedure will be performed by Dr. Robert Thompson at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis."
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Isn't that grand?
Travis Shaw has an .887 OPS (better than any BOS hitter; Moreland .877, Betts .860)
Travis Shaw has a 127 OPS+ (Moreland 128, Betts 123)
Brian Johnson has been put on the 10-day disabled list with a left shoulder impingement.
The Red Sox have called up RHP Austin Maddox from Pawtucket. Maddox, 26, has a 1.33 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 27 innings between Portland and Pawtucket this season.
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