The Red Sox blew a golden
opportunity to take command of the ALCS on Wednesday night but instead missed
opportunities and a poor pitching performance let the Tigers take Game 4 by the
score of 7-3, evening the series at 2-2.
Where should we start? Let’s first start with the missed
opportunities. The Red Sox have only
scored 10 runs in this entire series, and 4 of them were on the grand slam hit
by Big Papi in Game 2. To win this
series, they need to start hitting the ball.
The Sox showed signs of breaking
out in this one, as they had 12 hits.
Leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury broke out with 4 hits but the biggest
problem of the night was that the Sox left 10 men on base and were 2 for 16
with runners in scoring position.
They just couldn’t get that big
hit when they needed it. I foresee some
lineup changes coming for Game 5 because Will Middlebrooks is just stinking up
the place right now. He was 0 for 2 with
2 strikeouts on Wednesday night and is batting just .174 this postseason. Xander Bogaerts, who came off the bench for
Middlebrooks last night, delivered a ground-rule double down the right-field
line in his only plate appearance. I
fully expect to see him at 3rd base tonight.
Middlebrooks isn’t the only one
not hitting. David Ortiz went 0 for 5
and is batting just .214 this postseason.
I think the big grand slam and the 2-homer game have masked the fact
that Big Papi hasn’t been all that good this postseason.
Stephen Drew went 0 for 4 with 2
strikeouts and is batting just .107 this postseason and probably takes the cake
for most disappointing. The problem is,
Bogaerts can only play either SS or 3B, not both, so expect Drew to stay in the
lineup but really, he needs to start hitting.
Jacoby Ellsbury went 4 for 5 with
a run, RBI, double and triple in the loss.
He’s probably the best hitter of the postseason right now, batting
.424. They need to start producing
behind him or it’s a lost cause. Jarrod
Saltalamacchia went 2 for 4 with an RBI last night and he too has been hitting
the ball fairly well this postseason.
Shane Victorino went 1 for 5 with
an RBI and Daniel Nava went 1 for 3.
Dustin Pedroia went 1 for 4 with
a walk but had a huge mishap with his glove in the bottom of the 2nd
inning. With Peavy struggling, the bases
were loaded and he had 1 out. He got
Jose Iglesias to hit a groundball to 2nd base which looked like a
sure thing double play for Pedroia.
However, he bobbled it and could only get the out at 2nd. It would lead to the 2nd Tigers
run. They would add 3 more after that
and build a 5 run lead that the Sox could not overcome.
Give Pedroia that play 10 times
and he gets the double play on 9 of them, unfortunately, this was that 1
time. After the game Pedroia did admit
that he misplayed the ball and seems to be taking it hard. “It’s my responsibility to turn double
plays. If I catch it, we’re getting two,”
he said in postgame interviews. If they
turn 2, they get out of the inning with only a 1-0 deficit but that’s baseball.
Sole blame shouldn’t go on
Pedroia though as Jake Peavy just didn’t have it Wednesday night. He had absolutely no command of his
sinker. He just couldn’t throw it for a
strike, it was moving like a wiffle ball up there. You could tell it was frustrating him
throughout the night and it showed on a bases loaded walk to the Tigers weakest
hitting player, Austin Jackson, in the 2nd. He had a dumbfounded look that just screamed,
I can’t command this thing tonight.
Peavy’s final line was 3+
innings, 7 runs on 5 hits while walking 3 and striking out just 1. UGLY line.
Let’s hope he gets to pitch again because I think he’ll have something to
prove next time out and I’d hate to see it be next year.
The bullpen was pretty good. Brandon Workman allowed 2 inherited runners
to score but went 2 innings giving up 0 runs on 1 hit while walking 1 and
striking out 2.
Ryan Dempster, Franklin Morales
and Felix Doubront each went an inning and gave up 0 runs. Each gave up a hit and Doubront walked one and
struck out one.
It’s now a best-of-three series and I feel like it’s a must win tonight for the Red Sox. They have their ace, Jon Lester, on the mound tonight. If they don’t win they face a monumental task of needing to win 2 games in a row against Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. I just don’t see it happening. Lester needs to come up huge tonight and the Sox need to take a 3-2 advantage back to Boston to have any shot of getting to the World Series.
Lester was amazing in the first
game of the series. He took the loss but
went 6 and 1/3 innings giving up just 1 run on 6 hits while striking out
4. If the Sox had any offense that game,
he would’ve had the win.
He’ll be matched up against game
one’s star, Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez went
6 innings of no-hit ball in Game 1 and struck out 12. He walked 6 and the Red Sox need to take
advantage of the free passes. Sanchez is
a big strikeout pitcher but he does give up the walks. Sox need to be patient but also put the ball
in play tonight to have any shot.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Jacoby Ellsbury. The only Sox player that seems to be hitting
right now. He went 4 for 5 and had 2
extra base hits last night.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Jake Peavy. With ace Jon Lester going Thursday, you needed
Peavy to come out and pitch a good game on Wednesday night to give you a chance
to close out the series. Peavy didn’t
have any command of his sinker just couldn’t get it done last night.
PLAY OF THE GAME
The Pedroia mishandle that led to
a fielder’s choice instead of a double play in the bottom of the 2nd
inning. It swung momentum to the Tigers
side and put the Sox down very early.
NEXT
Thursday, October 17th. In Detroit vs. the Tigers.
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