Jon Lester looked great through 3
innings on Monday night then looked absolutely terrible the next 2. Lester lasted just 5 innings and the Red Sox
bats stayed quiet against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez as Boston took an 11-4
loss in the series opener in Seattle.
The big lefty gave up 5 runs on 9
hits in just 5 innings going backwards as in his last 2 starts he’s been pretty
good. He walked 2 and struck out 6 but
simply didn’t have it in the 4th and 5th innings.
The bullpen was no better as the
first bad news came before the game when it was announced that Andrew Miller
would be lost for the remainder of the season with a foot injury. That’s a huge loss in that he’s been dominant
this year. Hopefully someone will step
up to fill his role but last night, Alex Wilson and Jose De La Torre didn’t
look like they were ready to fill that void.
Alex Wilson pitched an inning and
a third giving up 3 runs on 3 hits. He
walked 1 and struck out 1 throwing gasoline on the fire. The Jose De La Torre came in and threw a
propane tank on the already mounting blaze.
De La Torre gave up 3 runs on 3 hits in an inning and two thirds. He struck out 4 and walked 2. No help from the bullpen on this bad pitching
night.
The bats weren’t much better on
the night. They banged out 10 hits but
were 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and they left 9 men on
base. Jacoby Ellsbury and Shane
Victorino both were out of the lineup but their injuries are being called not
that serious. Ellsbury has a wrist issue
and Victorino has a sore hammy.
With them out, Daniel Nava slid
into the leadoff spot and went 2 for 5 with an RBI. Jonny Gomes was in the 2 spot and didn’t fare
as well going 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Dustin Pedroia went 1 for 4 and David Ortiz went 2 for 2 with a walk. Mike Napoli went 1 for 4 with a RBI double
and Jarrod Saltalamacchia did the same.
Mike Carp had a hit and Brock
Holt also had a hit and got on base again with a walk. The hits were scattered and unfortunately
most came with no one in scoring position.
Salty had the only 2-out RBI on the night.
I was hoping the loss on Saturday
would not linger but it doesn’t look good right now. The Sox desperately need some time off but
there is none of those in store for a couple days. They’ll have to grit this out and get some
wins before the all-star break.
They send the rookie Allen
Webster (1-2, 7.88) to the mound tonight fresh off his first victory of the
year and one of his better starts. He’ll
be opposed by Hisashi Iwakuma (7-4, 2.60) who’s been great this year. His last 2 starts he’s been so-so giving up 4
earned runs in each start.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
David Ortiz. Ortiz went 2 for 2 and was also on base with
a walk. The guy just keeps hitting and
is sitting on a .318 average and 1.003 OPS midway through the year.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Jon Lester. Lester again was not good. After his last 2 starts, I thought we were
seeing him turn the corner but this outing was a step backwards.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Raul Ibanez’s 5th
inning homer to put the Mariners up 3-2 and they would not relinquish the lead
again.
NEXT
Tuesday, July 9th vs.
the Seattle Mariners.
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