October 9,
2017
...
What a game, and what a heartbreaking way for
the season to end. In many ways, this season-ending contest was a
microcosm of the Red Sox season. Rick Porcello was counted upon and
didn’t do the job, though he was somehow better than he seemed. Chris
Sale was incredible for the first part of his outing, but the Red Sox
probably leaned a little too hard on him and he gave up a
back-breaking home run. The offense had some chances to take control
of the game early but Boston’s lineup couldn’t come through with the
big hit in the first third of the game. These were problems all year,
and they led to the early exit. The one part of the loss that wasn’t
a microcosm was Craig Kimbrel, who simply didn’t get the job done in
the ninth. He was nails all year, but in the biggest game of 2017 he
didn’t come through.
As has happened in
every game this season, the Astros got on the board first thanks to a shaky
first inning from the Red Sox starter. Rick Porcello was playing that role this
time around, and his command was clearly off in this game. He kicked things off
by allowing a double to George Springer, who would then move over to third on a
wild pitch. After walking Josh Reddick, Porcello finally made a big pitch to
induce a huge double play from Jose Altuve. The Astros did get a run on the
play, but the two-outs-for-one-run tradeoff was one Boston would certainly take.
Porcello would get into more trouble in the inning with a walk and a hit by
pitch, but once again he made a huge pitch and struck out Alex Bregman to end
the inning with just a 1-0 deficit.
This time around, the Red
Sox didn’t waste much time getting back into the game, as it took exactly one
batter. Xander Bogaerts was hitting second on Monday in order to see a few
pitches before taking his cuts, and that worked out masterfully. He got a
fastball right over the heart of the plate from Charlie Morton and he didn’t
miss it, lining it right into the bullpens for a game-tying solo homer. Boston
would get another runner into scoring position with Mookie Betts singling then
stealing second, but he was stranded there.
Unfortunately, Porcello still didn’t have it in the second.
He led that inning off by allowing a triple to Yuli Gurriel, though it could
have been less damaging as Betts attempted a sliding stop on the rolling ball
but it got by him to the wall. Either way, there was a runner at third with
nobody out. Porcello came back with a couple big strikeouts to get to two outs,
but then allowed a solid single to Springer to give Houston back their one-run
lead. Once again he’d get into more trouble, allowing a single and a walk to
load the bases. But once again he got out of it with a big strikeout, this time
against the powerful Carlos Correa.
In the bottom of the second, the Red Sox hit their
lowest point of the game. Things started out great with two singles and a walk
to load the bases with nobody out and Morton on the ropes. They had to
get something here. Instead, Jackie Bradley and Dustin Pedroia both struck out
on borderline calls, with the latter’s resulting in an argument that would end
with John Farrell’s ejection. The Red Sox were suddenly down to two outs and
Bogaerts hit a lazy fly ball to end the inning without a single run being
scored. It was a gut punch to be sure.
Porcello then came back out for the third in what
seemed like a questionable decision, but it worked out as he allowed just one
double in a scoreless inning. That was his last inning of the day, and while he
wasn’t sharp and got into some bad jams, he did a great job of pitching himself
out of the trouble he created. The bottom half of the third would be another
frustrating one for the Red Sox, meanwhile. Andrew Benintendi led off with a
single. He made a mistake after that, though, on a Betts line drive right at
Bregman. Instead of freezing, Benintendi took a step or two towards second base
and was doubled up at first base in a momentum killer. Sure enough, Mitch
Moreland followed that with a double. In the next at bat, Hanley Ramirez it a
mammoth shot that just went foul before settling for a bloop single into left
field. That wouldn’t matter much as Moreland was sent home for no apparent
reason and gunned down by a mile. There’s running aggressively and running
stupidly, and the Red Sox were on the latter side in the third inning.
With Porcello out of the game and rain coming down, the Red
Sox decided they weren’t messing around and turned to Chris Sale out of the
bullpen, his first time in this role since 2012. He was great. He got Boston’s
first 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, and after the Red Sox lineup went down in
order themselves in the bottom half, Sale came back for the fifth and retired
three more in order.
That would bring us to the bottom of the fifth and
this game was ready to jump up to another level of nuttiness. Morton was still
in the game to start the inning for the Astros, and he got one out and allowed
one walk before getting removed. Coming in for Houston in a surprising move was
Justin Verlander. The Astros ace had never pitched out of relief even dating
back to his college days, and suddenly he was being brought in with runners on
base. The plan backfired as Benintendi came to the plate first. He made up for
his error on the basepaths by taking a hanging breaking ball and hitting it into
the seats in the short right field corner, causing the Fenway crowd to explode
and giving the Sox their first lead of the day.
From here, it was all up to the bullpen and that meant it
was all up to Sale. He was up to the task for an inning, at least. He came out
for the sixth and he did allow a baserunner, but it came on an error as Gurriel
hit a ground ball to third base that Devers tried to back hand rather than get
in front of. That would put a runner on second with just one out, but Sale came
back with two strikeouts to get out of the jam. He’d then come back out for the
seventh against the meat of the Astros order. Springer led things off with a
single before Sale got two big outs after that. That brought up Correa, who
would get a single of his own to put two on with two outs and Marwin
Gonzalez coming up. Sale put on a clinic in this at bat, eventually ending
things with a filthy back-foot slider to strike him out and end the Astros
chance.
After the Red Sox failed to get to Verlander in
the seventh and the lead still at 3-2, Sale came back out for the eighth. It
didn’t work. Alex Bregman led things off and he got a changeup right over the
heart of the plate and didn’t miss. The third baseman rocked it into the Monster
Seats and in the blink of an eye this game was all tied up again.
Sale would stay in the game after this, getting a ground
ball for out number one before allowing a ball just down the third base line to
Evan Gattis in the next at bat. It was right on the border of being fair or
foul, but it was called fair and went past the bag before the ball girl went to
pick it up. This would be a break for the Red Sox, as the umps ruled Gattis had
to stay at first after the play. Sale stayed in for one more batter, getting a
lineout before handing things off to Craig Kimbrel. The home run Sale allowed
was brutal, but all-in-all this was an incredible and clutch outing for the Red
Sox ace.
Kimbrel was clearly amped up to start this
appearance and was yanking fastballs to his glove side in a first at bat that
led to a walk. With two outs and two on, Reddick came to the plate. Kimbrel was
noticeably calmer in this at bat, but Reddick put up a great fight getting to a
full count and fouling off fastball after fastball. Kimbrel finally caught a bit
too much of the plate with one and Reddick slapped it through the left side,
allowing a run to score and Houston to regain the lead.
So, it was up to the Red Sox offense to come back
again like they’ve done so many times this year. The Astros continued to play
with urgency, sending their closer Ken Giles out for six outs. The eighth inning
did not go well with the Red Sox hitting into three ground outs for a quick
frame. Kimbrel came back out for the ninth and continued to struggle, eventually
allowing Houston to get an insurance run and open up a two-run lead.
That insurance run would
appear to loom large to start off the bottom half of the ninth. Devers came up
and smacked a ball to deep center field. Springer went for the leaping grab but
came up short, leaving nobody to get the ricocheting ball. Devers kept running
all the way around for an inside-the-park home run. 5-4 Astros. Giles would
settle down from here, though, getting a ground out and strike out to leave it
all up to Pedroia. He couldn’t come through, ending a tough at bat with a ground
out to end the game, and with it, the season.
