Losses are one thing. They happen to the best of teams, which, incidentally, the Red Sox have been for the last month or so.But the last two nights haven’t just been losses. They’ve been embarrassments, capped with a 16-3 thrashing by the Baltimore Orioles, which followed quickly on the heels of a 13-6 loss to Cleveland only 24 hours earlier.
But the last two nights haven’t just been losses. They’ve been embarrassments, capped with a 16-3 thrashing by the Baltimore Orioles, which followed quickly on the heels of a 13-6 loss to Cleveland only 24 hours earlier.
How bad was it? Consider:
- The Red Sox have allowed 29 runs in the last 17 innings, and their starting pitchers have failed to get through the fifth inning both nights.
- They’ve committed seven errors in the two games, including five Friday night, leading to seven unearned runs
- They ran so short on pitching that they were forced to deploy first baseman Mitch Moreland in the ninth.
- Moreland instantly became the most effective pitcher of the night, allowing two singles but recording a strikeout and keeping the O’s scoreless with a fastball that hit the low 90s.
- In the ninth inning, DH Chris Young was sent to the plate illegally. Young should have been out of the game after the Sox moved Moreland from first to the pitcher’s mound, thus – in theory – removing Young as the DH. The Orioles, likely noting the lopsided nature of the game at the time, didn’t call attention to the move.