Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez continue slumps in Red Sox’ 2-1 loss to Blue Jays
The season is too short, and the Red Sox aren’t good enough to be wasting chances like they did Saturday night and losing very winnable games.
In what’s becoming a theme for the Red Sox this season, the pitching was good enough, the defense was more than good enough, but the offense was nowhere to be found. The Sox held a late lead, but just one run wasn’t enough for the bullpen to hold in a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox dropped to 5-9 on the season as Nathan Eovaldi takes the mound for Sunday afternoon’s rubber game. Here were the takeaways:
Offense continues to slump: The Red Sox’ 13-run explosion on opening night is increasingly just looking like a tease for what should be one of the best offenses in baseball. On Saturday night, they wasted big chances and their best hitters continued to be ice cold at the plate.
Christian Vazquez’s RBI single in the second that gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead was ultimately the only run they scratched across. Xander Bogaerts continued to look locked in at the plate, going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, but that was about it. The Red Sox went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position — including a pair of inning-ending double plays — and left seven on base.
To make matters worse, the combo of Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez continued to not look like themselves at the plate. The two are a combined 0-for-15 with seven strikeouts over the last two nights.
Zack Godley bounces back: On the same day Ryan Weber was optioned to Pawtucket, posing more problems for the starting rotation — or what’s left of it — the Red Sox desperately needed some positives on the mound Saturday night. Godley delivered for them.
Ron Roenicke said before the game that he was hopeful that Godley could become a reliable option and a regular in the rotation, and he certainly earned at least another turn. After a disastrous first start last weekend against the Yankees, Godley was much better in his first start at Fenway, throwing four shutout innings as he gave up three hits, walked two and struck out three before getting lifted after 67 pitches.
Godley had his cutter working early, striking out both Travis Shaw and Teoscar Hernandez swinging with it in the first. The right-hander induced five swings and misses in the first and eight in the game.
Godley cruised through the second inning on just seven pitches, and though he was a bit wild at times and got into some trouble in the fourth by putting runners at first and second with two outs, he barreled down to induce Randal Grichuk into a pop-out to end his outing clean.
Red Sox continue their tremendous defense: For the Red Sox to have a chance this season, they’re going to have to continue to make big plays on defense behind a shaky pitching staff. It’s been great so far this season, and they made a highlight reel of plays on Saturday.
Andrew Benintendi made a diving catch in short left in the second inning, and Mitch Moreland made a pair of impressive plays at first — one on a terrific pick of a Travis Shaw grounder and another on an unassisted double play — but the biggest plays came in right field.
Kevin Pillar, who pinch hit for the struggling Benintendi in the fourth, swapped outfield positions with Alex Verdugo and made his presence felt in a big way. In the sixth, as the Sox led 1-0 with Shaw on second, Phillips Valdez gave up a single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but Pillar fired a laser to the plate, and though it ended up a bit up the third-base line, it was on time for Christian Vazquez to apply the tag on Shaw for a huge out.
In the seventh, Pillar was at it again as he tracked down a deep fly ball hit by Rowdy Tellez, making an outstanding catch as he plowed hard into the right-field wall. Unfortunately, Heath Hembree couldn’t repay the deed, eventually giving up a game-tying RBI double to Bo Bichette.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3aaPzDG
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