Workman Shows Improvement, but Not Enough for Red Sox Win

After a very rough start against the Cubs his last time on the hill, Brandon Workman showed some promise in getting back on track Tuesday, but it was not enough as the Red Sox fell to a Chicago club for the fifth time in as many games over the past week.

His final line for the night was seven innings pitched, allowing five runs – three earned – on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Workman got off to a good start by striking out Adam Eaton to begin the game. He then got Gordon Beckham to fly out to right and Jose Abreu to ground out to second for a 1-2-3 first inning on just 10 pitches.

The second didn’t go so smoothly, as singles by Alexei Ramirez and Conor Gillaspie followed a leadoff walk to Adam Dunn. A botched double play attempt by Mike Napoli on a Dayan Viciedo grounder let a run score without anyone getting out. A successful twin-killing on a grounder by Alejandro De Aza made it 2-0, but got two important outs for the Red Sox. Workman then struck out Tyler Flowers to end the inning with the Red Sox down two.

Workman got Eaton and Beckham to ground out for the first two outs of the third. A double by Abreu ended up being for naught, as Dunn grounded out to strand the Chicago first baseman at second and end the top of the frame.

In the top of the fourth, Workman got Ramirez to fly out to center before Conor Gillaspie doubled off the Green Monster. Gillaspie moved up to third on a ground out by Viciedo, then scored the third White Sox run on a bloop single to left by De Aza that evaded Stephen Drew’s glove. De Aza tried to take second with Flowers in the batter’s box, but a perfect throw by David Ross caught the would-be basestealer and put an end to the half inning.

Workman struck out Flowers to begin the fifth, then issued a walk to Eaton before Ross gunned down another White Sox runner, this time Eaton trying to take second. Beckham then struck out to send the Red Sox defense off the field.

After the Red Sox had tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, Jose Abreu singled to start the sixth, but Workman then got two outs by striking out Dunn and getting Ramirez to fly out. Gillaspie then hooked a shot around the Pesky Pole and into the right field stands for a two-run homer to make it 5-3 before Viciedo flew out to end the inning.

Workman came back out for the seventh after throwing 97 pitches through the first six innings. He got two outs on six pitches as De Aza grounded out and Flowers popped out, but Eaton then got into scoring position with a double to left. Bogaerts then got his starter out of it with a nice pick at third to strand Eaton.

Workman would be done after seven innings, in line for the loss with the Red Sox still trailing 5-3 as Andrew Miller entered the game in the eighth. The eventual loss dropped Workman’s record to 1-3 on the year.

It was an improvement from his last outing, as he got 21 outs on Tuesday and left with the Red Sox down by two. His three earned runs were his lowest since giving up just two on June 15 against the Indians; before his last two appearances, he had never given up more than three earned runs in a major league start.