Andrew Miller has had the worst
luck of all Sox relievers this year. He
was on the mound for the 4th walk-off loss of the season as the Sox
drop their 9th in a row in extra innings Saturday against the Rays
by the score of 6-5.
The big lefty has been the losing
pitcher in 4 walk-off losses this month, more specifically the last 12
days. This walk-off was by far longest
and probably the most gut-wrenching.
With runners on 1st
and 2nd with no one out, Miller needed a ground ball desperately to
get a double-play, well he got one.
Desmond Jennings hit a comebacker right to Miller who fielded it then
proceeded to fire the ball into center field as Dustin Pedroia could not coral
the sinking fastball. Cole Figueroa
would score easily from 2nd for the Rays 2nd straight
walk-off win.
It started off so well too, as
the Sox would score 5 runs in the first inning to jump out to a 5-0 lead
against Rays ace David Price. 5 runs
without David Ortiz (day of rest), Shane Victorino (hamstring injury) and Mike
Napoli (finger injury) in the lineup.
The day looked like it could be a blow out and the end of the miserable
9 game skid.
Unfortunately, nope, instead, the
Sox would produce only 2 hits and 0 runs over the final 13 innings of baseball.
The offense mustered only 6 hits
and 5 runs on the night. They walked 5
times but were just 1 for 3 with runners in scoring position and left 6 men on
base. As a team, they struck out 16
times with Mike Carp and Grady Sizemore striking out 3 times each.
Brock Holt went 2 for 7 with a
run scored batting out of the lead-off spot again and he’s swinging a good
stick right now. With Stephen Drew
playing minor league games right now trying to get back soon, the Sox will have
an interesting debate as Holt has certainly earned an opportunity to stay with
the big league club. Could we be seeing
the last days of Jonathan Herrera, who by the way, went 0 for 2 with 2
strikeouts.
Herrera came on for Xander
Bogaerts who left the game early with a tight hamstring. It didn’t look serious and the Sox downplayed
the injury after the game so hopefully it was just nothing major as the Sox can’t
afford another injury right now. He went
2 for 5 with a run scored before he exited.
A.J. Pierzynski went 1 for 5 with
a 3-run homer and a walk as the DH in the loss.
David Ross had the only other hit, going 1 for 6. Mike Carp drove in a run on a hit-by-pitch
and also scored a run. Jonny Gomes went
0 for 3 but walked twice and drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.
That was it though. In 5 hours and 16 minutes of baseball, the
Sox could muster only 5 runs and 6 hits.
Wow. I really don’t know what to
say at this point.
Jake Peavy didn’t get the loss
but he also didn’t do his job. Given a
5-run lead to work with right out the gate, Peavy went just 6 innings, giving
up 5 runs on 8 hits while walking 1 and striking out 5. The Rays hit Peavy pretty hard on the night
as even some of the outs were hit hard.
In the end, when you score 5 runs in the top of the 1st and
are facing David Price, the pitcher has to get outs and hold off the opposing
team.
Craig Breslow worked around a hit
in his only inning of work as he struck out 2.
Junichi Tazawa went 1 inning as well and worked around a walk and a hit
while striking out 1. Koji Uehara went 1
inning and struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced.
Edward Mujica actually had a
decent outing as he went 1 inning, giving up just 1 hit and striking out 1. Chris Capuano went 1 and 2/3 innings allowing
no runs and not hits while striking out 1.
Burke Badenhop also pitched well going 2 innings and allowing just 1 hit
and 1 walk while striking out 1. Miller
gave up the walk-off by giving up 2 hits and 1 run, but it was unearned. He also struck out 1.
With the streak now at 9, this is
the longest losing streak the Sox have experienced since 2001 (August
25-September 4). To avoid a sweep and an
embarrassing 10 game streak, the Sox will send recent call-up Brandon Workman
who will start in place of injured Felix Doubront. Workman has a lot of success last year in these
types of starts and down the stretch run last year. Though he was struggling in the minors this
year, hopefully he’ll be on Sunday afternoon.
He’ll be opposed by Jake Odorizzi, who’s been a mess this year.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
A.J. Pierzynski. A.J’s 3-run homer in the top of the 1st,
gave the Sox a huge 5 run lead that unfortunately they couldn’t hold.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Grady Sizemore. Sizemore went 0 for 6 with 3 strikeouts on
the night. He’s down to .211 and with
the recent string of injuries, we may be seeing much more of him.
PLAY OF THE GAME
The walk-off error by Andrew
Miller in the bottom of the 15th which pushed the losing streak to 9
games.
NEXT
Sunday, May 25th in Tampa Bay vs. the Rays.
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