The Rays looked like the 2013 Red
Sox last night with a clutch walk-off 5-4 win to slice the Red Sox lead to 2-1
in the best of five series.
Jose Lobaton ended a tense and
very long contest by smashing a two-out walk-off homer to right-center, into
the live Rays tank, off of Koji Uehara to give them the big win and a chance to
play again on Tuesday night.
Although there was no champagne
in Boston’s clubhouse after the loss, there were also no sad faces.
“Tomorrow night we’ll be here
ready to go, 8:30 (p.m. ET) game time,” said manager John Farrell.
I agree with John Farrell. If we’ve learned anything about this year Red
Sox team is that this team is resilient.
They put tough losses like this behind them and come out the next day
and play like it never happened. They’ll
have to do that again tonight and get that big win to get them to the ALCS.
The big reason they lost last
night was simple, missed opportunities.
The Sox continually left men in scoring position all night long. They were 2 for 14 with runners in scoring
position and left a staggering 9 men on base.
They left a man on 3rd base in the 4th and 9th
innings that could have swung momentum to the Red Sox side.
In the 9th, the Red
Sox showed that comeback magic as they were down 4-3 with Rays closer Fernando
Rodney on to close it out. Will
Middlebrooks started the rally with a leadoff walk and Bogaerts came in to
pinch run for him. Jacoby Ellsbury then
singled to move Bogaerts to 2nd.
Shane Victorino then laid down a perfect bunt to move the runners to 2nd
and 3rd. Dustin Pedroia then
hit a grounder to short-stop that drove in Bogaerts to tie the game at 4. Ellsbury then stole third base and it looked
as if the Sox could pull ahead heading into the bottom of the ninth. The rally ended though as Mike Carp (who was
batting for David Ortiz who was pulled the inning before in favor for a pinch
runner) struck out looking to end the inning.
It would prove costly as John
Farrell decided to bring in Koji Uehara even though it was not a save
situation. A move I have criticized in
the past as I don’t believe in bringing in these guys without a chance for a
save. Closers have a different mind
state than your traditional reliever. I
think they are better with a 1, 2 or 3 run lead than coming into a game that is
either tied or their team is behind. I
continually saw Jonathan Papelbon and other closers give up runs in non-save
situations and I would never put my closer in that situation.
Either way, Farrell went with
Uehara and it looked like it would work as he retired the first 2 batters
pretty easily with 3 pitches. But the 3rd
batter of the inning, Jose Loboton took him deep on a 0-1 count. Koji hadn’t given up a homer since June 30th.
Clay Buchholz did an alright job
on the mound. He struggled a bit with
his command but really only made one mistake, a game tying 3-run homer to Evan
Longoria in the bottom of the 5th.
It came with 2 outs in the inning and on a 0-1 count. The pitch just didn’t get down far enough and
Longoria golfed it over the left field fence.
Buchholz went 6 innings and gave
up 3 runs on 7 hits while walking 3 and striking out 5. His pitch count was a bit high for the six
innings at 104 but if not for that one fateful pitch, we’d be talking about his
gritty performance.
Craig Breslow and Junichi Tazawa
combined for a scoreless 7th but in the 8th, Franklin
Morales gave up a lead-off walk and a hit before recording an out and was
charged with a run in his 1/3 of an inning.
Brandon Workman pitched the final 2/3 of an inning giving up no more
runs.
The offense was disappointing,
leaving too many men on base. Jacoby
Ellsbury went 3 for 5 with 2 runs and a double in the loss and David Ortiz was
1 for 1 with an RBI and 3 walks. Shane
Victorino was on base twice with a hit and a hit by pitch and had that
beautiful sacrifice bunt late in the game.
Mike Napoli had one hit as did
Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Middlebrooks and
Gomes each walked in the game as well.
Dustin Pedroia went 0 for 5 but did drive in a run and Quintin Berry “stole”
a base in his pinch running appearance.
I put quotes around it because replays showed he was out but it didn’t
matter because he would end up being stranded at 2nd.
The Sox will try to end the
series today as they send Jake Peavy (12-5, 4.17) to the mound against Jeremy
Hellickson (12-10, 5.17). Peavy wasn’t
great against the Rays back on September 12th as he went only 6
innings giving up 3 runs on 4 hits while walking a season high 5 batters and
only striking out 4. That was the outing
Peavy changed his delivery to be more like his Cy Young winning year and he
struggled with command. Let’s hope he
has a better feel for his pitches on Tuesday night. This is the reason the Sox picked up Peavy,
for big starts like this. Let’s hope it
pans out.
Hellickson faced Peavy and the
Sox back on September 12th and went only 5 and 1/3 innings giving up
3 runs on 4 hits while walking 3 and striking out 7. Hellickson had an up and down season this
year and the Sox need to get to him early to rattle his confidence to get him
out of a rhythm. He’s a strikeout machine
but can be rattled with early hits and walks.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Jacoby Ellsbury. Ells went 3 for 5, scored 2 runs, hit a double
and stole a base. He is having a great
series and hopefully will continue his hot hitting tonight.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Will Middlebrooks. Will went 0 for 3 and struck out twice on the
night. Though he got a big leadoff walk
to start the 9th, he’s not hitting right now.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Evan Longoria’s game tying 3-run
homer in the bottom of the 5th to turn the game around.
NEXT
Tuesday, October 8th,
vs. the Tampa Bay Rays in Tampa Bay.
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