David Price once again was
dominant as the Rays down the Sox 2-1 in the make-up game from last Thursday at
Fenway Park. However, that will take a
backseat to the terribly blown call at home plate in the eighth inning that
should have scored the tying run and continued the game.
In the bottom of the eighth,
David Price finally came out of the game and the Sox started a mini-rally. Ryan Lavarnway doubled to left off of Joel
Peralta. Daniel Nava came in to pinch
run and the Sox were in business. Stephen
Drew then followed up with a double of his own to right field. How Nava didn’t score on that hit baffles
me. Just terrible base-running by Daniel
Nava on that hit. The game technically should
have been tied right there but whatever the case, Nava doesn’t score and up
comes Brandon Snyder.
Brandon Snyder hits a deep fly
ball to left-field which is caught by Sean Rodriguez. Nava tags up and slides into home with his
foot reaching home plate before Jose Molina could slap down the tag. Tie game.
Hold on. Nope. Home-plate umpire Jerry Meals calls Nava out
and both Nava and John Farrell go nuts.
Farrell ends up getting tossed from the game.
The call was so terrible that
anyone watching in real time could see he was safe. There was no question about it. Yes, the ball did beat Nava to the plate, but
his foot touched home before Molina got the tag down. It seemed that Meals just had a bad angle on
the play and plain missed it.
For what it’s worth, Meals did
concede the call was wrong after the game.
It doesn’t do much for Boston after the fact but here is a perfect case
where instant replay would have been good.
While I’ve been on the fence about instant replay in baseball, I’ve come
around to it being needed for everything except balls and strikes. It’s time for missed calls to stop deciding
outcomes of ball games. This game should
have been tied with a runner at 2nd and 2 outs.
The Sox would mount another
comeback attempt in the 9th, as Jacoby Ellsbury led off the inning
with a single and after Victorino popped up for the 1st out,
Ellsbury stole 2nd to get into scoring position. Pedroia grounded out for the 2nd
out and Big Papi was intentionally walked.
A wild pitched moved Ellsbury 90 feet away at 3rd base but
Mike Napoli struck out to end the game.
It was another terrible offensive
night for the Red Sox as David Price just owned them for the 2nd
time in 6 days. Price allowed only 2
hits in his 7 and 1/3 innings. A double
by David Ortiz and a luck shot homer to Brandon Snyder down the right field
line off Pesky’s pole. He struck out 8
and was completely dominant.
Felix Doubront again did his job
in keeping the game close. His pitch
count was a bit high as he needed 104 pitches to get through only 5 innings of
work. He allowed 2 runs on 8 hits while
walking 3 and striking out 4. More
importantly he kept the game close just in case the bats would come around. Unfortunately they never did.
The bullpen was brilliant as
well. Jose De La Torre started the 6th
inning giving up a leadoff walk and then a single. He then struck out the next 3 batters
(Jennings, Longoria & Zobrist) to get out of the jam. His 2-seam fastball in to right hand hitters
is ridiculous and I really see a good relief pitcher in him.
Drake Britton pitched 2 hit-less
and scoreless innings striking out 2 and Koji Uehara had a perfect 9th
inning striking out 1.
It didn’t matter however as David
Price just stifled the Sox bats. They
were 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left 4 men on base. It seems that Price is back to his normal
self and has shook off the rust he had at the beginning of the season.
The Seattle Mariners come in to
start a series tonight at Fenway Park as Brandon Workman (0-1, 4.40) will take
the hill for the Red Sox. He seems to
have grasped the role of fill-in for Clay Buchholz with his last 2 starts in
which he’s allowed only 4 earned runs in 12 and 1/3 innings of work while
striking out 9. The Mariners will
counter with Joe Saunders (9-9, 4.48).
He was touched up in his last outing against the Indians for 5 earned
runs in just 4 and 2/3 innings. He hasn’t
pitched against the Sox yet this season.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Jose De La Torre. After Doubront exited the game early, De La
Torre got the first call out of the bullpen and looked like he would throw gas
onto the fire by allowing the 1st 2 runners to get on base. However, De La Torre would settle down and
strike out the next 3 batters in order.
The hitters were the best on the Rays roster and he showed poise getting
out of the inning.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Mike Napoli. Napoli went 0 for 4 and struck out 3
times. He looked lost up there against
David Price and couldn’t catch up to Rodney in the 9th with the
tying run only 90 feet away.
PLAY OF THE GAME
The blown call at home plate in
the bottom of the eighth. I don’t know
how umpires are taught to position themselves but that wasn’t good positioning
by home plate umpire Jerry Meals.
Everyone in the stadium and on television could see plain as day that
Nava was safe on that play.
NEXT
Tuesday, July 30th, at
home vs. the Seattle Mariners.
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