Mariners - 420 400 000 - 10 14 0 Red Sox - 500 013 50x - 14 20 0When Wade LeBlanc and Steven Wright faced each other six days ago, the Red Sox managed only two runners, neither of whom advanced past first base, and lost 1-0. On Friday night, at Fenway Park, the opposite happened.
Seattle scored four times off Wright in the top of the first. But the Red Sox batted around in their half and scored five runs on six hits. The Mariners kept hitting and led 10-5 in the fifth. And just before it got a little too late to realistically contemplate a comeback, the Red Sox again went on the attack, scoring eight times in two innings. The Mariners had zero hits over the final three innings and the Red Sox emerged on top with a four-run cushion. The Yankees lost, so Boston is only 1 GB.
The Red Sox set a season-high with 20 hits and tied their best run total (having beat the Yankees 14-1 on April 10).
Wright (3.1-10-10-2-2, 59) is the sixth Red Sox pitcher since 1997 to allow as many as 10 runs in a game. He also became the first starter since 2009 to allow 10+ runs and not be charged with a loss. (Oakland's Gio Gonzalez allowed 11 runs on July 20, 2009 but the A's (who trailed 12-2 in the third) beat the Twins 14-13.)
Wright faced seven batters in the first inning but threw only 14 pitches. Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer on the first pitch (465 feet) and Ryan Healy crushed a solo shot (441), also on the first pitch. Cruz singled in a run in the second and belted another three-run dong (443) in the fourth. He finished the night with seven RBI, one shy of both the Mariners' team record and his personal best.
The Red Sox also swung early against LeBlanc (4.2-11-6-1-2, 76). Mookie Betts (2nd pitch) and Andrew Benintendi (first pitch) both singled. J.D. Martinez (4-for-5, 5 RBI) doubled in Betts (first pitch) and Mitch Moreland singled in Benintendi. LeBlanc recorded an out, but Brock Holt doubled in another run (2nd pitch). Rafael Devers's groundout tied the game and Christian Vazquez's double into the triangle gave Boston a 5-4 lead.
The Red Sox had Betts at third and Martinez at second with one out in the third, but Moreland lined to shortstop and Xander Bogaerts lined to left. Three singles - by Moreland, Holt, and Devers - made it 10-6 in the fifth.
James Pazos retired the first two Red Sox hitters in the sixth. Then the fun began. Benintendi walked on four pitches and Nick Vincent took over on the hill. Martinez crushed his 23rd home run to dead center. (10-8.) Moreland tripled to right-center on the first pitch and scored on Bogaerts's infield single. (10-9).
In the seventh, Devers began with a single off Juan Nicasio. Vazquez struck out looking, but Blake Swihart poked an off-balance single to left. Betts walked, loading the bases. Benintendi dropped a single into shallow left-center, tying the game. Martinez grounded a hard single into center and two more runs scored. The Red Sox led 12-10.
Nick Rumbelow was the next victim out of the Seattle bullpen. He struck out Moreland and was ahead on Eduardo Nunez 0-2, but his fourth and fifth pitches to Nunez went to the backstop, scoring Benintendi and moving Martinez from first to third. Nunez singled to left-center and Martinez scored Boston's 14th run. (Nunez was pinch-hitting for Bogaerts, who stole second in the sixth, but slid awkwardly into the bag.)
The Red Sox overcame some big odds to win. Before tonight, teams that had allowed 10+ runs this year were 8-146 (.052).
All 10 Red Sox batters hit safely.
Betts: 2 walks, single, 2 runs scored Benintendi: 2 singles, walk, 3 runs scored, RBI Martinez: home run, 2 doubles, single, stolen base, 5 RBI, 3 runs scored Moreland: 2 singles, triple, 3 runs scored, RBI Bogaerts: single, stolen base, RBI Nunez: single, RBI Holt: single, double, run scored, RBI Devers: 2 singles, double, 2 RBI, run scored Vazquez: single, double, RBI Swihart: single, run scoredAlso: Brian Johnson relieved Wright and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, but held the line long enough so Matt Barnes, Joe Kelly, and Craig Kimbrel could pitch the last three innings. Which they did, walking one but facing the minimum nine batters.
From a post I made in the gamethread:
Wright is the 59th Red Sox pitcher since 1908 to allow 10+ runs in a game. Fred Anderson did it twice in one month and one day in 1913 and Bullet Joe Bush did it twice in less than a month in 1920. Howard Emhke did it three times in less than three weeks in 1925: July 16, July 29, August 3. Then I noticed that his teammate that year, Ted Wingfield, also did it three times: July 15, August 26, September 22. Note the consecutive days. (The Red Sox were beyond shitty in the mid-to-late 20s.)
The most runs allowed in a game by a Boston pitcher is 17, by good old Emhke in a 24-4 loss to the Yankees on September 28, 1923. (That wasn't even their worst loss of the season: on July 7, Cleveland beat them 27-3.) Emhke went 6 innings, allowing 21 hits and 17 runs. That game also set the Red Sox record for most hits allowed. Lefty Grove tied that mark in the first game of a July 27, 1935 doubleheader. However, while Emhke wasted no time, giving up 21 hits in 6 innings, Grove needed 14.2 innings (a complete game!).
Betts, RFOur DH has an OPS of .393. The worst OPS among the 165 qualified players in both leagues is Chris Davis (.454). MLB pitchers have a .277 OPS this year.
Benintendi, CF
Martinez, LF
Moreland, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Holt, 2B
Devers, 3B
Vazquez, C
Swihart, DH
These guys faced each other last Saturday in Seattle. Wright pitched well (7 innings, 5 hits, 2 walks, 1 run), but LeBlanc completely shut down the Red Sox lineup (7.2 shutout innings, 2 singles, 9 strikeouts). Seattle won 1-0.
The Mariners were swept in a three-game series by the Yankees this week (2-7, 5-7, 3-4). They are now 3.5 GB the Astros (who have won 13 of their last 14) in the AL West.
Despite scoring nine runs last night, the Red Sox's bats are still slumping. Boston has scored more than two runs only three times in their last seven games (2 6 0 9 2 1 9). The Red Sox are 2 GB the Yankees, who are in Tampa Bay tonight.
1 comment:
Anyone remember when Tim Wakefield gave up SIX home runs to Detroit but still got the win in 2004? The Sox trailed at one point 6-3 but a six-run fourth put Boston in the lead for good; the final score was 11-9.
According to BB-Ref, since 1908, nine different pitchers have given up six home runs in a game; three of those pitchers - Wakefield, Sloppy Thurston, and Larry Benton - got the wins. Five other pitchers earned the loss, and one did not factor in the decision but his team lost.
Wakefield also gave up five home runs in a game against the White Sox in 1996. He did not factor in the decision but Boston still won the game 9-8. Heathcliff Slocumb ended up with the W when the Red Sox walked off in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a Troy O'Leary RBI single.
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