Red Sox Live Blog: Red Sox Drop Fourth Straight, Falling in Pittsburgh 6-4
Final, Pirates 6-4: This was the portion of the schedule in which the Red Sox were supposed to make hay.
They have dominated interleague play over the years and drew some patsies this season, aside from the annual meeting with Philadelphia and a series with Milwaukee.
Perhaps we can’t call Pittsburgh a patsy right now. The Pirates, now 39-37, have taken the first two of the series and have done so with some solid pitching and crisp defense.
It did not happen without some drama in the ninth. Dustin Pedroia doubled off the glove of Xavier Paul in right with two outs. The crew at PNC Park thought it was caught, sending up premature fireworks even though the game was not over.
It was over a handful of pitches over as Joel Hanrahan won a battle with Adrian Gonzalez by getting him on a check-swing third strike. The Red Sox are 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position in the series.
Boston has dropped four in a row, matching its longest slide since the 0-6 start. And now it’s up to Andrew Miller to help end the streak. He will go in a matinee Sunday afternoon. First pitch is 1:35 p.m.
End 8th, Pirates 6-4: Daniel Bard has been hanging around Jonathan Papelbon too long.
Bard takes his sweet time getting through the bottom of the eighth. A single and a walk had something to do with it, but a rather deliberate pace to things.
Pittsburgh will turn to Joel Hanrahan, who looked good in ending last night’s game. If you are wondering, Hanrahan has appeared on consecutive days several times this year, allowing just one run in nine innings.
David Ortiz will hit to start the inning.
Mid 8th, Pirates 6-4: Josh Reddick’s two-out single gets the tying run on base and gives Terry Francona reason to think about things.
He could’ve gone to David Ortiz, hoping to take the lead on one swing. Instead, he had Drew Sutton grabbing a bat for the pitcher’s spot and stuck with Marco Scutaro, who popped up to strand a pair.
Scutaro is 0-for-4 and has left five runners on base.
9:21 p.m.: Guess what, folks? It’s a pitching change! Only the 84th of the last 30 minutes.
Tim Wood gets to face one man and does his job, inducing a grounder to shortstop. Unfortunately for him, Lyle Overbay did not do his job, dropping the throw and allowing Kevin Youkilis to reach.
Here’s another lefty to face J.D. Drew. David Ortiz is looming for once this gets to the pitcher’s spot, presumably.
End 7th, Pirates 6-4: For those of you wondering why Daniel Bard is on with the Red Sox trailing by two, he has thrown just once since June 16 and just twice since June 10.
Needs the work, and will be able to work the eighth after getting his only man in the seventh.
9:13 p.m.: The ball seems to be jumping out of this place tonight, particularly to right field.
Garrett Jones just crushed a Matt Albers offering to give the Pirates a big run right after the Sox had crawled back to within one.
Of the five home runs in the game, four have been hit to right.
Albers had not allowed a home run in his previous 77 innings, the longest active run by an AL reliever.
After a two-out walk, Terry Francona brings in Daniel Bard to end this inning and likely pitch the next.
Mid 7th, Pirates 5-4: The Red Sox will have to settle with the two solo shots in the seventh.
Daniel Moskos got Adrian Gonzalez to ground to second and end the frame.
Matt Albers is pitching for Boston.
8:58 p.m.: Daniel McCutchen was called upon to get one man, Dustin Pedroia. He failed to do so as Pedroia ripped a double to the base of the wall in right field.
With Adrian Gonzalez stepping to the plate, Clint Hurdle makes the obvious move to go with a lefty. Huge moment in this game coming up as the MLB leader in RBI steps up with the tying run on second and two outs in the seventh.
Daniel Moskos, who has “limited” lefties to a .417 average, is on to pitch.
8:51 p.m.: Terry Francona has a virtual platoon in right and left field right now, at least until Carl Crawford returns.
It will be interesting to see what happens upon Crawford’s comeback, for Josh Reddick is making a big to not only stay with the big club but to start stealing playing time from other guys.
The problem is, he won’t take time from Crawford. It’s a matter of figuring out how to work the situation in right and on the bench.
That’s for another time. For now, Reddick’s first home run of the season pulled the Red Sox within 5-3. Jacoby Ellsbury did the same thing two outs later, pulling Boston within a run and ending the night for Jeff Karstens.
Ellsbury’s homer matches a career high.
Daniel McCutchen takes over for Karstens.
End 6th, Pirates 5-2: That will be it for Tim Wakefield, who pitched a tad better than his line suggests. There were a few soft hits (one very, very hard one by Lyle Overbay) and there was an error behind him.
Wakefield is due up third in the top of the seventh. We may see Darnell McDonald or Mike Cameron in that spot.
Career win No. 198 will have to wait for Wakefield. He should go next Friday in Houston.
Mid 6th, Pirates 5-2: If you are searching for positives in what could soon be a fourth straight loss, you could cite the good at-bats by J.D. Drew tonight.
Not many people are believing Terry Francona when he says Drew still has a hot streak in him somewhere. However, two deep fly balls and then a single in the sixth gives Drew something on which to hang his hat.
It ain’t much, but the Red Sox have scored eight runs in their last four games, so work with me here.
Drew is left at first after Jarrod Saltalamacchia flew to center.
End 5th, Pirates 5-2: As ugly as that was, the score could’ve been a lot worse.
After a single and a double started the inning and gave the Pirates two men in scoring position, a grounder by Andrew McCutchen went right through the legs of Dustin Pedroia.
Pedroia was playing halfway and charging, so he may have been caught in between coming home and going to first, or perhaps already thinking of coming home. Regardless, it scooted through the wickets and a run scored.
McCutchen went to second on the play. Pittsburgh still had two in scoring position and no outs. But a pop to center and a double play gets Tim Wakefield out of it without any further damage.
Mid 5th, Pirates 4-2: Tim Wakefield is a strikeout victim for the second time and then the Pirates make two fine defensive plays in the infield on Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia.
The Pirates are playing with plenty of confidence, and with good reason. They are out-pitching the Red Sox, and everything goes from there.
End 4th, Pirates 4-2: If you read my 5:12 p.m. post, you might’ve been thinking about Lyle Overbay and Ronny Cedeno as guys who could potentially hurt Tim Wakefield.
They were the only two to ever see the knuckleball from Wakefield, and both had success against it.
After two reached with one out against Wakefield, Overbay unloaded for a three-run homer to give the Pirates the lead. Cedeno followed with a double and came around to score on a single by Jeff Karstens.
Karstens had been 7-for-93 (.075) before that hit. It was his first career RBI.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 2-0: When you look back on games and cite big plays that won’t immediately jump out of the box score, the double play to end the top of the fourth has potential.
Not only did the 5-4-3 off the bat of Marco Scutaro prevent the Red Sox from scoring, but it ensures that Tim Wakefield will lead off the fifth. That should give Jeff Karstens an easier start to the inning.
After J.D. Drew hit a deep fly ball for the second time, Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled and Josh Reddick walked. Then came Scutaro’s killer.
By the way, Saltalamacchia’s average is up to .260. Hard to imagine with how buried he was early on.
End 3rd, Red Sox 2-0: Smooth sailing in the first two innings for Tim Wakefield turns into some choppy waters in the third.
The old sailor finds his way to harbor (too much on the at-sea references?).
A single and a fielder’s choice left Pirates pitcher Jeff Karstens at first with two outs. Karstens then took second on one wild pitch and third on another, which also happened to be ball four to Jose Tabata.
Chase d’Arnaud lined a shot to left but it was right at Josh Reddick to end the inning.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 2-0: Two at-bats, two RBIs for Adrian Gonzalez, this one a bit more dramatic than his run-scoring groundout in the first.
Gonzalez took a fastball on the outside part of the plate and hammered it over the wall in left-center.
It is his 16th of the year and gives him 71 RBIs.
End 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: Tim Wakefield has retired the first six in order, and now has given up a total of seven hits in his last 17 innings of work.
The Pirates figure to have some better hacks the second time through, but don’t expect too many of them.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: An early RBI opportunity for Tim Wakefield goes by the board. He strikes out on a breaking ball with a man on third.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia led off the second with a double off the base of the wall in left. He missed a home run by five feet or so.
Salty moved to third on Josh Reddick’s slow roller to shortstop. The Pirates then brought the infield in, a move that is easier to do in the second inning because Wakefield is on deck (essentially, stifle their one chance). It pays off as another grounder to shortstop is not enough for Saltalamacchia to come in.
Once Wakefield struck out for the 44th time in 108 career at-bats, the scoring chance was gone.
End 1st, Red Sox 1-0: You’ve heard the expression from rural folk when describing their hometown to outsiders: “If you blink, you’ll miss it.”
When he’s on, Tim Wakefield is the pitching version of that expression.
He is through the top of the first in a span of three minutes and just 10 pitches.
Wakefield is due up fourth in the top of the second.
Mid 1st, Red Sox 1-0: It seems like a daily chore for teams to try to keep the Red Sox off the board in the first inning.
The Pirates have failed to do so in both games of the series, and both times it was in large part because of a walk.
Jeff Karstens issued a one-out walk to Dustin Pedroia, who promptly swiped second and moved to third when the throw from Michael McKenry got away. That allowed Adrian Gonzalez’s chopper to short result in a run, as well as his 70th RBI in just 76 games.
Karstens also walked Kevin Youkilis with two outs before escaping on a J.D. Drew fly to center.
6:58 p.m.: Jeff Karstens, tonight’s starter for Pittsburgh, has some unique history with the Red Sox.
He has faced them just twice, both starts coming in April 2007.
In the first encounter, at Fenway Park, he was reached for seven runs on nine hits in just 4 1/3 innings. David Ortiz had a two-run double in the first and a two-run homer off of him in the fourth.
That should make those pining for an Ortiz start real happy.
Anyway, seven days later in Yankee Stadium, Karstens’ very first pitch was hit by Julio Lugo off the right-hander’s leg. Karstens was able to stay in the game for one more batter, giving up a single to Kevin Youkilis, before he was taken out. Turns out the Lugo shot broke his leg, an injury that kept him out of action until August of that year.
The Yankees ended up with a great effort from their bullpen that night and won the game 3-1. The losing pitcher on the other side? You guessed it. Tim Wakefield.
6:36 p.m.: For a little more on the lists that Tim Wakefield continues to climb, click here. He will move up the ladder on at least one list just by throwing that first pitch.
In case you had not seen, the Yankees already won. As we sit here, both teams are 44-31. Boston has not been in second place since June 6, the day before its last series in New York began.
The Yanks are now 43-23 when not playing the Red Sox. Unfortunately for them, they have two more trips to Fenway and one more series with Boston at home.
5:54 p.m.: It appears as if the decision to put Adrian Gonzalez in right field remains on hold.
Terry Francona told reporters in Pittsburgh that he probably will not have Gonzalez out there in the series finale Sunday, which, per a prior post, represents one of the better opportunities for it.
Francona probably recognizes that, but is just not ready to pull the trigger.
“I’m kind of on the fence,” Francona said in his pregame briefing. “Since I am, I’m not sure I know what’s right, but I am sure of what’s not right. Until I’m positive that this is something to do, I’m going to stay away. That’s how I feel. I’ll probably stay away tomorrow, re-evaluate on the way to Philly. I’m hung up and I’m struggling with it and I don’t want do something I’m struggling with. If we put Gonzy out there and he got hurt, I’m just not ready to do it.”
Francona acknowledged that he could make the move three or four games into the trip, but just won’t do so until he knows it is the right move.
So, when is it the right move? As an organization, the Red Sox are not sure. According to Francona, the front office and the coaching staff has been noncommittal, leaving the final call up to the manager.
“Everybody would love to see the at-bats in the lineup,” he said. “We’re all together on that, but there are some ramifications, and we’re all in it together. I told [general manager Theo Epstein], until I’m sure, I’m not doing it and I think he’s completely on board with that.”
5:43 p.m.: One half of the former-Red-Sox-turned-Pirate catching tandem in Pittsburgh has been sent away. Dusty Brown, who played in 14 games for Boston over the last two seasons, has been designated for assignment.
Eric Fryer was called up to take Brown’s spot. Former Pawtucket backstop Michael McKenry gets the start for the second straight night against one of his past organizations.
5:12 p.m.: Prior to his team facing Tim Wakefield six days ago at Fenway Park, Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Reonicke had this to say about the knuckleballer:
“It’s completely different [facing him]. You can’t prepare for him. If he’s got a good knuckleball, you’re not going to hit him.”
Roenicke looked like Nostradamus after Wakefield limited the Brewers to just three hits in eight innings.
Such logic would spell doom for the Pirates as seven of their nine starters have never seen the Wakefield knuckler. Here is the batting order against the Red Sox veteran righty:
Jose Tabata, LF
Chase d’Arnaud, 3B
Garrett Jones, RF
Andrew McCutchen, CF
Neil Walker, 2B
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Ronny Cedeno, SS
Michael McKenry, C
Jeff Karstens, P
Overbay is 9-for-27 (.333) with a home run, two doubles and five RBIs against Wakefield. Cedeno is 2-for-3 with a home run. At the very least, those with Wakefield experience have done well.
Still, it will be challenge for Pittsburgh if Wakefield’s favorite offering is anything like it has been of late. The Pirates have defeated New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey twice in the past month, but largely because Dickey received very little run support. Pittsburgh managed just four earned runs with 12 hits in 15 2/3 innings against Dickey, who struck out 14 and walked four in those outings.
3:16 p.m.: In case you are wondering about the fly ball aspect of Tim Wakefield’s game, we have a few numbers. The knuckler has always led to several outs in the air, but it’s been even more severe this season.
Wakefield has induced fly balls on 51.2 percent of his balls in play. His ground ball/fly ball ratio is 0.56, tied for the lowest mark he has produced since 1996.
Like many things with the knuckleball, this may just be an aberration. But it is an easy decision to keep Adrian Gonzalez out of the outfield today.
There are two reasons why Sunday is a day the could see Francona make the move. For one, Pittsburgh has a right-hander on the mound. You figure that if the skipper would want to get Gonzalez and David Ortiz in there on the same day it would not come against a tough lefty, such as Cliff Lee, whom the Red Sox will face in Tuesday’s series opener in Philadelphia.
So, with a right-hander on the mound Sunday for Pittsburgh, a day off Monday to rest any muscles that need resting for both Gonzalez and Ortiz after days in awkward positions, and Lee on Tuesday, you could see Francona pull the trigger.
Then, maybe he does it once in Philly and/or once in Houston. Or maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see. So much can depend upon what we see tonight from this suddenly quiet offense. If J.D. Drew goes 0-for-4 and leaves six runners on base, perhaps that forces Francona’s hand.
2:54 p.m: As anticipated, Terry Francona has resisted the urge to use Adrian Gonzalez in the outfield once again.
With Tim Wakefield on the mound, a guy who can give up a dozen fly balls a game, it makes sense to keep David Ortiz on the bench and Gonzalez in his customary first base spot.
Seven games left to cause a stir.
Here is the lineup with Ortiz on the bench, Jarrod Saltalamacchia catching Wakefield and Josh Reddick in left field:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Josh Reddick, LF
Marco Scutaro, SS
Tim Wakefield, P
8 a.m.: The last time Tim Wakefield threw a pitch in Pittsburgh, he picked up career win No. 14. Wakefield will be going for his 198th career victory on Saturday night in his return to the Steel City.
It’s the second of three straight at PNC Park for the Red Sox, who have suddenly dropped three in a row, scoring only six runs in that span.
Wakefield is coming off a dominant outing against the Milwaukee Brewers that pulled him within three victories of the 200 mark and within nine of the franchise record. The 44-year-old pitched two seasons for the Pirates, going 14-12 with a 4.17 ERA.
Jeff Karstens, a former Yankee who ranks fifth in the National League with a 2.54 ERA, goes for Pittsburgh.
First pitch is 7:05 p.m.
