April 24, 2016
Red Sox 7, Astros 5 (12 innings)
W – Hembree (1-0)
L – Giles (0-2)
THE GOOD:
- Colby Rasmus – He did it again. With two outs in the 9th, following a Correa double to right field, “Raymus” (as ESPN announcer Jessica Mendoza called him) blasted off to nearly the same spot his Saturday grand slam landed, tying the game – off Craig Kimbrel, no less – and forcing extras.
- The defense – Bitches be makin’ plays all over the field. Springer had two assists, one at home and another when Big Papi foolishly tried to stretch a single into a double. Why anyone still tests Springer’s arm is a mystery; at least the Rangers showed him some respect earlier in the week. Gomez contributed a couple of nice plays in center. Marwin flashed some serious leather at third base, including a very impressive stab to his right and throw to first in the 10th.
- Situational hitting – It could’ve been better, but it could’ve been a lot worse. They loaded the bases with no outs in the 3rd and plated two runs, one on a White sac fly and another on a Gattis RBI single. As mentioned earlier, Correa and Rasmus came through in the clutch in the 9th.
- Bullpen pitchers not named Ken Giles – Once again the bullpen turned in a hell of a night through the 11th inning. Devenski, Neshek, Sipp, and Gregerson combined for 6.2 innings of shutout ball, keeping the Sox at bay and giving the bats a non-zero chance to climb back into it. Devenski in particular threw 3.1 innings and worked out of Feldman’s 2-on 1-out jam in the 5th; Neshek got out of Devenski’s jam with runners at the corners in the 8th; Gregerson made quick work of the 10th and 11th innings.
THE BAD:
- Scott Feldman – Feldman dug a 3-0 hole early in the 1st, gave up another 2-spot in the 3rd, and didn’t make it out of the 5th. The Sox had constant traffic on him. The trend of short outings by the starters needs to stop pretty damn soon or the Astros may not have anything to play for when the bullpen runs out of gas again in August/September.
- Altuve’s defense – In Feldman’s defense, he didn’t get much help from Altuve, who booted a couple of plays in both the 1st and 3rd innings and contributed to the Sox rallies in those innings.
- Carlos Gomez at the plate – Dude is in a serious rut right now; was 0x5 with three K’s before finally reaching base with a single in the 12th.
- Situational hitting, 12th inning – Gattis and Marwin would probably like to have their ABs back. With two runners on, Gattis struck out on three pitches; Marwin worked a full count while fouling off pitches in the other batter’s box, then watched strike three at the knees to end the game.
THE KEN GILES:
- Ugly – I don’t know if he’s hurt, pressing, stuff-distrusting, or what, but he’s a bonafide gas can right now and instant rally material for any opposing team. He missed his spots early on and the Sox scalded the ball off him to start the inning, and it was painful to watch him walk Ryan Hanigan on a 13-pitch at-bat to load the bases. An RBI single and a forceout later, the bases were still loaded when Giles let fly with a pitch that would have been headed for the Diamond Club if not for the net behind home plate. Ugly.