David Ortiz has come through for the Boston Red Sox in the clutch so many times over his stellar career it seems strange to see him fail to do so, even in a game like baseball where failure at the plate is more common than success. So when Big Papi was brought in to pinch hit with two outs in the top of the ninth and the Sox trailing 2-1 against the Tampa Bay Rays, it was somewhat odd to see him strike out to end the game.
But give credit to Enny Romero, the lefty reliever brought in to face that one batter in the ninth, and who caught Big Papi looking at strike three on a nasty cutter. Ortiz was given the day off until that pinch hit appearance, manager John Farrell wanting to rest his DH on an eleven game road trip that the Sox finished at 7-4 with yesterday's loss.
Drew Pomeranz pitched well for Boston, and in fact struck out a career high eleven in the effort, but the lack of run support denied him the win, mostly because Jake Odorizzi was again excellent for the Rays, winning his sixth straight start since the all star break.
The Red Sox get right back to it tonight at Fenway Park, facing the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals, and it's a big start for Steven Wright, who's been rehabbing from a shoulder injury he got when diving back to the bag at first base in an ill-advised role as a pinch runner a few weeks back. The Red Sox desperately need him to be the dominant starter he's been for most of this season in this critical home stretch of games heading into September. Fortunately for Boston they got some help from the L.A. Angels yesterday, who beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3, so the Red Sox and Jays remain tied atop the A.L. east with Baltimore lurking just one game behind.
The NY Yankees were idle yesterday, and will take on those Orioles tonight in the Bronx.
If you need any proof that you've never really seen it all in baseball, check out the play at third base in last night's game between the NY Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets was trying to get from first to third on a bloop hit and slid into the bag at third with Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright covering. Wainwright made the tag and Cespedes would have been out, but his cleat got stuck in Wainwright's glove, and when the pitcher pulled away, his hand came out of the glove, leaving it stuck underneath the Mets outfielder's foot. By the rulebook, Wainwright didn't have control of the ball, only his displaced glove did, so Cespedes was ruled safe, and that would prove costly as Alejandro De Aza then took Wainwright deep for a three-run homer, three of his five RBI's on the night in a 10-6 Mets victory. Seth Lugo pitched five innings for the Mets for his first Major League win.
Elsewhere, in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Giants' Matt Moore came within one bloop single of a no-hitter, losing his no-hit bid with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when Corey Seager hit a soft but clean little floater into shallow right field. It just happened to have been Corey Seager bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium so that probably had something to do with it. Still, Moore comes away with a 1-hit, 4-0 shut-out victory for the Giants over their inter-state rivals.
In NY Penn League action, the Vermont Lake Monsters mustered just three hits in a 7-0 shut-out loss against the Lowell Spinners at Centennial Field last night.
The New England Patriots are wheeling and dealing again in preparation for the upcoming NFL season. After trading long time center Bryan Stork to Washington, the Pats acquired linebacker Barkevious Mingo from the Cleveland Browns for a 2017 fifth round draft pick. Mingo has been something of a disappointment in Cleveland, recording just seven sacks over three seasons, but he does have upside potential as a 240 pound linebacker with great speed. The Pats are hoping he can regain the form that made him a first round pick for Cleveland in 2013. If nothing else, it will be fun saying the name Berkevious Mingo.
One more note that sports, politics, and culture have collided in a decision by the University of Vermont to cancel the womens' basketball game against North Carolina this upcoming season, due to that state's controversial HB2 law, which keeps transgender people from using government run bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity. UVM Athletic Director Jeff Schulman issued a statement yesterday saying in part that the North Carolina law is contrary to UVM's values as an athletic department and university. UVM had been scheduled to face the ACC powerhouse Tar Heels at their Chapel Hill campus December 28th.
