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Boston Red Sox vs Baltimore Orioles Recap

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A four game series versus the Orioles will take place Thursday through Sunday. The Orioles are in last place in the AL East, and the Sox are tied for first place with the New York Yankees. This weekend will also mark the showdown of Mookie Betts and Manny Machado, the top two leaders in the home run race for the MLB. Dustin Pedroia, Austin Maddox, and Tyler Thornburg will all play in Rochester this weekend with minor league affiliate Pawtucket Red Sox. The Red Sox look to keep their lead and overrule the Yankees to be sole leader of the AL East. David Price will be up first on the mound Thursday night. Then Pomeranz, Porcello, and Rodriguez will follow.

Price vs. Gausman – a Full Game for Price

David Price had himself quite the night. He pitched nine innings in under 100 pitches, and came out with a win. Price struck out eight batters and let up only five hits. J.D. Martinez hit a two run homer in the first, and Xander Bogaerts hit a three run homer in the fifth, providing Price with plenty of run support. Showalter didn’t hesitate to wait for Bogaerts to finish rounding the bases before speed walking to take Gausman out. The Orioles skipper was so in the moment he did not even realize that Bogaerts hadn’t even made it home. Kevin Gausman pitched a little under five innings, letting up six runs and eight hits, striking out six and walking two. Boston won their second straight game after beating the Oakland Athletics 6-4 on Wednesday to avoid a three game sweep. Baltimore was 5-7 coming in.

“They’re a free-swinging team,” said Price, who threw just 95 pitches. “You can go out there and do that or you can go out there for three innings and give up a bunch of runs.”

”We just got into some sticky situations where we just had to dig ourselves out of a hole and we just couldn’t,” Susac said.

“He was amazing,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “He was outstanding. You saw it. Bad swings, up, down, in and out, change up, cutter, sinkers … that was fun to watch.”

Pomeranz vs. Cobb – Cobb Takes His First Win in an Orioles Jersey

The Orioles beat the Red Sox 7-4, ending Baltimore’s 13-game road losing streak. Cobb held the Red Sox to three runs and ten hits over six innings. It was Alex Cobb’s first game as an Orioles pitcher, he previously spent the past 11 seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays. Drew Pomeranz only lasted four innings, getting pulled after the Orioles scored four in the fourth. Pomeranz let up seven hits and walked three. He struck out a season-low of two. Mookie Betts doubled twice and hit his 14th homer this season. One day after Machado took the AL lead with his 14th homer, Betts tied him with his solo shot in the third and his three-hit night raised his American League leading batting average to .371.

 

“He’s a dangerous combination right now,” Cobb said of Betts. “Betts is just locked in. He’s where every ballplayer strives to get to.”

“I can’t remember the last time we won a game on a road,” said Machado after the Orioles win.

“It’s just pretty frustrating,” Pomeranz said. “You put so much time and effort into it and you want to throw a good game for your team, especially the way our offense is. Just trying to keep us in the game, and I didn’t do that tonight.”

Porcello vs. Bundy – Mookie Betts Is Still the Best in the MLB

Betts hit a two run homer before Andrew Benintendi followed with a homer of his own in the fifth inning, and the Red Sox beat the Orioles 6-3 on Saturday night. The rain was not enough to stop Mookie from having himself a night. Mookie is hitting a major-league best .368 with 15 homers and 32 RBI’s out of the lead off spot for the Sox. Rick Porcello gave up three runs over six innings, with nine strikeouts, and three walks. Alvarez’s two run homer got it to 4-3 in the sixth, but Benintendi’s single made it 6-3 in the seventh. Craig Kimbrel captured his 13th save of the season. Eduardo Rodriguez is set to start against his former team on Sunday.

“It’s incredible. It’s a lot of fun to watch. I don’t know what to say,” pitcher Rick Porcello said. “When he gets his pitch, he’s not missing it. When he doesn’t get his pitch, he’s not missing it.”

“He’s in a groove right now. But, it’s not like he’s hot-hot,” Benintendi said. “It feels like he can get hotter.”

Rodriguez vs. Hess – the Sox Take the Series Win over Orioles

Eduardo Rodriguez held the Orioles scoreless over almost six innings to earn the win. Rodriguez let up nine hits with no walks and seven strikeouts, improving his record to 4-1 and lowering his ERA to 4.13. J.D. Martinez recorded his eighth career multi-homer game and first with the Red Sox. He led off the second inning with a first-pitch homer to left then added a two-run shot in the fifth to tie Mookie Betts for the Major League lead in home runs with 15. Mitch Moreland doubled before Martinez hit his second homer of the day. His first came in the second inning. Andrew Benintendi hit his fifth home run of the season to bring both himself and another runner in to score. The Sox got the win 5-0 to end the series and this home stand.

Up Next

Second baseman Dustin Pedroia went zero for three in a rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday and he will play at some point in the next week.  Alex Cora said he’d like to see Pedroia play consecutive games before coming back to the majors. The Sox are 31-15 and hold first place in the AL East. The Red Sox will travel to Tampa Bay for a three game series versus the Rays, and then return home for a weekend series against the Atlanta Braves.

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Boston Red Sox vs Oakland Athletics Series Recap

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The Red Sox will be back home in Boston after their 11 day road trip. Facing the Oakland Athletics are Rick Porcello, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Chris Sale. The Sox have won the last seven out of 13 games, while Oakland won five out the last 12 games. The Red Sox will face pitcher Sean Manaea for the first time since his no hitter game in April. The Sox hope that being on Fenway soil will help them defeat the Athletics. This series will also be the last time that the Red Sox will face the Athletics during the regular season.

Porcello vs. Manaea

 

Sean Manaea pitched a no hitter to the Red Sox last month. J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers each hit a solo home run for the Red Sox. Porcello let up five runs and nine hits over six innings, and struck out five. Trailing in the fourth inning, the Athletics grasped the lead with three runs. Lucroy had a two-run double into the left-field corner before Fowler tripled off the Monster. The Red Sox caught up 4-3 in the fifth, when Hanley Ramirez scored a run with a ground ball. J.D. Martinez hit straight out to the Sox bullpen in the eighth to score. Benintendi and Ramirez got back to back RBI singles. Unfortunately, it was not enough, and Oakland won Monday night’s game 6-5.

“We talked about not expanding down in the zone,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “Overall, we did a good job of it. His stuff is still good.”

“2B Dustin Pedroia (recovering from offseason left knee surgery) started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket. He singled and scored a run in three at-bats while playing five innings at second base.”

Rodriguez vs. Mengden

Due to the weather, the 7:10 start time moved to 8:50 on Tuesday night. As a result, Oakland beat the Sox in nine innings. Rodriguez took his first loss of the season after Oakland had six hits through the first three innings, starting with back-to-back singles by Semien and Pinder to start the game. Piscotty hit a monster home run out of Fenway Park in his first at-bat against Rodriguez. Piscotty’s home run was the first he had hit since his mother’s death on May 6th. Andrew Benintendi hit a homer and Mitch Moreland hit two doubles.

“It was pure joy. It’s been an emotional week,” said Piscotty, whose mother, Gretchen, died May 6 after a one-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. She was 55.”

“We haven’t been able to put them away,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “They’re young and it seems like they’re turning a corner. Whatever they’re doing over there is pretty good.”

 

Sale vs. Cahill – A Sale Day Win to Avoid an Athletics Series Sweep

In Rafael Devers’s 100th major league game, the Sox came out with a win. Xander Bogaerts hit a three run homer, and J.D. Martinez hit a two run homer. Chris Sale gave up two runs and two hits in five innings. Sale also struck out nine and walked four. Trevor Cahill gave up three runs out of the first four batters he faced. After Sale’s career high 15 strikouts in his last outing, he struggled, but hung on long enough to keep the Sox up over the Athletics. Craig Kimbrel grasped his 12th save of the season and avoided the Sox meeting their season high losing streak. The Sox beat the Athletics 6-4 after Xander and J.D. had quite the night.

“It’s pretty impressive what he does when you’re behind looking at him,” Bogaerts said. “Normally I’m a guy who gets to the on-deck circle a little bit later. I’ve got to get there early if he swings at the first pitch and gets a hit. He hits some bombs on the first pitch.”

“Four walks, that’s not my game,” Sale said. “That’s not who I am. Obviously, you want to be better than that. Anytime your bullpen throws almost as many innings as you do, that’s not what you’re looking for.”

 

Up Next

The Red Sox will be at home again to face the Orioles for a four game series starting Thursday. David Price will be up first for his Fenway return. Dustin Pedroia will play another game in Pawtucket by the end of the week as Tuesday night’s game was postponed due to the weather. Jackie Bradley Jr. is still spending an immense amount of time on the bench as he has constantly had bad games. Cora is hoping that Bradley Jr. will come out of his slump soon, as he has been working on improving both his defense and his offense.

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Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees Series Recap

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The long-awaited face off has arrived since the early April bench clearing brawl. The Red Sox and Yankees rivalry was in full blast as Joe Kelly and Tyler Austin went at it after Austin was hit by a pitch. The meeting of the two teams was highly anticipated by all.

Pomeranz vs. Severino

Tuesday night, the Sox fell to the Yankees 3-2, allowing the two teams to tie for first place. Betts and Benintendi made it on base to lead to the Sox first run of the game. In the second inning, Drew Pomeranz broke a nail, causing some concern to bring the trainers out. Giancarlo Stanton hit two solo home runs. Luis Severino struck out 11 players against Drew Pomeranz’s six strikeouts. Mookie Betts hit an RBI triple in the seventh to tie the game. Joe Kelly came in to a sea of boos and chants from all of Yankee Stadium. Kelly came out as the Yankees loaded the bases with only one out to prevent more runs. The Yankees are now on a 16-1 win streak, and are showing true competition for first place as Porcello will face Masahiro Tanaka.

“They’re good hitters. They were fighting off a lot of pitches. They have a great team. I was trying my best, but I was battling.” -Severino on the Sox at bat

“We’re playing good baseball, doing it a lot of different ways. Tonight was tough. Boston is really good. They battle, battle, battle; kind of hung around. ” -Manager Aaron Boone on the win against the Yankees biggest rivalry

The 24 Hour Yankees AL East Lead Porcello vs. Tanaka

Rick Porcello pitches a game earlier than normal, as David Price was sent to Boston for x-rays. In the past few games, he had experienced problems in his hand, causing the x-rays to be needed. Later we found out that Price was okay and would be pitching in the upcoming series. Hanley Ramirez, Andrew Benintendi, and Mitch Moreland all hit homers on Wednesday night. But it was nothing compared to the electric eighth inning that the Yankees had. Brett Gardener hit a triple allowing two to score, and Aaron Judge’s 117 MPH homer allowed the Yankees to go up 9-6. Rick Porcello only struck out three players, ending Wednesday with a 2.79 ERA. The Yankees have taken the lead over the Sox to be in the AL East first place. Tomorrow Eduardo Rodriguez will face CC Sabathia in the series finale.

“It got my attention. I looked around a little bit that inning. It’s May and it’s bedlam.” -Aaron Boone on the win to bring the Yankees into first place.

The Sox and Yankees are Tied Again Rodriguez vs. Sabathia

The rain never stopped the Red Sox as they were 4-0 at the delay in the fifth inning. The Red Sox escaped a Yankees sweep with a 5-4 win on Thursday night. The Yankees scored four runs in the seventh to tie the game, but Martinez wanted the win and hit a homer in the eighth to take the win. Joe Kelly came in again to clean up the mess of players on base and got Giancarlo Stanton out on a grounder to retire the side. Craig Kimbrel has his 110th save. Ramirez hit a homer to the visiting bullpen to allow the Sox to reach the rain delay with a lead.

“Definitely. You saw it today. They don’t give up. I’m very confident in what we’ve got. This is our team right here and we’re concentrating on what we can do and see what we can do better to keep winning.” -Hanley Ramirez when asked if the Sox and Yankees rivalry is the best in baseball

“I hit it, and I was like blowing, praying, doing everything I can to push it over. I knew it had a chance.” -J. D. Martinez on his homer that won the game

Up Next for the Sox

The Red Sox will travel to Toronto to face the Blue Jays before heading back home to play the Oakland Athletics. Up first in the series against Toronto will be Chris Sale and Aaron Sanchez. David Price will return to pitch this series after x-rays in Boston. Alex Cora also reported that Jackie Bradley Jr. will be back in the Saturday line up while Brock Holt will return on Friday.

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2018 Baseball HOF Ballot: The Hitters

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The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) released their Hall of Fame ballot yesterday. Over the next few weeks, Boston Sports Extra will make our case for who should and who shouldn’t, as well as who will and who won’t get elected. This is a follow up to the article covering the pitchers.

A Messy Situation

The Hall of Fame process has become a messy situation in recent years. Thanks to the steroid era, the ballots have been overloaded with quality players. There is a disagreement on how known steroid users should be treated in the voting process. This trickles down to other players who played during the steroid era. Just being a power hitter during the 90’s is cause for a little scrutiny, fair or not. To those who were clean during this era, their numbers have been overshadowed by those who were juicing. Some writers will vote for steroid users or ones under suspicion, others will not. Thus, those players are stuck in purgatory, too many votes to fall off the ballot, not enough to gain election. This has an unfortunate side effect on other players.

Some very good players have been victims to this crowded ballot and failed to gain the 5% necessary vote to remain on the ballot. Kenny Lofton and Jim Edmonds are two names that come immediately to mind. They may not be Hall of Fame players, but they put up some very nice numbers, ones that deserved more consideration and argument. Due to the high number of players on the ballot and the Hall of Fame’s refusal to up the limit a writer can vote for from 10, these players fell off the ballot. There will be more ballot casualties in the future unless something is done to rectify the situation.

2018 Class of Hitters

Vladimir Guerrero of the Montreal Expos. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport

This year’s ballot features 19 hitters. Nine of these are holdovers from previous ballots after surpassing the necessary 5% of the vote. Vladimir Guerrero is the one most likely to join the Hall of Fame ranks this year after receiving 71.7% of the vote last year. Edgar Martinez, entering his final year on the ballot, might be the most interesting case this year. Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Larry Walker, Fred McGriff, Jeff Kent, Gary Sheffield and Sammy Sosa also will appear on the ballot again.

The 10 newcomers are headlined by Chipper Jones and Jim Thome, who are likely headed for enshrinement. They are joined by Scott Rolen, Andruw Jones, Johnny Damon, Omar Vizquel, Orlando Hudson, Carlos Lee, Aubrey Huff, and Hideki Matsui.

Rk Name YoB % of Ballots Yrs R H HR RBI SB BA OBP SLG OPS
2 Vladimir Guerrero 2nd 71.7% 16 1328 2590 449 1496 181 .318 .379 .553 .931
3 Edgar Martinez 9th 58.6% 18 1219 2247 309 1261 49 .312 .418 .515 .933
5 Barry Bonds 6th 53.8% 22 2227 2935 762 1996 514 .298 .444 .607 1.051
8 Manny Ramirez 2nd 23.8% 19 1544 2574 555 1831 38 .312 .411 .585 .996
9 Larry Walker 8th 21.9% 17 1355 2160 383 1311 230 .313 .400 .565 .965
10 Fred McGriff 9th 21.7% 19 1349 2490 493 1550 72 .284 .377 .509 .886
11 Jeff Kent 5th 16.7% 17 1320 2461 377 1518 94 .290 .356 .500 .855
12 Gary Sheffield 4th 13.3% 22 1636 2689 509 1676 253 .292 .393 .514 .907
14 Sammy Sosa 6th 8.6% 18 1475 2408 609 1667 234 .273 .344 .534 .878
15 Chipper Jones 1st 19 1619 2726 468 1623 150 .303 .401 .529 .930
16 Jim Thome 1st 22 1583 2328 612 1699 19 .276 .402 .554 .956
17 Scott Rolen 1st 17 1211 2077 316 1287 118 .281 .364 .490 .855
18 Andruw Jones 1st 17 1204 1933 434 1289 152 .254 .337 .486 .823
20 Johnny Damon 1st 18 1668 2769 235 1139 408 .284 .352 .433 .785
23 Omar Vizquel 1st 24 1445 2877 80 951 404 .272 .336 .352 .688
26 Orlando Hudson 1st 11 648 1319 93 542 85 .273 .341 .412 .752
29 Carlos Lee 1st 14 1125 2273 358 1363 125 .285 .339 .483 .821
30 Aubrey Huff 1st 13 806 1699 242 904 37 .278 .342 .464 .806
31 Hideki Matsui 1st 10 656 1253 175 760 13 .282 .360 .462 .822

The Holdovers

Edgar Martinez hit the ball so hard his bats caught on fire.

With Vlad likely to make the Hall of Fame this year, will any other holdovers join him? Edgar Martinez is getting some strong support entering his final season on the ballot. But can he make up 17% of the vote with several strong newcomers joining the ballot? There are a lot of worthy names to vote for. How much more support will known steroid users receive? Barry Bonds’ vote totals have been creeping up, while Manny Ramirez is receiving less than one quarter of the vote. Sammy Sosa looks to be in danger of fading off the ballot after garnering less than 10% of the vote last year.

Joining them are players being overshadowed by their era and pushed out by a crowded ballot. Fred McGriff, who I plan on covering more extensively later, is a long ways off from enshrinement. Jeff Kent fits in the same boat, the all-time home run leader as a second baseman finished with less than 20% of the vote last year. Meanwhile, Larry Walker’s big numbers have been tainted by “The Coors Effect” as much as steroid users numbers have been tainted. Worthy or not, none of them look like they will be joining the ranks anytime soon.

The Newcomers

Chipper had a swing of beauty.

As mentioned earlier, Chipper Jones and Jim Thome will almost certainly be voted in. Who else can we expect to see join them among the newcomers? My guess would be no one this year. I have already covered three likely to be voted in this year. With Edgar Martinez garnering a strong push, he seems to be the most likely to make it if a fourth joins the group. That doesn’t leave room for anyone else. But, that doesn’t mean some of these names won’t make it at a later date.

Scott Rolen will gather some support. However, he fought injuries for a lot of his career, leaving his enshrinement with a lot of question marks. Andruw Jones looked like a sure thing after a decade in the league. Jones was the best defensive center fielder in the league for a stretch and was hitting 30+ homers a season. Then he decided he liked food a little more than being a great ballplayer. The new age “statistics” do not favor Omar Vizquel, but he was the best defender of his generation at a premium position. Not only that, he only fell 123 hits shy of 3000. Vizquel should have a case down the road.

The others first appearing on the ballot don’t seem to have any shot. Johnny Damon is the only other name who might attract a few votes after piling up over 2700 career hits. Orlando Hudson, Carlos Lee, Aubrey Huff and Hideki Matsui, although fine players, fall well short of Hall of Fame consideration.

2018 Baseball HOF Ballot: The Pitchers

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The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) released their Modern Era committee Hall of Fame ballot yesterday. Over the next few weeks Boston Sports Extra will make our case for who should and who shouldn’t, and who will and won’t, get elected.

The Process

In order to walk into Cooperstown as anything other than a paid visitor, a player must be on at least 75% of the ballots. Last year, there were 442 ballots cast, so a player must have been on 332 ballots to be inducted.

Voting for induction to baseball’s greatest shrine has no more integrity than voting for homecoming queen at your high school. Writers, who weren’t good enough athletes to actually play baseball, check the box next to the names of the players they like. It’s a popularity contest. Some writers are more objective than others. Some are comically biased.

Last year Tim Wakefield, Jason Varitek, and Edgar Renteria all received votes for the Hall of Fame. That’s not just ridiculous, it demonstrates that we should reassess who is allowed to vote. Every ballot should be made public.  Any writer so obviously out of step with reality should have their voting privileges suspended.

For now, BBWAA Hall voters can keep their ballots private. Those who do simply lack the intellectual integrity to defend their stances on certain players.

2018 Class of Pitchers

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This year’s ballot includes fourteen pitchers. Trevor Hoffman, Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling, and Billy Wagner are all hold-overs from previous years. There are nine pitchers being considered for their first time: Johan Santana, Carlos Zambrano, Jamie Moyer, Chris Carpenter, Livian Hernandez, Kevin Millwood, Kerry Wood, Jason Isringhausen, and Brad Lidge.

Here is how they stack up statistically.

  Pitching Stats
Rk Name YoB % of Ballots Yrs W L ERA ERA+ WHIP G GS SV IP H HR BB SO
1 Trevor Hoffman 3rd 74.00% 18 61 75 2.87 141 1.058 1035 0 601 1089 846 100 307 1133
2 Roger Clemens 6th 54.10% 24 354 184 3.12 143 1.173 709 707 0 4916 4185 363 1580 4672
3 Mike Mussina 5th 51.80% 18 270 153 3.68 123 1.192 537 536 0 3562 3460 376 785 2813
4 Curt Schilling 6th 45.00% 20 216 146 3.46 127 1.137 569 436 22 3261 2998 347 711 3116
5 Billy Wagner 3rd 10.20% 16 47 40 2.31 187 0.998 853 0 422 903 601 82 300 1196
6 Johan Santana 1st 12 139 78 3.2 136 1.132 360 284 1 2025 1726 220 567 1988
7 Carlos Zambrano 1st 12 132 91 3.66 120 1.331 354 302 0 1959 1709 161 898 1637
8 Jamie Moyer 1st 25 269 209 4.25 103 1.322 696 638 0 4074 4231 522 1155 2441
9 Chris Carpenter 1st 15 144 94 3.76 116 1.276 350 332 0 2219 2205 220 627 1697
10 Livan Hernandez 1st 17 178 177 4.44 95 1.44 519 474 1 3189 3525 362 1066 1976
11 Kevin Millwood 1st 16 169 152 4.11 106 1.328 451 443 0 2720 2770 296 843 2083
12 Kerry Wood 1st 14 86 75 3.67 117 1.267 446 178 63 1380 1083 148 666 1582
13 Jason Isringhausen 1st 16 51 55 3.64 115 1.328 724 52 300 1007 901 85 437 830
14 Brad Lidge 1st 11 26 32 3.54 122 1.291 603 1 225 603.1 492 57 287 799
AVERAGE HOF PITCHER 18 253 176 2.98     596 462 39 3801 3500 199 1052 2153

We will get into the details of a number of candidates in the coming weeks, but it is a safe bet that Hoffman will get the additional 1% he needs for induction. He will be the only pitcher elected this year.

Still Have a Shot

Clemens, Mussina, and Schilling will not only stay on the ballot next year, but should all eventually get elected. By the numbers, Rocket is a no brainer. But, as we’ll discuss later, his situation is more complicated than that.

Moose and Schill don’t have Clemens’ numbers, but they also don’t have his PED baggage. Mussina is safer bet than Schilling. His 270 wins are more in line with starting pitchers already in Cooperstown, and he hasn’t been nearly as controversial off the field. Much more on that later.

Good but Not Great

Of the newbies on the ballot, none of the starting pitchers are likely to make it, though some will stay above the 5% cut line for a couple of years. Moyer has more wins than the average Hall pitcher, but he has 209 loses and a career ERA almost a run and a half higher. Johan Santana was brilliant for a short time, but he wasn’t Pedro Martinez. He will eventually fall well short.

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Similarly, none of the other four predominantly relief pitchers on the ballot will make it. This includes Kerry Wood, who due to injuries had his gifted career cut short. Billy Wagner is the most other Hall-worthy candidate, but when judged against Trevor Hoffman’s candidacy you can easily see how far he is below the standard.