FINAL: Royals 8, Red Sox 6
Final: Royals 8, Red Sox 6 The Sox go down in order in the ninth. Hochevar gets the win and Masterson picks up the loss.
Middle 9, 10:35 Bard flirts with 100 mph again, and he strikes out three of the four batters he faced. He was perfect on the night and he's struck out 10 of his last 14 batters he's faced. It's a little empty after the adventure it took to get to him, but the Sox have a chance to make it count for something in these last three outs.
End of 8, 10:28 Green strikes out looking on a Soria curveball. It was his out-pitch, started about eye level right at his shoulder, and ducked into the strike zone. The thing was raw filth, as the kids say.
The Sox only get one run out of a bases loaded situation with one out. If the offense can't dig for a last-inning rally, the loss won't fall squarely on the faulty bullpen after that.
Daniel Bard will return to pitch the ninth and try to keep it a two-run game.
10:25 Kotsay drives a fastball to deep center and flies out. Bay tags at third and scores. Ellsbury moves to third with two down. 8-6, Royals.
Usually lights-out Kansas City closer Joakim Soria will enter for the potential four-out save.
10:19 "Slightly ajar" is now "wide open." The bases are loaded with one out after Jason Varitek reaches on an error. Callaspo ranged to his right and tried to do too much by forcing the double play, but his throw pulled Bloomquist off the bag at second. The crowd is really into this.
Bottom 8, 10:15 Juan Cruz leaves the door slightly ajar for the Sox and walks David Ortiz and Jason Bay back to back.
Top 8, 10:04 On Ramon Ramirez's 40th pitch, Willie Bloomquist singles to deep center, past the dive of Ellsbury, who was trying to keep it from rolling to the warning track. The two-out hit scored Ryan Freel to make it 8-5 Royals. Bard will replace Ramirez, who gave up that one run on three hits and four strikeouts.
Bottom 7, 9:45 Pedroia becomes the second three-hit player of the night with another single. The hit brings him over .300 and knocks Hochevar out of the game. Just gutty.
Top 7, 9:39 The bullpen didn't look particularly sharp in this inning, either, but Ramirez kept the ball on the ground. He gets out of a pair of singles unharmed with the help of another nice Youkilis romp and throw to first. Still 7-5, Royals.
9:17 This is another kind of variation on a theme: David Dejesus thwacks a ball to deep right and, this time, it clears the fence. Justin Masterson would've probably preferred he not break from the script so much. Combined with the bloop single that dropped in front of the waterpark kickslide of Jacoby Ellsbury to score another run, the Royals now lead 7-5.
The Royals will play with fire and leave Hochevar in to start the sixth.
Top 6, 9:10 Manny Delcarmen's outing was a variation on the same theme for tonight: make tough outs, and surrender a run in the process. Alberto Callaspo doubled to right and brought home Mark Teahen again, so Justin Masterson will enter to try to snag a third out. 5-4, Sox.
End of 5, 9:01 The Red Sox absolutely cranked the ball that inning, including two warning track power bombs, the home run and another flyout. In fact, the last seven batters in this game hit the ball deep in the air, and that's why Brad Penny will exit for Manny Delcarmen after five innings.
Here's Brad Penny's livre ferme: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. 97 Pitches, 68 strikes. It's a pretty solid start and -- this is a testament to those starts -- his shortest and easily his worst in his last six outings. The exit seems precautionary and based on those deep fly balls from last inning.
Bottom 5, 8:51 Dustin Pedroia strongarms a Hochevar fastball into the first row of Monster seats. 5-3, Sox. Pedroia didn't want to talk before the game about his wife in labor at the hospital or the All-Star game he might miss to be with her or baseball tonight or baseball any night or anything, really. Which is entirely understandable. He seems to have baseball mode and personal mode right now and that's all he needs to have. His baseball mode seems as focused and as undeterred as possible.
Bottom 4, 8:40 Hochevar's somewhat ballyhooed breaking pitch has a really steep break tonight, but sometimes he's just hanging it over the middle of plate. Nick Green's slapped it to left, but was picked off at first to end the inning.
Top 4, 8:30 The Royals are officially back in this game. Miguel Olivo singled to right on a ball that crawled past Dustin Pedroia, scoring Jose Guillen. Mark Teahen scored when Olivo took second (his third steal of the year) and the throw from Varitek flew over the head of Pedroia. Callaspo then drove a ball high off the scoreboard in left. It's 4-3 Red Sox and the Royals are still rallying with the speedy Callaspo on second. That's the first three-run rally Penny has given up since June 4th.
8:16 Case in point four pitches later: Jason Bay ropes a single to left-center and scores Kevin Youkilis for the second time tonight. 4-0, Sox, and they keep rolling. These fastballs are some nice government cheese for an anemic-but-hungry Sox lineup tonight.
(Do I owe Dennis Eckersley money for saying that?)
Bottom 3, 8:12 Ortiz strikes out and is good-naturedly unhappy with himself. He screamed after missing on a couple of fastballs over the heart of the plate. He probably thinks he could have hit his 301st out on one of those pitches and it seems like all of the Sox are seeing the seams the same way.
Top 3, 8:04 Kevin Youkilis's hard charge on a Billy Butler slow roller to third ends a potentially dangerous inning. Penny had walked David Dejesus and given up a single to Bloomquist with two down.
Bottom 2, 7:50 Nick Green showed off his speed and a nifty slide into second, evading Alberto Callaspo's tag. This turned up nothing, but the Sox are still taking full advantage of Hochevar's breaking stuff.
Top 2, 7:46 Penny flies through the middle of the Royals' order. The best part of the Joe Posnanski link that was shared earlier is that the two largest ads that appear on the page are:
1) a depression hotline, and
2) a PSA about not dying in your hot car while driving on the highway.
Or maybe it was the link to Friday's column, "Royals take all the fun out of a nice Friday," which is something people usually say to their grandkids when they leave the freezer open and melt all the popsicles. They don't usually say this to professional baseball teams. But maybe you say this about the Royals.
End of 1, 7:30 David Ortiz's 300th home run is one of those duck-for-cover blasts. The swing was almost classic Ortiz. Sure, it was a bit inside-out -- it clanged off the sill of the deep part of the Monster then fell back into play. But that pose at the end -- if they had to make a poster out of the silhouette -- you wouldn't have any doubt who it was.
It was a two-run shot. Kevin Youkilis singled in Dustin Pedroia from second a play before it. 3-0, Sox.
The inning is over, but every ball in play that inning was flying off the bat. Hochevar is in love with the middle of the plate right now.
Middle 1, 7:18 Uneventful first for Brad Penny, who leaves the inning with no damage. Willie Bloomquist somehow ended up at third after a steal and a sac fly, but nothing came of it.
Interesting pregame conversation with someone who had just come out of the Royals locker room "because there was nothing going on there." We tried to figure out how many times that sentence was said in that exact way since the early '90s, and decided that it was impossible to count that high. But, hey, they gave us Joe Posnanski. Is there a ring for that sort of thing?
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Man, I thought I was a fairly knowledgable baseball fan until I read the Royal's lineup. Who are these guys?
Most of these player are what other teams would call prospects...... Very young team, a lot of talent
I think Varitek's target-setting--almost always on the outside corner--is counter-productive and is partially responsible for the high pitch counts we see so often. I think it's disruptive because a pitcher seems naturally to overdo it, i.e., to throw balls off the outside corner. Also, hitters with 2 strikes, particularly lefties, sit on pitches on and off the outside corner with Varitek's by now well-known habit. I like Varitek, but he moves the target too much and too often he sets it at the exact corner, disrupting his pitchers.
what is is with Sox pitching and these less than stellar teams?
Speaking of Varitek, has he thrown out ANY base runners this year? I mean three stolen bases in four innings...these are the Royals not the Rays for crying out loud!
cmon Brad your in the Bigs get a 2nd pitch will ya
kotsay is the closest thing to an automatic out in baseball . Another tough game vs a cellar dweller . I hate to say it but the yanks are gonna blow by these guys soon . GET A BAT
Sounds exiting- too bad I never follow hockey..
;)
Have we not learned from the past about stellar teams??? Look at the '07 Patriots... '08 Bruins... '08 Cavaliers... the best overall record does not guarantee that team a world championship...
ahh yes, the underwhelming pitching styles of Mr. Manny Delcarmen. Good for giving up a run or two per inning.
So now we are tied for 1st place... no big deal...
Who are the Royals? They are just the latest team to rip to shreds the most over-rated pitching staff I have ever seen. I've bees saying it for weeks. Penny, Smoltz, Delcarmen, Masterson, Ramirez, Saito all stink!
We can't hold a lead against the Mariners, A's or Royals. The Yankees are licking their chops. We stink right now. The Yankees have the best bullpen. John Farrell should be fired. Who are these bums?
I guess this is the team that mazz talked about. The most overpaid bunch in the league. What is the Royal's payroll? How low can you go????. Maybe Epstein will do something after this home stand. Delcarman is no longer a youngster and should either start producing or get rid of him. Stop making excuses. When is the last time they came back after the other team scored? Oh well sox a $14 Mill. player (Boras's boy) hitting less than 260. Now that is production.
the sox officially SUCK who's gonna beat em next B.C.
Is there a long term issue with Masterson. His ERA has not improved since he went to the bullpen.
Play with fire... BS you must be a the sox payroll. A little objectivity would be appreciated. Oh well you can blame it on the weather.
watch these clowns fade in the 2nd half this is only the start Smoltzie will get it going ha ha ha ha they'll be lucky to finish 3rd
I thought this was the best bull pen in baseball? Even Pap struggles way to often.
So tonight was an off night... the team needs a rest... the first four months are for assessing and evaluating the team to see capabilities and limitations...
Drew Absolutely stinks. Give him away, please. He just keeps on collecting that pay check and smiling all the way to the bank. Maybe Phillie will take him back. Why does the writers ignore what he does? Maybe his ego is too fragile?What a joke. The ALL Stars come through in the clutch.
I wish the authors of these updates (Ben Collins for instance) would give the scores with each update, like some others do. Pain in the butt having to read all the way down looking for the score.
8 - 5 Royals... RR gives up a triple... not the RS night... maybe they need to be in the passenger seat for awhile...
Can anyone from the Globe provide some stats on the bullpen performance for the last few weeks - its been horrible - nobody is safe.
He doesn't want to give the score as he is ashamed that the home team is getting its but kicked, I guess Rameriz is afraid of a 196 hitter. Oh I forgot Delcarmen allowed that hitter to tie the game. A 196 hitter can do it but Youk looks like a fool.Nice team you assembled Epstein. But you did bring Boras's boy and he should solve all problems.
Lets face it... the Yankees are playing lights out baseball and deserve to be tied for 1st place... the RS are not getting it done lately... the season is long and hopefully the FO gets the right instruments to fix the inconsistencies... Youks avg is .057 and long relief has been less than stellar...
Prediction. no clutch hitter to be seen. Kotasy really came through like Boras's boy.
Beg to differ. This loss falls squarely on the offense. They should have buried this team. The offense assembled for the amount of $$$ paid juat doesn't cut it against a bunch of stiffs with plus 6 ERA's. Again when do they get someone to lead with a clutch hit. 1 2 3 in the ninth.
Another o for 5 for Boras's boy.
Youk strikes out to end it. Our All Sta.
Being realistic... if the FO does not get the needed instrument (hitting) then I would say that this whole season was an evaluation tool for SWOT analysis... I remember hearing about how the weak economy could come into the equation in directing the FO in investing in quality players...
Papi has now hit 11 homers in the last month and a half. If he can keep that up after the break, he might have a shot at 30 bombs. After the first two months where I legitimately thought he was over, 30 bombs would be amazing.
The girl that said this was an off night. Do you watch the Sox every night? They let teams back in every night.
The middle relief stinks. Give Bard a shot. Penny is good for 5 innings on a good night. Bring up Buckholtz and trade fat boy Penny. Why is Nancy Drew leading off?Would it kill you to run a ball out or dive for a fly ball. Oh that's right you have a boo boo on your back. How long do we have to put up with this gutless woos?
Arizona, you are one miserable fool. Calm down, take your meds. You should channel your anger to more important subjects. Come on, really?? You think there are that many problems with this team? Only tied for best record in the AL now? Oh no, lets all panic! They'll get another hitter, don't you worry. Go back to your hole for the night.
"what is is with Sox pitching and these less than stellar teams?"
"Speaking of Varitek, has he thrown out ANY base runners this year? I mean three stolen bases in four innings..."
Second things first: Varitek's an older catcher who's been catching 130+ games for the last how-many years. His inability to throw out would-be base stealers should come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention in recent years; see his BA over that same general timeframe. Gotta belive that most any other team who would even play him regularly would A) have/make him hit only RH, and B) not have him catching most, if not all, of the time. Of course, his handling of pitchers is the only reason why he'd play defensively, anymore, so scratch that last one.......
As to the pitching, by and large, the starters have been getting it done. The bullpen, however, has been going south for a while, now. Papelbon's All-Star stats very conveniently hide his propensity for long innings because of of too many baserunners and too many pitches while others, some of whom were so effective earlier on, are now 50-50 at best. If the status quo in the bullpen turns out to be a not-so-temporary hiccup, Tito's gonna have to at least think about stretching his starters out a little bit more than the modern norm from time to time.......
Meanwhile, their recent trend of not putting away and losing to too many non-division patsies, most lately at home, also bears watching. An of late, if it's not the offense not adding runs, it's the aforementioned bullpen giving it up. Last Monday, they made Oakland's Anderson, an early-20's rookie, look like Sandy Koufax, and that wasn't the first time in 2009 that they made a usually-nondescript pitcher look (too) good. Last night, Wakefield left with a 4-1 lead and came too close to not getting the win, courtesy of the aforementioned bullpen; practically ditto for tonight, except that they lost. Youk's in feee-fall and has been that way for far too long for a guy with his chops. Problem is that with Lowell on the DL (that has hurt the Sox more than anyone wants to admit), they haven't been able to give Youk a blow and Bay's performance has suffered as well.......
what the (fill in the rest here)
I don't mind losing but losing to teams you should beat is almost inexcusable. Sadly, I saw this happening when one writer (unsure if it was a Globe guy or not) made the case of how easy these last games before the AS break would be for the Sox.
The latest discussions are whether or not the Sox should go for Halladay - if the middle relief keeps looking like this then they'd almost have to try. Halladay can go longer than 5 innings at a time, that's for sure.
Joe B., "Nancy" Drew is leading off because his OBP is hovering just under .400 (.376 at the moment, good for 2nd on the team, behind Youk.. and it would be insane to bat Youk leadoff) and he seems to be the only player on this team capable of maintaining that performance at the top of the line-up. Ellsbury has been crap in the top spot and it somehow affects Pedroia's production too, so I'm comfortable with putting Drew at the top spot especially with Papi's mid-season return to form. Jeez, you'd think people might actually analyze stats before throwing around stupid schoolyard insults...
THEO, MAYBE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED. YOUR TEAM IS IN FREEFALL., WHILE THE YANKEES AND RAYS ARE CELEBRATING EVERY NIGHT. I'M AWARE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE NEED TO BE PATIENT, BUT WHEN WHEN SECOND AND THIRD TIER TEAMS RIDE INTO FENWAY LATELY THEIR EYES LIGHT UP WITH VISIONS OF CONQUERING THE FENWAY AURA. THEY DON'T FEAR FENWAY ANYMORE, THEO. THEY NEED A JOLT. MAYBE SEWING PATCHES OF LIGHTNING STRIKES ON THE SLEEVES OF THE BOSTON UNIFORMS WOULD HELP.
T0 THEO: The time has come to patch those uniform sleeves with lightning strikes. At this time in 1912 the Red Sox were on a line to the World Series.
Our current team is on a line to not even making the playoffs. As Ms Palen would say, "That's relistic".
My humble opinion is that Brad Penny is the weak link on the Red Sox pitching staff. Not that he hasn't been a decent number 5 starter, for the most part he has. He doesn't have too many games where he shuts the other team down. If the Sox are ooking to trade someone, he's their man. And how do the Sox go from having the best relief staff to one that has been mediocre?
Wake me up when the team starts caring again and maybe I'll tune in. Until then, this "going through the motions" phase until the All Star break is not what I watch the Red Sox for.
Angel ssweep Yankees and we win next 3 and all will be well at the all star break!
GO SOX!
I have been a sox fan for too long to feel comfortable no matter how many games up we are (0 as of last night). However, I generally try to stay optimistic and trust the front office to do the right thing. They have a pretty good track record after all.
That all being said.. whey the *@**#$ are we losing to teams like Seattle and KC??! Especially when we hand the ball to supposedly the best bullpen in baseball? AHHKJSDFJKJASDKJFKJAKSJD!!@!@!@###
This team needs to do something..we made no moves in the offseason, time to open the wallet.
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