Game 31/162, Bad Game, 'nough said

Red Sox 0, Angels 11

Angels    - 003 330 200 - 11 18  0

Red Sox  - 000 000 000 -  0  7  1
Terrible game all around. John Lackey became the second pitcher in Red Sox history to allow 8+ ER twice in 31 games. No offense, no pitching, no big post by me!   

Game 30/162, Red Sox Lose in Extras After Long Delay

Red Sox 3, Angels 5

Angels   - 000 000 201 000 2 - 5 12 2

Red Sox - 000 000 012 000 0 - 3 11 2

At 2:45 AM, after a long rain delay, Dice-K unfortunately gets the loss after his first major league relief appearance. He pitched the 13th inning in which the Red Sox lost. He gave up a lead-off single and then two pop outs. Just when he was almost out of it, he gave up another  single, a walk to load the bases, and then a two run single to Bobby Abreu.

In the ninth, the Red Sox rallied to tie the game. With two on, the ball got away from Hank Conger (catcher of the Angels) and he fired it trying to get someone out but it bounce off of the umpire's leg and went to shortstop. Lowrie scored but Cameron was out on the tag at third base. After Crawford's double and Varitek's fly out, Ellsbury lined a single into right to tie the game.

In the 11th, Youkilis almost won the game for the Red Sox with a high fly ball of the top of the Monster two feet away from being a walk-off homer but was denied of it as it bounced off the top of the Monster. He was held to a double and Scutaro, who was on first didn't score.

Red Sox April Recap

The first month of the season is over and lets see how they did:

In the first 26 games of the season, the finished last place in the AL East with an 11-15 record. They started 2-9 and then won 8 out of 9 next few games but never reached .500 after dropping the next couple series against Baltimore and Seattle 1-3.

Batting   GM   AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS

Road       15    .224   .302   .333   .635

Home      11    .268   .370   .444   .814

In April, the Red Sox hit .262 with RISP but only .226 with nobody on.

Jed Lowrie led the team with a .368 average and slugging pct. Youkilis has also been productive with only a .218 average but a whopping .392 on base pct. Adrian Gonzalez (.314 average)and Jacoby Ellsbury (.266 average) have been hitting better as of late.

The weak spots in the lineup have been the lead off position which has a .303 OBP, the worst spot in the lineup except for 8th and 9th. Ellsbury has done better so that might change in May. Also Crawford has a .155 average to start the season but has been getting some nice hits lately which is exactly what the Sox need.

The catching spot is also weak with Salty hitting .216 and Varitek hitting .111. This might mean that its time for Theo to look outside the organization for a catching solution. Soon I will be writing about possible solutions for their catching situation.

The starting pitching started off terribly but when the Red Sox went 8-1 the starters' ERA went to 1.08. The Red Sox haven't been too bad pitching since they allowed 4.35 runs per game and the league average is 4.33. Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler have been disappointing so far this season.  

Game 28/162, Red Sox Bats Come Alive After Weaver Leaves

Red Sox 9, Angels 5

Angels   - 001 010 021 - 5 13 1

Red Sox - 100 020 60x - 9 11 0

After Weaver left the game, the Red Sox demolished the Angels bullpen, scoring six runs in a span of 7 pitches. 

The at-bat of the game was Pedroia against Weaver in the fifth. The Red Sox were losing 2-1, and the Red Sox had guys on first and third with two outs:

01 - Ball 1

02 - Foul, strike 1

03 - Ball 2

04 - Foul, strike 2

05 - Foul (Ellsbury off with the pitch)

Activity in the Angels' bullpen

06 - Foul (Ellsbury off with the pitch)

LAA visit to the mound

Throw to first

07 - Ball 3 (Ellsbury steals second)

08 - Foul

09 - Foul

10 - Foul

11 - Foul

12 - Foul

13 - Line drive single into CF, Crawford and Ellsbury score, Boston leads 3-2

joyofsox.blogspot.com

After that nice at-bat, Gonzalez felt he had an obligation to save the game. So when Torii Hunter was on second and Alberto Callaspo hit a grounder to him, he fired to third and got the out.

In the 7th inning, the Red Sox were leading 3-2. Varitek singled and Ellsbury doubled so he went to third. Then Pedroia was walked by the new pitcher (Francisco Rodriguez). When the bases were loaded, Adrian Gonzalez crushed the ball off the Monster to clear the bases. Then Youkilis hit an RBI single to score Gonzo. Then Ortiz hit a two run homer to finish the attack. 

Game 27/162, Red Sox Walk-Off With a Win After an Error and a Nice Hit by Currently Slumping Carl Crawford

Red Sox 3, Mariners 2

Mariners - 000 002 000 - 2 4 0

Red Sox  - 002 000 001 - 3 8 2 

On Sunday, the Red Sox avoid the sweep by walking off in the ninth. So far, May has been a good month for the Red Sox. Buchholz couldn't make Sunday's start due to a stomach ailment so Tim Wakefield took over and did well not giving up a run in 5.2 IP. Then, it all changed when slumping Jenks came in and gave up two runs to tie the game. 

The Red Sox scored 2 runs off of King Felix in the third. In the ninth, with one out, Lowrie hit a high fly ball deep to right. Ichiro lost it in the sun and just like that, Lowrie was on third (not considered an error?) with a triple. The next batter, Carl Crawford who had been slumping, hit a sharp single up the middle to win the game for the Red Sox. 

Players Quotes About the Triple (Joy of Sox):

Ichiro:

The moment that ball hit the sky, I couldn't pick up anything, it just disappeared. It's close to impossible to catch that ball. The decisions were look to the side so the ball could get deeper into myself and maybe hit me, or run back and let it fall down for a single. But ... late in a tight ballgame, you want to make that effort. You don't want to let that ball fall in and make it look like you aren't trying.

Lowrie:

When I hit it, I knew I got it good. He plays a really deep right field, the wind was blowing straight in and I saw him and thought he was camped right under it, which he was. But then the sun. ...

Jamey Wright:

I could tell he didn't see it. He actually came a lot closer than I thought he would. I thought it was going to sail right by him. I had a chance to get out of it with the ground ball, but I threw a cutter to Crawford that got a little too much of the plate. I was trying to get a shoe or glove or something on it, but he hit it too hard.

Players Quotes About the Single to End it (Joy of Sox):


Crawford:

Everything I hit, it seems like it's an out. To see it get through, it was like a big weight was off my shoulders. ... It's a new month.

David Ortiz:

Me and Gonzo, we had a race. I heard Gonzo say, "Man if he gets a hit right here, I'm going to hug him so hard." And then next thing you know, it's like, "OK, that's a good idea," and bam.

Adrian Gonzalez:

[We] just keep telling him that we believe in him. I wouldn't want anybody else in left field. He's the man. ... I keep telling him that the greatest thing for where you're in right now is that you're probably going to hit .330, .340 for the rest of the year. Good things will happen.