Final, White Sox 4-0: The Red Sox’s offense once again failed to show up.
The Red Sox produced just two hits while getting blanked by Scott Carroll and Co. Boston now is 1-6 on its current 10-game homestand.
The Red Sox only hit six balls out of the infield in Monday’s loss. Adam Dunn and Dayan Viciedo went deep for Chicago.
Clay Buchholz pitched pretty well, particularly after Viciedo’s three-run blast in the fourth inning. He featured good offspeed stuff and struck out seven over seven innings.
The story — as it has been all season — was Boston’s inability to produce runs.
Mid 9th, White Sox 4-0: Jose Abreu was happy to see Clay Buchholz leave the game. He was 0-for-3 against Buchholz but singled off Felix Doubront in the ninth inning.
Doubront recovered to retire Adam Dunn before getting Alexei Ramirez to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Daniel Nava, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz are due up in the ninth inning for Boston.
End 8th, White Sox 4-0: Jackie Bradley Jr. continues to show improvement offensively.
Bradley poked a single into left field in the eighth inning, though nothing came of it for Boston.
Javy Guerra pitched a scoreless eighth for Chicago. Felix Doubront will come back out in the ninth inning for Boston.
Mid 8th, White Sox 4-0: Felix Doubront worked a scoreless eighth inning.
Clay Buchholz made a couple of costly mistakes but otherwise pitched well. He retired the final 10 batters he faced and struck out seven.
Adam Dunn’s solo homer and Dayan Viciedo’s three-run blast remain the only offense in this game.
End 7th, White Sox 4-0: Scott Carroll’s night ended in the seventh inning. However, it was an impressive showing for the 29-year-old rookie.
Carroll allowed just one hit and two walks over 6 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out five while throwing 105 pitches (65 strikes).
Carroll exited with two outs in the seventh after issuing a free pass to Mike Napoli. Javy Guerra retired Stephen Drew to end the inning.
Mid 7th, White Sox 4-0: Clay Buchholz has retired 10 in a row, including six by strikeouts.
Buchholz struck out Alejandro De Aza and Tyler Flowers in the seventh inning. The right-hander has seven strikeouts in the contest.
Buchholz has thrown 111 pitches, so his night is likely over. It’s somewhat shocking he made it through seven innings, though, considering a three-run fourth inning led to action in the bullpen.
End 6th, White Sox 4-0: The Red Sox finally put a runner into scoring position in the sixth inning. They were unable to get on the scoreboard, though.
Jackie Bradley Jr. led off with a nine-pitch walk. It was the type of solid at-bat that Bradley frequently put up in the minors.
The Red Sox put Bradley in motion with Xander Bogaerts locked in a full count. Bogaerts swung through a fastball, but Bradley successfully swiped second base.
Brock Holt and Daniel Nava grounded out to end the inning. The Red Sox have been putting the ball on the ground all night.
The rain is starting to pick up at Fenway Park. There’s also some thunder and lightning in the area.
Mid 6th, White Sox 4-0: Clay Buchholz has pitched pretty well with the exception of the three-run fourth inning.
Buchholz has retired seven in a row. He struck out Adam Dunn and Alexei Ramirez in the sixth inning, giving him five K’s in the game.
Buchholz made Ramirez’s knees buckle with a filthy 0-1 curveball. He put him away with a cutter.
Buchholz has featured a good-looking curveball all night.
End 5th, White Sox 4-0: Scott Carroll has yet to find himself in trouble, as the Red Sox’s offense has been listless.
Carroll sat down Mike Napoli, Stephen Drew and A.J. Pierzynski with ease in the fifth inning.
Napoli and Drew both grounded out. Pierzynski lined out to left field.
Boston has produced just one hit.
Mid 5th, White Sox 4-0: The Red Sox successfully challenged a play at first base in the fifth inning.
Adam Eaton grounded to short with one out. Stephen Drew made the play and fired to first, where Eaton was called safe because Drew’s throw brought Mike Napoli off the bag. Replays showed that Napoli tagged Eaton on the shoulder while attempting to stretch, though, so the call was reversed after manager John Farrell called for the challenge.
Leury Garcia struck out and Gordon Beckham popped out in the fifth inning, which was a nice bounce-back frame for Clay Buchholz.
End 4th, White Sox 4-0: The Red Sox’s offense couldn’t answer in the home half of the fourth.
Daniel Nava, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz went down in order.
Scott Carroll has done a nice job of keeping the ball down. The Red Sox hit into two more groundouts in the fourth inning.
Pedroia struck out swinging.
Mid 4th, White Sox 4-0: Dayan Viciedo gave the White Sox some breathing room with one big swing.
Clay Buchholz recorded two quick outs in the fourth inning. He faltered after striking out Jose Abreu for the second out.
Adam Dunn had been 0-for-7 in his career against Buchholz before this game. He’s 2-for-2 with a home run and a double in this contest.
Dunn’s fourth-inning double was the start of some major two-out noise. Buchholz walked Alexei Ramirez — his first walk in three starts since coming off the disabled list — and surrendered a three-run homer to Viciedo.
Viciedo crushed a cutter into the seats located near the triangle in right-center. It was his 11th home run of the season and an absolute shot.
Buchholz also allowed a single to Alejandro De Aza before exiting the inning. Felix Doubront began warming up in the bullpen.
End 3rd, White Sox 1-0: A.J. Pierzynski gave the Red Sox their first hit of the game in the third inning.
Pierzynski yanked a single into right field to lead off the inning. The Red Sox’s threat stalled there, as Scott Carroll rebounded to record three straight outs.
Jackie Bradley Jr. struck out swinging for the first out. Bradley couldn’t lay off a 3-2 cutter located up and away. He gave a halfhearted swing and came up empty.
Xander Bogaerts flied out to center field and Brock Holt grounded to short.
Mid 3rd, White Sox 1-0: Clay Buchholz settled back down in the third inning.
Tyler Flowers, Leury Garcia and Adam Eaton went down in order.
Flowers lined out to Jackie Bradley Jr. in center field. Garcia and Eaton grounded out to first base and second base, respectively.
Buchholz has thrown 37 pitches through three innings.
End 2nd, White Sox 1-0: Second baseman Gordon Beckham has been busy. He’s played a part in four of the Red Sox’s six offensive outs so far.
Beckham, who handled a couple of ground balls in the first inning, recorded two more assists in the second inning. David Ortiz and Mike Napoli both tested Beckham.
Stephen Drew struck out swinging to end the inning. Scott Carroll has two strikeouts through two innings.
Mid 2nd, White Sox 1-0: Adam Dunn still can hit baseballs a long way. The problem for Dunn, of course, has been making contact.
Dunn made contact in the second inning and deposited a solo homer over the bullpens. It was Dunn’s 13th home run of the season.
Dayan Viciedo singled in the second inning before Clay Buchholz exited the frame via a double play. Alejandro De Aza grounded to second base, where Dustin Pedroia started up the nicely turned double play.
End 1st, 0-0: Scott Carroll answered Clay Buchholz’s 1-2-3 first inning with a clean frame of his own.
Brock Holt struck out looking to begin the Red Sox’s first set of at-bats. Daniel Nava and Dustin Pedroia both grounded to second baseman Gordon Beckham.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Clay Buchholz tossed a 1-2-3 first inning.
Buchholz was forced to battle right out of the gate, as Adam Eaton put up a nine-pitch at-bat to begin the game. Buchholz eventually won the fight by getting Eaton to hit a line drive at Jackie Bradley Jr. in center.
Gordon Beckham also took aim at Bradley. Jose Abreu grounded to Stephen Drew to end the frame.
7:50 p.m.: Clay Buchholz takes the mound. We’re underway.
7:40 p.m.: The weather has cleared up nicely. We’ve got ourselves a rainbow and everything.
7:14 p.m.: This game is expected to get underway at 7:45 p.m.
7:06 p.m.: The rain has stopped and the skies are clearing. Fans also are making their way back to their seats, so it shouldn’t be long before we have baseball.
6:42 p.m.: The start of the game has been delayed due to severe weather. A new start time has not yet been announced.
Stay tuned.
This rain delay is presented by L.L. Bean.
6:38 p.m.: Mike Carp, who was sidelined with a broken right foot, was activated from the disabled list before Monday’s game. Jonathan Herrera was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Carp might not see too much action right away, however. The White Sox are sending out three left-handed starters in the series. Monday’s starter, Scott Carroll, is the only right-hander scheduled to pitch for Chicago.
Let’s look at Monday’s lineups, shall we?
Boston Red Sox (39-49)
Brock Holt, RF
Daniel Nava, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Stephen Drew, SS
A.J. Pierzynski, C
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Xander Bogaerts, 3B
Clay Buchholz, RHP (3-4, 6.22 ERA)
Chicago White Sox (42-47)
Adam Eaton, CF
Gordon Beckham, 2B
Jose Abreu, 1B
Adam Dunn, DH
Alexei Ramirez, SS
Dayan Viciedo, RF
Alejandro De Aza, LF
Tyler Flowers, C
Leury Garcia, 3B
Scott Carroll, RHP (2-5, 5.05 ERA)
6:15 p.m. ET: The Boston Red Sox are trending in the wrong direction, dropping five of the first six games on their current 10-game homestand.
The Red Sox welcome the Chicago White Sox to Fenway Park on Monday. The teams will square off for four games as Boston looks to climb its way out of the American League East cellar. Clay Buchholz gets the nod in the series opener.
Buchholz pitched well in his last start Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs. The right-hander lasted into the seventh inning and allowed just one run on five hits without walking anyone. Buchholz didn’t factor into the decision, though, as the Red Sox’s offense was held in check.
The Sox enter their series against the White Sox on the heels of an extra-inning loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. Boston rallied from a five-run deficit earlier in the game but ultimately fell 7-6 in 12 frames.
Monday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m, though there is some bad weather rolling in. Tune in on NESN, and stick around with NESN.com’s live blog throughout the evening for updates.
