RESULT – LOSS 3-2
The Red Sox have not been getting timely hitting
and have been failing miserably with runners in scoring position. Yesterday it cost them as the Sox fell to the
Blue Jays 3-2 despite a late rally that got them back into the game.
The Red Sox were 0 for 11 with runners in scoring
position. This was also the 7th
time in 10 days that the Red Sox have been held to three runs or fewer. The offense is stagnant right now and with
the pitching doing well the Sox are losing ball games because they can’t get
any production from their bats.
The Red Sox were held without a run by Mark
Buehrle who came into the game with a 7.02 ERA on the year and the Sox hit him
well the last time they faced him. Mark
kept the bats in check on Saturday though as they couldn’t muster any runs off
of him.
Darren Oliver relieved Buehrle in the eighth and
the Sox mounted a big rally. David Ross
walked to begin the inning, and then Jacoby Ellsbury tripled to deep
centerfield. Pedroia then reached on an
error by shortstop Kawasaki which plated Ellsbury to tie the game. Pedroia then stole second base and the Sox
had the go ahead run in scoring position with only 1 out. He would get no further as both Ortiz and Gomes
struck out to end the threat.
The next inning the Jays would take the lead on
an Adam Lind solo home run off Junichi Tazawa who is taking over closing duties
in the absence of both Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan. Hanrahan will be lost for the season as he’ll
need Tommy John surgery. Tazawa, who has
been really good all year, hung a slider and Lind made him pay crushing the
ball to straightaway centerfield for the eventual game winning run.
In the bottom of the ninth, Will Middlebrooks led
off the inning with a double to give the fans some hope but the timely hitting
bug would strike again as the next 3 hitters would go in order and they would
lose their seventh in nine games.
Over the last 10 games, the Red Sox are batting
.179 (15-84) with runners in scoring position and have left 77 men on
base. They started the season off so hot
that they were bound to come down a bit but this is ridiculous. The whole offense is in the midst of a slump
and they need to work their way out of it really soon as they are already
losing some ground in the AL East.
Will Middlebrooks had 2 doubles again and seems
to be working his way out of his long slump.
His average is up to .212 and he has 9 doubles on the year and 4 in two
games. Dustin Pedroia continued his hot
hitting by going 2 for 4 with a stolen base.
The Sox hit into 3 double plays on the afternoon which killed rallies.
It was a tough loss for Clay Buchholz who pitched
very well. Buchholz went 8 innings giving
up only 6 hits and 2 runs. He walked 3
and struck out 4 in the game and was efficient needing only 101 pitches to get
through the outing. When your starter
goes 8 strong and only allows 2 runs, it’s a tough pill to swallow to not get a
win. Fortunately he didn’t take the loss
but got his second straight no decision.
Junichi Tazwa as we stated earlier took the loss
on that one hanging breaking ball. I
have faith in Tazawa as the closer.
Yesterday was not a save opportunity but it was a high pressure
situation. I hope it was a one-time thing
and Tazawa can get the job done in the next tight spot.
The Sox will try to win the series today with a
day game against the Blue Jays. Sox send
Ryan Dempster to the mound who has been very good his last 3 starts. The Jays will send youngster Jenkins to the
mound in a spot start. The biggest thing
the Sox need to do is get the bats going and start cashing in with runners in
scoring position.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE – GAME MVP
Will Middlebrooks. For the second consecutive day, Will had 2
doubles and looks to be coming around from his long slump. The Sox aren’t hitting a ton of extra base
hits over the last 10 games so Middlebrooks back-to-back 2 double days is a
welcome sight.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Junichi Tazawa.
Tazawa left a hanging slider over the middle of the plate and was taken
deep by Adam Lind who has been terrible this year. As I stated earlier, I like the idea of
Tazawa closing but this was not a good showing in his first duties in high
pressure situations.
PLAY OF THE GAME
The Adam Lind home run to start off the 9th
inning. The Sox had just climbed back in
the game with a late inning rally but the momentum was quickly taken away with
the leadoff homerun.
NEXT
Today, Saturday 5/12 vs. the Blue Jays for the
series win. Rubber-match baby!
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