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AARON HILL |
ONE LAST RUN FOR A
RED SOX LEGEND -
FROM SEASON CHAMPS
TO PLAYOFF CHUMPS
The Sox came back
after blowing
another 8th inning lead
August
31, 2016 ...
After the bullpen blew a two-run lead in the eighth, Aaron Hill's
go-ahead single and Jackie Bradley Jr.'s insurance-run double sent
the Red Sox past the Tampa Bay Rays, 8-6.
The Red
Sox have lost seven games in which they led at the start of the eighth inning,
tied for third most in the American League. They have a 4.64 ERA in the eighth
inning, which is 11th out of 15 AL teams.
Had they
lost again, it would have been easy to second-guess manager John Farrell on this
one. Why not use Craig Kimbrel for a four-out save, rather than let Junichi
Tazawa try to get out of a jam that was created by Fernando Abad? It's because
Farrell stuck to the pregame plan of not using Kimbrel for more than an inning
after he'd pitched an inning in a loss to the Rays the night before. And why did
he pitch in a loss? Because he hadn't pitched in six days and Farrell believed
he had to get some work. Going a seventh day would have been pretty tough on
him.
Farrell
also did not have Brad Ziegler (illness) available, and he had to use Abad with
a man on and two outs in the seventh. Abad got out of that by striking out Brad
Miller, and after he was allowed to start the eighth, he loaded the bases.
Farrell opted for Tazawa, who didn't get a call on a pitch that looked to be
strike three and then allowed a two-run single to Logan Forsythe that tied the
game at 6-6.
But in the
bottom of the eighth, the Red Sox rallied against Erasmo Ramirez. Hanley
Ramirez, who had hit a go-ahead grand slam in the fifth, walked to lead off. He
advanced to second on a well-placed sacrifice bunt by Sandy Leon, took third on
a single to left by pinch hitter Brock Holt, and scored on Hill's single. Hill
was 0 for 3 to that point and had come into the game hitting .194.
Hanley
Ramirez's grand slam had temporarily bailed Steven Wright out of a three-run
deficit and given the Sox a 5-4 lead that expanded to 6-4 with Bradley's
sixth-inning solo homer.
The Red
Sox finally got some good swings against Drew Smyly, who had held them scoreless
for 202/3 innings, which included the first out of the first inning. Bradley
(single), Dustin Pedroia (single), and Mookie Betts (walk) all reached in front
of Ramirez, who slammed a first-pitch fastball deep into the center-field
bleachers, sending the daytime crowd into a frenzy.
Wright,
who lasted just four innings, hasn't been able to regain his All-Star form since
returning from the disabled Aug. 26. He has allowed four home runs and nine
earned runs in 11 innings.
In the
first inning, he allowed a ground-rule RBI double by Miller, then a two-run
homer by Forsythe in the second inning and a solo homer by Logan Morrison to
right field in the fourth.
Wright, who allowed four
runs in four innings in Wednesday afternoon's 8-6 win over the Rays, was trying
to get that feeling again. His two starts after a stint on the disabled list
haven't been good. |
