Thursday, May 19, 2016

Royals series review

Just as I predicted, the Sox dropped 2 out of 3 games in a tightly contested series in Kansas City. Here are some notes from each game of the series.

Game 1: Red Sox 4, Royals 8 

-This game was a lot closer than the final score indicates, as it was a one run game going into the bottom of the 8th. Frankly, with Wade Davis waiting to come in for the 9th, it was unlikely that Boston was coming back anyway, but it was still disappointing to see Koji Uehara get knocked around a bit to put the game out of reach.
-Jackie Bradley Jr is awesome. Batting 6th in the lineup, he extended his hitting streak to 22 games with his RBI double in the 2nd. The pitch he hit was a changeup up and away, and he drove it to the wall in left-center field. Kauffman Stadium is huge, and this would have been a homer in most ballparks
-The Royals got to Porcello early, with their best player Eric Hosmer going deep in the 3rd. Hosmer is just a terrible matchup for Rick, as he is now 10-27 with 4 HR lifetime off the Sox starter
-The big 4th inning was classic Royals, stringing together singles with aggressive baserunning. JBJ bobbled Omar Infante's RBI single, and Cheslor Cuthbert didn't hesitate in going first to third. Bradley tried to throw him out, allowing Infante to advance into scoring position. This sequence would turn out to be huge, as Paulo Orlando's ensuing single drove in 2 runs instead of 1. The Royals baserunning tested the Sox defense, and created an extra run in the process. It's little things like this that often make the difference in baseball.
-The bottom third of the Royals order absolutely killed the Sox. Their 7-8-9 hitters went a combined 8-12 with 5 runs scored and 5 RBI. Tough to beat a team when that happens.
-HUGE 2-out, 3-run homer from Travis Shaw in 6th. Ventura grooved a fastball, and the Mayor of Ding Dong City lost it to get the Sox back in the game
-John Farrell got ejected out of nowhere in 7th, presumably for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout. NESN didn't have a camera on him, so it's impossible to say exactly what happened. Either it was a very quick trigger from the ump, or Farrell crossed the line somehow. Maybe he had been yapping all game and the ump just got sick of it. Either way, not a good look from Farrell. The zone wasn't bad, and the pitch he was ejected on was borderline at worst. Farrell needs to save his ejections for higher leverage moments; arguing with the ump and blowing up can be an effective tool for a manager, but it loses its impact if you do it too much, a Farrell has already been ejected twice this season.

Game 2: Red Sox 2, Royals 3

-Steven Wright was great in this one, giving up only 5 hits in a complete game effort in the first half of the doubleheader. Big time effort to preserve the bullpen for the night game.
-Unfortunately, the Royals managed to scrape together 3 runs from their 5 hits, which was enough to win the game. As fun and effective as the knuckleball can be, this game showed its downside: when it gets hit, it gets hit hard, and 3 of the Royals hits went for extra bases
-Jarod Dyson saved the game for KC in the 8th with this insane throw from right field to nail Xander Bogaerts trying to go from first to third. Even though the ball was hit hard and right at Dyson, I have absolutely no problem with the X-Man testing his arm there. With one out, you have to try to get to third as the tying run, and it took a perfect throw to get him. Sometimes you just gotta tip your cap.
-JBJ entered the 9th inning without a hit, putting his streak in jeopardy. Facing one of the best closers in the game in Wade Davis, a guy who opponents are hitting just .156 against this season, JBJ ripped a single to keep the streak alive
-Hanley Ramirez pinch hit in the 9th against Davis, and crushed a fastball to straight-away center field. The ball went about 400 feet, but unfortunately Kauffman Stadium is 410 to dead center. In most ballparks, HanRam gives the Red Sox the lead there, but this time it was just a loud final out of the game

Game 3 Red Sox 5, Royals 2 

-David Price looked like the ace we need in this one, going 7.1 innings and allowing 2 runs on 5 hits with 5 Ks. This was his 2nd excellent start in a row, and I can only hope for more of this going forward
-JBJ didn't wait until the 9th to keep his streak alive this time, smoking a Home Run to left center in his first at-bat. He's officially the most exciting player to come up from the Red Sox farm system since Nomar, and I officially have an embarrassingly large man crush on him
-Mookie went deep in the 3rd, absolutely drilling an 97 MPH fastball into the leftfield stands. It's early in Bett's career, but it's already abundantly clear that getting a fastball past him inside is like trying to sneak a sunrise past a rooster: it aint gonna happen.
-Josh Rutledge continues to contribute whenever he gets in the lineup. He was on base 3 times in this game, and scored twice. They guy is hitting .382, and with the ability to play 2B, 3B and SS, he is basically forcing Farrell to play him. This is excellent news for the Red Sox depth, especially because...
-Brock Holt is really struggling. He was 0-4 in this one, dropping his average to a meager .239 for the year. He was an All-Star last year, he can play a whooping 7 positions, and I am a huge fan of his. But, considering how well Rutledge and Chris Young have been hitting, it's possible that Holt will start losing out on at-bats if he continues to struggle
-The Red Sox have been very aggressive on the bases this year, and it continued in this series even against a Gold Glove catcher in Salvador Perez. Boston now has 31 stolen bases on 34 attempts, which gives them the 2nd most total team steals in baseball, and by far the best stolen base percentage

Boston now heads home with a 25-16 record, tied with the Orioles for first place in the division. They start a 3 game series with the Indians on Friday.








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