It was a frustrating game last
night at Fenway Park as the Red Sox kill themselves with 5 double plays and
Felix Doubront gets lit up in his second start of the year.
The Red Sox were creamed by the
Texas Rangers to the tune of 10-7 last night but if you look at the box score,
you may be quite surprised as the Sox actually had more hits than the Rangers
(14-13) and even walked five times.
Too bad the Sox offense kept
shooting themselves in the foot by hitting into five rally killing
double-plays. Dustin Pedroia hit into 2,
Jackie Bradley Jr., A.J. Pierzynski and newcomer Ryan Roberts hit into one
apiece. It was the 3rd of the
season for A.J. Pierzynski and he’s such a slow runner that if he hits it on
the ground with a runner on first, it’s almost guaranteed to be an easy
double-play.
They led off the first seven
innings by getting the first man on base, only to ground into a double play in
five of those innings. Overall they were
5 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left 6 men on base but those
numbers are dramatically skewed when you look at how many times they let a
pitcher off the hook with double-plays.
Mike Napoli went 3 for 5 with an
RBI and run scored and is starting the season off quite nicely (.364). Grady Sizemore continues his comeback going 3
for 4 with a run scored and a double.
A.J. Pierzynski went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI. Jackie Bradley Jr. went 2 for 4 with a run
scored, 2 RBI and a double. He’s really
hitting the ball well right now and could make things very interesting when
Shane Victorino is ready to come back from his hamstring injury.
Jonny Gomes went 1 for 3 with a
run scored, an RBI and 2 walks out of the leadoff spot. Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz each had a
double a piece with Ortiz also driving in 2 runs. Ryan Roberts, who the Sox just picked up to
help with infield depth when Will Middlebrooks went down went hitless in 4 at
bats but walked twice.
While the double-plays certainly
led to frustration, the offense still scored 7 times but pitching was
absolutely horrendous on Tuesday night.
Felix Doubront lasted only 2 and
2/3 innings giving up 5 runs on 6 hits while walking 3 and striking out 2. What’s even more confusing is that Doubront
actually started the game off pitching really well. He cruised through the first 2 innings facing
just 7 batters.
But in the third, everything fell
apart. Robinson Chrinos started the
inning off with a solo homer to left, and then Prince Fielder hammered a
one-out, RBI double to right. Former
Sox, Adrian Beltre followed that up with an RBI single and then Donnie Murphy
knocked in a RBI double to center to make it 5-0 in a heartbeat. Doubront would then walk then next 2 batters
and be lifted in favor of Burke Badenhop, who added gasoline to the fire.
Badenhop went 2 and 1/3 innings
giving up 4 runs on 5 hits while walking 1 and striking out none. Instead of keeping the game close, he allowed
the Rangers to stretch the lead even further and keep the Sox from striking
distance.
Brandon Workman finally came in
and restored some order going 4 innings, giving up just 1 run on 2 hits while
striking out 3 and walking none.
Unfortunately it was a little too late as the Sox were in a hole they
couldn’t crawl out of.
The good thing about baseball is
that there’s another game today and a chance for a series win as they’ll face
the Rangers at 4:05 in the rubber match.
Jake Peavy (0-0, 3.00) will take
the hill for the Red Sox coming off a good first start last week against the Brewers. He pitched well enough for the win but the
Sox offense couldn’t back him up.
For the Rangers, they’ll send
Robert Ross (0-0, 3.60), who also pitched well in his first game going 5
innings giving up 7 hits and 2 runs while striking out 7 and walking only
2. He’s a lefty, so we’ll probably see a
similar lineup tonight with maybe the addition of Ross and Nava to spell
Pierzynski and Sizemore and to give the Sox more right handed options.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Jackie Bradley Jr. Another solid night for JBJ, going 2 for 4
with a run scored 2 RBI and a double. If
he keeps playing like this, he has to stick in the big leagues.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Dustin Pedroia. Pedey did have a double but also struck out
once and hit into 2 rally killing double plays.
PLAY OF THE GAME
There are 2 plays in this
one. In the bottom of the 7th,
the Sox cut the lead to 9-4 after a Jackie Bradley Jr., 2-run double. With runners at 2nd and 3rd
with only 1 out, the Sox were in prime position to get back into the game but
Jason Frasor was able to strikeout Jonny Gomes and then induce Dustin Pedroia
into an inning ending groundout back to the mound to end the threat.
NEXT
Wednesday, April 9th at home vs.
the Texas Rangers.
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