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JACKIE BRADLEY JR |
"THE FUTURE AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE"
The Red Sox offense explodes
August 15, 2015 ... With
one out in the third inning, teammates surrounded Felix Hernandez at
the pitcher’s mound as Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon jogged out of
the visitor’s dugout to try to spare him from giving up another run.
By that time, the Red Sox had shaken down the former Cy Young Award
winner for nine runs, one shy of the most Hernandez had ever allowed,
and it felt like McClendon was trying to spare him from enduring the
worst start of his career.
It marked
the first time in 65 years that a team scored 15 or more runs and had 21 or more
hits in consecutive games. The last team to accomplish the feat was the 1950 Red
Sox. The 22 runs were the most the Red Sox have scored in a dozen years (they
beat the Marlins, 25-8, in 2003).
The Sox
batted around in three innings for the first time since 1986. Bogaerts was 4 for
7 with two RBIs. Mookie Betts was 3 for 5 and Holt 3 for 6, each scoring two
runs and adding two RBIs. David Ortiz was 3 for 3 and drove in three runs. Blake
Swihart had a career-high four hits, scoring four times and driving in three.
Of all the
numbers in the box score, Jackie Bradley Jr.’s career day stood out most. He had
his first two-homer game, connecting on two-run homers in the second and eighth
innings. Bradley set career highs with seven RBIs and five hits. With three
doubles, he became the youngest major leaguer since Larry Twitchell in 1889 to
have at least five extra-base hits in a game.
Over seven
innings, Wade Miley made it a point to do his job as quickly as possible. He
gave up two runs on four hits to earn his first win since July 2.
As smoothly
as things went for Miley, the opposite was true for Hernandez, who came in with
a 3-1 record and 2.60 ERA at Fenway Park. He allowed three home runs (to
Bradley, Pablo Sandoval, and Alejandro De Aza) after giving up just three
overall in his previous 10 starts. To make things worse, a fastball got away
from him in the third inning, clipping Sandoval on the right elbow. X-rays were
negative and Hernandez said it wasn’t intentional. The dominance that earned
Hernandez the title “King Felix” didn’t seem to intimidate Betts, Bogaerts, and
Bradley, all of whom entered the game hitless against him.
The Sox,
meanwhile, have had two days that don’t come around often. |
