|
|
A TEAM THAT COULDN'T
GET THE JOB DONE ... April 15, 2017 ... For Chris Sale, the game was over after the top of the seventh inning. He had thrown 111 pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays and that was enough. Manager John Farrell, pitching coach Carl Willis, and Sale’s teammates shook his hand and patted his back after what was another terrific performance for his new team. A starting pitcher has the right to go back to the clubhouse at that point and many do. They ice their arms, grab a shower, and watch the rest of the game on television. But Sale stayed in the dugout, eager to watch the bottom of the inning. Sale, along with the rest of the spectators at Fenway Park, saw the Red Sox push across a run to beat the Rays, 2-1. It was the first victory of the season for Sale, who allowed one run on three hits and struck out 12. Outside of the third inning, when he allowed a run and put four runners on base, Sale was almost perfect. He retired the final 10 batters before handing it over to the bullpen. Through three starts, Sale has allowed three runs on 11 hits over 21⅔ innings and struck out 29. The lefthander has been even better than what the Red Sox hoped for when they traded for him in December. The winning run was a piecemeal affair, but certainly timely. Mitch Moreland led off the seventh with a single to center against Tommy Hunter. Xander Bogaerts followed with a single to right field. When Pablo Sandoval grounded to first baseman Logan Morrison, the Rays were only able to get an out at second base because Hunter was late covering first. Chris Young fell behind, 0 and 2, then drew a walk to load the bases. He watched two close pitches that just missed. With Sandy Leon up, the Rays went to lefty Xavier Cedeno, a ground-ball pitcher. Leon broke his bat on a dribbler to second base, but the ball was hit too slowly for a double play and Moreland scored. Matt Barnes replaced Sale to start the eighth inning. With one out, he walked Steven Souza Jr. and pinch hitter Corey Dickerson. The sellout crowd, for reasons unclear, started doing the wave as the tension grew. Barnes fell behind Evan Longoria but jammed him with a fastball that was grounded to third base. Sandoval started a double play. Longoria had been 3 for 5 with two home runs against Barnes. Craig Kimbrel struck out two the ninth inning for his fourth save. The Rays finished with three hits, all singles, and struck out 15 times. The Sox hitters didn’t fare much better. Moreland had three of the team’s six hits. Rays starter Jake Odorizzi allowed a leadoff single by Dustin Pedroia in the first inning and retired the side from there. But he left the game after throwing one pitch in the second inning because of tightness in his left hamstring. Erasmo Ramirez replaced Odorizzi and his first pitch was a fastball that Moreland drove into the seats in right field for his first home run. Sale allowed a run in the third as he threw 28 pitches. He uncharacteristically walked two. He locked the Rays down from there. His 111th and final pitch was 97 miles per hour. The Sox have scored six runs in the three games Sale has started — three when he has been in the game. Those trends usually change over the course of a long season and Sale is confident he’ll get plenty of run support over time. |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
 |
 |
