The Red Sox Blew A 5-2 Lead To The Rays But Recovered In Time To Win 9-5 In 11 Innings

 

    Even the unanimous top prospect in baseball-Wander Franco-couldn't turn things around for the free-falling Rays (43-31 overall, 19-15 home) in his explosive MLB debut tonight at Tropicana Field. The 20-year-old third baseman (he is the first guy born in 2001 to appear in a Major League game!) went 2-for-4 with a three-run bomb, a double and a walk with two runs scored but Boston (44-29 overall, 24-12 away) outlasted Tampa Bay 9-5 in 11 innings. The Sox led 5-2 early in the series opener of a pivotal three-game set and they eventually improved to a perfect 4-0 vs. second-place Tampa who now trail Boston by a game and a half in the AL East. Oh and the Rays have lost seven games in a row, is that bad?

    Things started off on a shaky note for the Red Sox as star shortstop Xander Bogaerts' (3-for-5 with 2 runs) throwing error in the first inning allowed the Rays to take a cheap 2-0 lead. Boston's starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (6 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 7 hits, 7 Ks, 1 BB) entered winless in his last seven starts so the fact that he made it through six innings was a minor miracle. Of course, he was the one who served up Franco's first career home run, that found its way over the left field wall and tied it at five in the fifth inning. The Sox did much of their damage in the third inning as they scored five runs to take a 5-2 lead. DH J.D. Martinez's two-run double scored left fielder Alex Verdugo and center fielder Danny Santana which tied it at two. Third baseman Rafael Devers (2 doubles, run, 3 RBIs) knocked in Martinez with a sacrifice fly before former Rays great Hunter Renfroe (2-for-5, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) crushed a two-run homer to left center (his 9th of the season) that plated Bogey. 

    The bullpens took control from there until things got weird in the extra innings. For Boston, Josh Taylor (2 strikeouts), Northeastern's Adam Ottavino and UConn's Matt Barnes each pitched a scoreless inning. Hirokazu Sawamura got two outs then Darwinzon Hernandez (2-2) recorded the last four outs for the Red Sox. Tampa is still doing that silly opener thing so their first pitcher Andrew Kittredge recorded two outs in the first inning before he was pulled after 16 pitches. Fun! No wonder this game took four hours and 21 minutes. For Tampa Bay, Collin McHugh pitched three hitless innings, Matt Wisler had a clean frame and J.P. Feyereisen added two scoreless innings before Peter Fairbanks (1-3) cracked as he allowed four runs (3 earned) in two laborious innings (37 pitches) of work. 

    The middle game of the series is tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) and it pits Garrett Richards (4-4) vs. former Red Sox great Rich Hill (5-2). Tampa Bay is due to start winning again sometime soon but ideally, it won't be in the next couple days as they host the Sox. Boston has a nice opportunity here to take advantage of the Rays who are stuck in a rare terrible stretch of play. I still think that these will be the top two clubs in the AL East this season when it's all said and done so the Red Sox might as well pile up the wins against Tampa while they can. Haha keep in mind that including tomorrow, these two teams meet 15 more times this season.

Down To Their Last Out, The Red Sox Rallied For An 8-7 Victory & Series Win Against The Blue Jays

 

    With their lead in the AL East dwindling, the Red Sox (27-18 overall, 14-6 away) picked the perfect time to stage their best comeback win of the season, 8-7 tonight in Dunedin, FL (Toronto's spring training home stadium) against the Blue Jays (23-19 overall, 10-7 home). Down 7-6 in the ninth inning with two outs against the Blue Jays' shaky closer Rafael Dolis (1-1), Boston's star DH J.D. Martinez hit a two-run bomb (his 12th of the season and the 250th of his career) to right center that scored second baseman Michael Chavis (2-for-4, 2B, 2 runs). From there, UConn's Matt Barnes worked around a walk to strike out the side in the bottom of the ninth for his 10th save of the season. 

    After getting blanked 8-0 in the series opener on Tuesday, the Sox won 7-3 yesterday and topped that with this evening's dramatic victory which leaves them one game ahead of Tampa Bay (26-19)-who has won seven games in a row; 1.5 games in front of the Yankees (25-19) who are 7-3 in their last 10 games and the Jays dropped to 2.5 games in back of Boston. With an absurd six no-hitters (1 fewer than the MLB record for an entire season) already thrown in 2021, it was refreshing to see something more along the lines of a softball game. The final score could have been much higher too since the teams combined for 25 hits and they left 17 on base.

    Nick Pivetta (5 IP, 5 runs, 4 ER, 7 hits, 8 Ks, 2 BBs) has surprisingly been the best starting pitcher for the Red Sox this season but he predictably came back down to Earth a bit with this outing. He was better though than the Jays starter Steven Matz (6 IP, 5 ER, 10 hits, 4 Ks, 2 BBs) who looked like the mediocre former Met that he has always been. Weirdly, Boston only scored in two different innings-the second and the ninth. After Toronto scored twice in the first inning on RBI doubles by first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2 hits, 2 runs) and right fielder Randal Grichuk, the Red Sox exploded for five runs in the second inning. First baseman Bobby Dalbec hit a three-run bomb that just stayed fair down the right field line for his fifth homer of the season that scored catcher Christian Vazquez (2 hits, walk) and right fielder Hunter Renfroe. The other two runs came on an infield single by center fielder Kike Hernandez (2 hits) that plated Dalbec and an RBI single by Martinez which scored Hernandez. 

    Toronto cut it to 5-3 in the bottom of the second with an RBI double by DH Bo Bichette (3 hits, 2 doubles, walk) that scored shortstop Marcus Semien, they tied it with a pair of runs in the fifth inning and they went ahead 7-5 in the sixth with two more runs. Semien scored on an error by Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers in the fifth and second baseman Cavan Biggio drove in Guerrero Jr. with an RBI single. Center fielder Jonathan Davis knocked in catcher Danny Jansen with an RBI single in the seventh then he was the tying run as Grichuk drove him in with an RBI single of his own. 

    Boston's bullpen finally settled things down beginning with Darwinzon Hernandez (1 IP, 1 K, 1 BB) who was followed by Phillips Valdez (2-0) who picked up four outs on just nine pitches to earn the win. Dalbec scored on a ground out in the ninth that preceded Martinez's heroics. This six-game road trip for the Red Sox ends with three games this weekend in Philadelphia (22-22 overall, 14-8 home) who is managed by former Yankees skipper Joe Girardi. Martin Perez (1-2) faces Phillies ace Aaron Nola (3-3) tomorrow night (7:05, NESNplus) followed by Nathan Eovaldi (4-2) against Chase Anderson (2-4) on Saturday night (7:15, FOX) and ending with the scuffling Eduardo Rodriguez (5-2 but 4.70 ERA) vs. Zack Wheeler (3-2, 2.52 ERA) on Sunday afternoon (1:05, NESN). The NL East is the worst division in baseball and the Phillies are 4-6 in their last 10 games so taking two more out of three games in another series would be a good way to end this trip for the Red Sox.

Until Further Notice, There Will Be No Angels In The Outfield This Season For That Wretched Team

 

    After seeing last year's disaster of a season, I think that Red Sox (25-16 overall, 13-11 home) fans are experts on what an awful baseball team looks like (along with Boston's other last-place finishers from recent years). The Angels (16-22 overall, 8-13 away) appear to be that type of lifeless bunch as they got destroyed 9-0 this afternoon at Fenway Park on a beautiful day that felt like summer. Boston's starting pitcher Martin Perez (6 IP, 3 hits, 5 Ks, 4 BBs) threw six shutout innings to pick up his first win of the season (1-2) then three relievers followed him with scoreless outings. Former Orioles stiff Dylan "Don't Call Me Bud" Bundy (0-5) got rocked for seven earned runs in just four-plus innings of work if you can call it that. 

    The Red Sox had three times as many hits as the Angels (12-4) and Los Angeles did not record a single extra base hit while Boston had five doubles and three home runs on the day. Is that good? Center fielder Alex Verdugo (2-for-4 w/2 runs) celebrated his 25th birthday (damn I am old) with a solo homer (his 5th HR of the season) in the first inning that gave the Sox an early 1-0 lead. For the second game in a row, the last two hitters in Boston's lineup came through as first baseman Bobby Dalbec (2 doubles, 2 runs) had a two-run double in the fourth inning, followed by an RBI double by left fielder Franchy Cordero. PS you know that your team is rolling when that bum is doing positive things. 

    The best shortstop in MLB-Xander Bogaerts (double, 2 runs)-put it out of reach for LA with a three-run bomb over the Green Monster (and the Monster seats!) in the fifth inning. It was his ninth home run of the season and he continues to lead MLB in hits along with many other offensive categories for his position. Cordero notched another RBI double in the sixth inning and third baseman Rafael Devers (2 runs, walk) provided the last run with a solo blast to the bleachers in right field in the seventh inning-his 10th homer of the season (tied for the team lead with J.D. Martinez). The unlikely trio of Phillips Valdez (strikeout), Darwinzon Hernandez (strikeout) and Austin Brice (strikeout) each pitched an inning of scoreless relief to wrap the second shutout of the year for the Red Sox.

    Boston goes for the three-game sweep tomorrow afternoon (1:10, NESN) as Nathan Eovaldi (4-2) faces Jose Quintana (0-3, 9.00 ERA) who is off to a nightmare start to 2021. The Red Sox have won their last three games in a row and Monday is an off-day so another beating of the Angels would be the perfect ending to this recent stretch of strong play against an overmatched opponent. The Yankees (22-17), Blue Jays (21-17) and Rays (22-19) are all playing pretty well at the moment too so even though Boston has the best record in baseball, they only lead their AL East rivals by two games, two and a half games and three games respectively. The early returns show that their division is the best in the American League and maybe even MLB depending on how you view the top heavy NL West (home of the Giants, Padres and Dodgers).

The Red Sox Sweep A Doubleheader With The Twins As Their Win Streak Rolls On To Nine Games

 

    I hope that you have already started to pay attention to the Red Sox (9-3 overall, 6-0 away) this season because what they are doing right now is rather incredible. In today's adventure, Boston swept a doubleheader at Target Field against the Twins (5-7 overall, 1-5 home). The Red Sox took Game 1 by a score of 3-2 and then the nightcap turned into a blowout as they won that 7-1. Boston has won nine games in a row after getting swept by Baltimore (5-6) in their season opening series at Fenway Park while Minnesota has dropped its last five straight games. Besides the constant winning-which is always fun-the Red Sox are making it interesting by getting the results in different ways. I would still maintain that the starting rotation is their biggest question mark but thus far, it has done the job while different relievers and hitters step up in every game. 

    Keep in mind that all doubleheaders are seven innings long (unless they go to extra innings) thanks to a much needed rule change by MLB last season to tighten things up a bit. Nathan Eovaldi (2-1) started the opener this afternoon and he was relatively sharp for the 82 pitches that manager Alex Cora had him throw. In five innings, Eovaldi allowed two earned runs on five hits with three strikeouts and no walks. He outlasted Twins starter Kenta Maeda (1-1) who only went 4.1 innings, allowing three runs (2 earned) on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks. 

    In Game 1, Boston scored all of its runs in the second inning while Minnesota did the same in the third inning. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe gave the visitors a 1-0 lead with an RBI single that scored first baseman Marwin Gonzalez. Renfroe ended up later scoring on a throwing error by Maeda then second baseman Christian Arroyo (2 for 4, 2B) added a run-scoring single of his own that allowed left fielder Franchy Cordero to cross home plate. For the Twins, second baseman Jorge Polanco hit a two-run single that scored catcher Ryan Jeffers and shortstop JT Riddle. Boston's bullpen got two scoreless innings that let them hang on to that one-run lead for good. Lefty Darwinzon Hernandez pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning on just seven pitches (haha way to be patient Minnesota) while closer Matt Barnes recorded his second save of the season thanks to two strikeouts and a great diving catch by Alex Verdugo (2 for 4) in left field to end it. 

    Game 2 looked like it would be a pitcher's duel between Eduardo Rodriguez (2-0) and Minnesota's ace Jose Berrios (2-1) but that's not exactly how it played out. The Twins actually had a 1-0 lead for a few innings as left fielder Kyle Garlick (what a great name) knocked in third baseman Josh Donaldson with a sacrifice fly. Berrios cruised through the first four innings but he started to labor in the fifth inning and Minnesota's manager Rocco Baldelli had a strangely quick hook which immediately blew up in his face. Cordero walked with the bases loaded which scored third baseman Rafael Devers (2 for 4, 2 RBIs, run, 2B). Baldelli elected to swap Berrios for something called Tyler Duffey and what do you know, it didn't work! Verdugo's (3 for 4, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) two-run single scored first baseman Bobby Dalbec and catcher Christian Vazquez with the go-ahead runs. Cordero came around to score on a wild pitch by Duffey and finally, Devers greeted another scrub Twins reliever (the immortal Caleb Thielbar) with a two-run single of his own that scored DH J.D. Martinez and Verdugo. 

    The promising part for E-Rod is that he was far from at his best but he went five innings and only allowed one earned run on five hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Credit to Red Sox GM Chaim Bloom for discovering Rule-5 pick Garrett Whitlock from the Yankees. The righty reliever had his third consecutive scoreless outing, pitching a clean sixth inning with one strikeout in 10 pitches. Expect his role to expand as the season goes along, he is a real weapon out of the bullpen (and eventually in the rotation) for Boston with quality stuff. After Verdugo's solo bomb in the seventh (his 2nd HR of the season), it became such a laugher that the Red Sox were able to use their 26th man (called up since rosters expand for a doubleheader) righty Eduard Bazardo who made his MLB debut. It was a little rocky as it took him 24 pitches to get three outs since he walked two guys but he got a strikeout and most importantly didn't allow a run as Red Sox manager Alex Cora (who in Game 1 collected his 200th MLB victory) got to rest his top bullpen guys. 

    Tomorrow is Jackie Robinson Day in MLB so every player will be wearing his No. 42. Boston goes for the sweep with its worst starter-Garrett Richards (0-1)-looking for his first win as a Red Sox-going up against former Yankees pine tar aficionado Michael Pineda (1-0). It's another afternoon game with an hour earlier start time (1:10, NESN) so that Boston can hopefully get back home before it's too late tomorrow night. They also bid for their 10th straight win which would make them the second team in MLB-after the Dodgers (10-2) of course-to reach double digit victories in mid-April.