In game number 40, the Red Sox
battle back but eventually fall in extra innings to a resilient Twins team by
the score of 4-3 and lose the series.
Teams like the Twins, who are not very good this year, are teams the Red
Sox need to beat in order to get on track.
Losing 2 out of 3 to a mediocre team is not going to help in the log jam
of the AL East. Faced with a strong
Tigers team coming into Fenway, then division rival Toronto after that, the Red
Sox need to beat teams like this to get ahead in what will be a very tight AL
East.
Unfortunately, Andrew Miller got
unlucky as Aaron Hick was able to place a base hit in the bottom of the 10th
to plate the winning run from 2nd base. Miller’s pitch was picture perfect as he
jammed Hicks on a 95 mph fastball but Hicks was able to get his hands inside
the ball and get just enough on it to place it in front of Grady Sizemore. Sizemore’s throw to the plate wasn’t even
close and the Twins walked off for the 2nd time in 3 days (both
times off Miller).
I don’t fault the pitching on
this one as the offense couldn’t get anything going all day. They had 3 runs on 9 hits leaving 7 men on
base and going 3 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Just not enough production from the bottom of
the order again as the 7-8-9 hitters combined to go 2 for 12 with 2 RBI and 7
strikeouts.
The 2-RBI came from the 8th
spot in the tune of Will Middlebrooks who was clutch with 2 outs in the top of
the ninth. After Big Papi singled to
start the inning, Napoli struck out but Gomes and Mike Carp followed with
singles to load the bases with only 1 out.
David Ross then struck out for the 2nd out but Middlebrooks
lined the first pitch he saw into right-field for a 2-run single to tie the
game at 3 and give the Sox a chance in extras.
Unfortunately Jackie Bradley Jr. would strike out with Sizemore on 2nd
to end the threat.
Dustin Pedroia and Xander
Bogaerts went 1 for 5 each with Pedey getting a double (his 15th). Jonny Gomes went 2 for 4 with a run scored
and Mike Carp went 2 for 4 with an RBI.
David Ross and a single and David Ortiz went 1 for 4 in the loss.
Just not enough hitting as the
Sox struck out 12 times as a team and didn’t have an answer for Twins starter,
former Yankee phenom, Phil Hughes.
Pitching for the Sox were Clay
Buchholz who started out terrible giving up 3 runs in the 2nd but
settled down to go 6 innings. He did
give up 10 runs and walked 3 but struck out 10 in the outing. He looked pretty good after the 2nd
but still threw 107 pitches in just 6 innings.
I still look at this outing as a positive as he was able to bounce back
after a disastrous 2nd inning and get 6 strong innings and keep the
score close.
Craig Breslow worked around a
walk and struck out 1 in his lone inning of work. Chris Capuano did the same as he walked one
and struck out one in an inning. Andrew
Miller went 1 and 2/3 and gave up 2 hits, the winning run but struck out 2 as
well.
The Red Sox will come home with a
20-20 record as they get ready to face the Tigers who have the best record in
the American League. The matchup on
Friday night is a doozy as it will be Jon Lester (4-4, 2.75) vs. Max Scherzer
(5-1, 2.04). It’s a matchup of 2 really
good pitchers who faced off against each other twice in the ALCS last
year. Let’s hope the Sox can generate a
lot more offense in this series than they did in the championship series last
year.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Will Middlebrooks. Though he only had 1 hit in the loss, it was
a big one as he tied up the game in the top of the 9th with a huge
2-run single.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Jackie Bradley Jr. JBJ was 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts and is now batting
.205 on the season. He still looks very
overmatched at the plate in his 2nd season at the dish.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Aaron Hicks’ game winning RBI
single in the bottom of the 10th.
NEXT
Friday, May 16th at
home vs. the Detroit Tigers.
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