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A TEAM THAT COULDN'T
GET THE JOB DONE ... July 2, 2017 ... The Red Sox could have sent Drew Pomeranz back to the San Diego Padres last season but didn’t. Nearly a year later, it’s a decision that looks better every time he takes the mound. He was sharp again on Sunday in a 15-1 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays. He is 5-1 with a 2.54 earned run average in his last eight starts, pitching deeper into games than he did earlier in the season and at a quicker tempo. Right now, he’s the best starter in the rotation outside of Chris Sale. Pomeranz allowed one run on five hits over six innings. He might have gone seven but there was no need given the score. In a 2-1 game in the third inning, Toronto had two runners on with one out when Pomeranz spotted a curveball down in the strike zone and got Josh Donaldson to ground into a double play. Toronto starter Joe Biagini allowed seven runs on 10 hits before coming out of the game in the sixth inning. Ramirez had a two-out RBI single in the first inning and Betts one in the second. Then the game got of hand. After Tzu-Wei Lin and Deven Marrero had bunted for base hits in a rare moment in Red Sox history in the fourth inning, Mookie Betts banged a three-run homer, which at the time produced a 5-1 lead en route to a 15-1 win over the Blue Jays. Betts finished with two home runs and eight RBIs and capped the day by being selected to the AL All-Star team, along with Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel. Mr. Betts singlehandedly dismantled the Blue Jays. He lined a two-run shot down the line in left in the sixth. The ball left the park in a blink. Betts’s eight RBIs matched a career high and were the most for a leadoff hitter since Sept. 23, 2003, when Colorado’s Ronnie Belliard had eight against Arizona. He is hitting .286 with 15 homers and 51 RBIs after today’s onslaught. He now has an .873 OPS. He also has 15 stolen bases and is on pace to have a 30/30 season. He also has a league-leading 27 doubles. Last season, Mookie hit .318 with 31 homers, 42 doubles, 113 RBIs, and an .897 OPS. What fans want is home runs and Betts provided two of them. What Red Sox fans want is an explosive offense well, 15 runs on 21 hits covered that. Betts had four hits to go along with his eight RBIs and stolen base. Not to mention his Gold Glove play in right. Granted, the Sox’ outburst came against a Toronto team that looks old, slow, and uninterested. But they are division rivals and they were the team picked most often to beat the Red Sox in preseason predictions. They have not come close to that. In the fourth inning, when the two bunt hits and homer occurred, Red Sox broadcaster Joe Castiglione, who started broadcasting the Red Sox in 1983, couldn’t come up with a scenario similar to that one. The Red Sox usually don’t come up with two bunt singles in a game, let alone back-to-back. The Sox scored eight runs on nine hits in the seventh inning, sending 12 men to the plate. Marrero had a two-run double with the bases loaded. Betts followed with a two-run single. Andrew Benintendi, who had struck out in his three previous at-bats, doubled to left field to score Betts. Dustin Pedroia’s double to right field scored Benintendi. That ended the inning for the unfortunate Glenn Sparkman. Facing Jeff Beliveau, Ramirez homered to left-center. Betts had the spotlight offensively. But the bottom two hitters in the order, Tzu-Wei Lin and Deven Marrero, were 6 of 10 with five runs scored and two RBIs. Marrero was 3 for 5 and now has 10 hits in his last 22 at-bats. Every starter had at least one hit and all but Mitch Moreland scored at least one run. Jackie Bradley Jr. and Hanley Ramirez each had three hits. Ramirez is 12 of his last 31 with seven extra-base hits and seven RBIs. The first-place Sox (47-35) have won four straight and six of seven. They now lead the Yankee by three games in the division. The three-game sweep dropped Toronto 9½ games out. The Jays have lost eight of 10. |
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