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"THE FUTURE AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE" August 18, 2015 ... Rookie lefthander Eduardo Rodriguez pitched well and the Red Sox offense piled up hits against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park en route to a 9-1 victory. When the players returned to the clubhouse, new team president Sam Kennedy was waiting with an announcement that quickly pushed the victory into the background. The Red Sox, Kennedy said, had hired Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations, effective immediately. Ben Cherington declined an offer to remain with the team as general manager. The Red Sox were 290-315 in Cherington's three-plus seasons as general manager, 124-157 the last two seasons. The 2013 World Series championship is now seen as an outlier; the team finished in last place in 2012 and 2014 and is last again this season. Rodriguez (7-5) again showed why he could be a big part of the future. The 22-year-old allowed one run on six hits and struck out five without a walk. The eight innings and 114 pitches were career highs. Rookie first baseman Travis Shaw was 4 for 4 for the Sox, who had 16 hits against five Cleveland pitchers. Shaw is 21 for 40 in 12 games at Fenway. Brock Holt was 3 for 5 with two RBIs. Blake Swihart also drove in two runs. Ortiz was 2 for 4 with two doubles, a walk and one RBI. Hanley Ramirez, whose signing perhaps represents Cherington's worst move as GM, was 0 for 5 and booed at various points during the game. Ramirez is hitting .259. Holt had a triple to right field with one out in the first inning. When Xander Bogaerts bounced a ball to third base, Holt was tagged out going back to the bag. But Ortiz lined a double down the right-field line to score Bogaerts. The ball struck the wall past the Pesky Pole and the umpires checked to see if Ortiz had actually homered. But the call stood. The Sox scored four runs in the second inning and knocked Indians starter,Trevor Bauer (9-10) out of the game. Pablo Sandoval led off with a single to left field. Shaw also singled before Rusney Castillo grounded to third base. Mike Aviles stepped on third to get Sandoval but his throw to first base was wild. Shaw went to third and Castillo to second. Blake Swihart walked on five pitches to load the bases. Mookie Betts appeared to strike out on three pitches but the third swing was ruled a foul tip by first base umpire Mark Wegner. Betts, who was walking back to the dugout, came back and took a curveball in the dirt before lining another curveball over the head of left fielder Francisco Lindor. The ball took a hard bounce off the wall and by the time the Indians recovered, three runs had scored. Swihart raced around the bases, scoring without a play being made. Holt then singled to drive in Betts. For the Red Sox, the last few weeks have been ones of seismic change. Larry Lucchino, the team president since 2002, announced Aug. 2 that he would step down after the season. On Friday, manager John Farrell delivered the stunning news that he has Stage 1 lymphoma. Now Cherington is out, and more changes are sure to follow as Dombrowski brings in new faces to change the look of what has become a stagnant organization. Pedroia is hopeful the change will lead to success. |
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