GAME 38 – 5/12/2013 – at Home vs. the Toronto Blue Jays

RESULT – LOSS 12-4

May hasn’t been pretty for the Boston Red Sox.  After a very hot April the bats have suddenly gone cold for the Sox and the pitching was horrendous yesterday.  The 12-4 loss is the 8^th in the last 10 games and they have now dropped three straight series.  The Rangers are a first place team so being swept by them was not a huge surprise but dropping 3 out of 4 to fourth place Minnesota then dropping 2 of 3 to the last place Blue Jays was really a stinker.  A 2-5 home stand is something to get worried about.

Ryan Dempster had his worst start in a Red Sox uniform.  He hadn’t allowed more than 1 homerun in any outing this year but surrendered 3 on Sunday.  He lasted only 5 innings giving up 6 runs on seven hits walking 1.  He continually left pitches up in the strike zone and Toronto made him pay.  He’s a sinker and slider pitcher and if he hangs either one, the balls going to be hit a very long away especially with a team that is leading the league in long balls.  Dempster did continue his unusual strikeouts as he racked up 6 but when his pitches are missing spots, it’s a long day a the ballpark for him.

The relief for Dempster didn’t fare much better yesterday.  Andrew Miller who’s been lights out as of late was terrible going only 1/3 of an inning and giving up 3 runs on 2 hits and a walk.  One of the 2 hits was a homerun.  Miller had been doing so well as of late but completely imploded in this short outing.  Clayton Mortensen also let up a long ball in his 1 and 2/3 innings of work.

Craig Breslow was very good pitching a perfect inning of relief but newcomer Jose De La Torre was not in his first inning of the year.  He let up 2 hits and 2 runs walking one in his one inning of relief.  I know it’s only his first appearance but I wasn’t impressed.  He was all over the place throwing only 9 strikes in his 19 pitches and didn’t miss many bats.

In the end it didn’t matter how bad the pitching was because the Sox offense is terrible as of late.  The offense has been outscored 62-33 over the past 10 games; and is hitting only .163 with runners in scoring position and has left 86 men on base.

Mike Napoli had a great day going 3 for 4 with a home run (his 7^th) and another double (his 17^th).  Dustin Pedroia went 2 for 5 and Pedro Ciriaco hit a homerun (his 1^st) coming off the bench.  Jarrod Saltalamacchia went 1 for 4 with and RBI and Daniel Nava added a sacrifice fly for the other run of the ballgame.

The Sox actually banged out 10 hits but were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.  That’s been the them of the entire home stand.  Absolutely no clutch hits and leaving men on base.

Will Middlebrooks went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts, and Jacoby Ellsbury went 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.  Daniel Nava and Mike Carp combined to go 0 for 4.  It seems the entire team is in a slump right now and the only good thing I guess you could say is that it can’t continue, right?  Eventually it will have to turn around and hopefully it’s soon because the Sox are leaving a lot of men on base and simply will not win games doing this over and over.

While I do blame Dempster for his poor outing, the offense is simply not getting it done.  I also think Dempster will be just fine as he’s striking out more batters than ever and even with this poor outing has an ERA below 4.  His strikeouts per nine innings is at an astonishing 11.44 so far and he’s sporting a 3.75 ERA.  He’ll rebound and continue to excel this season, I’m confident in that.

The Sox are off today and it’s their last off day until June 3^rd.  They will play 14 of their next 20 on the road and this will be a true test of what kind of team this is.  They need to rebound in a hurry and play well on the road to have any shot at staying in the race for the AL East crown.  I know a lot of people will say it’s a long season but this is a tough stretch coming up and with the team struggling it will be a good view of how this team deals with adversity.

SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE – GAME MVP

Mike Napoli.  Naps went 3 for 4 with 2 extra base hits including his MLB leading 17^th double and also his 7^th homerun.  He also had his 33^rd RBI on the year and was really the only bright spot in the Sox lineup.

ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP

Will Middlebrooks.  He took an 0 for 4 and struck out twice.  He left 3 men on base in the game and committed his sixth error of the year.  Not only is he only hitting .206 on the year but his fielding percentage is also not good this year at .932.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Top of the 4^th inning when Emilio Bonifacio hit the 2 run home run to put the Jays up 5-0.  It was the kick in the nuts to the Sox and deflated the team.  When the light hitting 8^th hitter in the lineup takes you deep (his first on the year by the way), it’s not looking good.

NEXT

Tuesday, May 14^th in Tampa Bay vs. the Rays.  Lackey (1-3) vs. Moore (6-0).