Well, that was as ugly a loss as I
can remember in recent memory. With the
game in hand, out of the blue, it just fell apart as the Sox unfathomably blow
a 4-run lead in the 9th and then lose it in extras 9-7.
With 2 outs in the bottom of the
9th, the Sox held a 7-3 lead and looked as if they would win their 6th
straight and 2nd in a row against a tough Angels team. Then it all fell apart. Alex Wilson, Koji Uehara and third baseman
Brandon Snyder imploded.
With a comfortable 4-run lead,
the Sox turned to Alex Wilson in the 9th instead of Koji Uehara
initially and it looked good at the start as he struck out the first batter of
the inning. After a single to Chris
Ianetta, Wilson got Alberto Callaspo to fly out for the 2nd out and
the win seemed to be within grasp.
Next batter, J.B. Shuck singled
and then Mike Trout was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The Sox brought in Uehara to close the
door. Koji then gave up a single to
Albert Pujols to drive in 2, then Hamilton followed with another RBI single and
all of a sudden it’s a one-run game with the tying run at third.
Koji got Howie Kendrick to hit a
ground ball to third baseman Brandon Snyder who threw the ball into centerfield
trying to get the ball to Dustin Pedroia at 2nd base. The error easily allowed Collin Cowgill who
was a 3rd to score and the game was tied. The game would go onto the 11th
where Josh Hamilton would hit a walk-off 2-run homer.
Hindsight being 20/20, Snyder
probably should have thrown the ball to 1st. Even if he makes a good throw to 2nd,
Hamilton may have been safe. It would
have been incredibly close and he rushed it and never got a good grip on the
ball. It was tough to swallow I’m sure
and I can’t believe how they blew that game.
Offensively the Sox had 7 runs on
12 hits but had a ton of missed opportunities.
They were 3 for 17 with runners in scoring position leaving 14 men on
base. The game shouldn’t have even been
4-run close as they continually left men on base all night.
Daniel Nava had a great day going
4 for 6 with 2 runs scored and an RBI.
He had 2 doubles on the night.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 doubles and also
walked twice getting on base 4 times on the night. Dustin Pedroia had 2 hits and an RBI and Jose
Iglesias went 1 for 5 with an RBI and walk.
Jacoby Ellsbury went 1 for 4 with a run scored but also stole 2 bases.
Brock Holt got his first start of
the year at 3rd base and though he didn’t have a hit, he did drive
in a run with a sacrifice fly. He was
lifted in the 7th for Snyder who was hitless in 3 at bats.
Ryan Dempster was again in line
for a win but had it disappear on him.
He was strong in his 6 and 1/3 innings of work giving up 3 runs (2
earned) on 7 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4. He let up 2 long balls, one to Trout and one
to Kendrick but overall pitched well enough for the win.
Andrew Miller came on in the 7th
and gave up a hit then came out of the game with an apparent injury. Let’s hope it’s not serious because Miller
has been lights out this year. Andrew Bailey
pitched 1 and 2/3 innings of great ball last night giving up only 1 hit and
striking out 2. It is encouraging to see
Bailey doing well in his last couple of outings.
We know what happened to Wilson
and Uehara so I won’t go into that gut wrenching saga again. Craig Breslow took the loss going 1 and 1/3
innings giving up 2 runs on 4 hits.
It was a terrible way to lose
what looked like a sure win. I hope the
Sox can overcome this horrible loss and I think they will. This type of loss last year would have
derailed them for a week or so but this team is resilient and I think they come
back stronger in the next few games.
They’ll send John Lackey to the
mound to face his former team for the series win. He’ll be opposed by Angel’s ace Jarred Weaver.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Daniel Nava. Nava’s dream season continues as he belted
out 4 hits, 2 of them doubles, while scoring 2 runs and driving in 1.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Brandon Snyder. Snyder made the huge error in the 9th
and also was hitless in 3 at bats taking over for Brock Holt.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Two days in a row that the play
of the game is an error but the error by Snyder to allow the Angels to tie up
the game was a back breaker.
NEXT
Sunday, July 7th in
Anaheim vs. the Angels.
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