Remember when the Red Sox scored 37 runs over a two-game stretch? That was a good time.
This was not a good time.
Top Play (WPA): Lonnie Chisenhall (real name) hit a double with one out in the top of the fourth to score two runs (.187). That’s not so bad, but the third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth top plays of the game came in the top of the fourth, too. Matt Barnes did not have a good top of the fourth.
Boston’s top play of the game came courtesy of Travis Shaw, who hit a solo shot off of Danny Salazar in the third (.119). That’s about all the Sox had going for them today.
Bottom Play (WPA): Francisco Lindor was caught stealing in the top of the first (-.80). Riveting stuff.
Key Moment: It’s hard to pick. The entire top of the fourth was really the key inning here, and served as yet another damning reminder of how disappointing Barnes has been to this point in his career. Other key moments include: Hanley Ramirez being awful at defense, David Ortiz extending his hitting streak and this catch by Mookie Betts.
Trend to Watch: Travis Shaw, though. The corner infielder/future MVP hit yet another homerun last night, his fifth of the year in just 63 PA. Shaw also drove in Boston’s only other run of the night and has been very impressive overall. In the long-run he’s probably still more of a platoon/bench bat than a legit starter, but he’s been one of the lone bright spots in Boston over the past two-plus weeks.
As for the other trend to watch, it’s looking more and more like Matt Barnes just isn’t good. On the one hand he’s just 25, but on the other he was touted as a fast-moving mid-rotation starter out of college, and that looks like quite the longshot at this point. Hopefully he improves his command to the point where he can at least be effective out of the pen, but yikes.
Coming Next: It’s a battle of two enigmatic young pitchers, as Eduardo Rodriguez toes the rubber against Trevor Bauer. This game could easily be 10-8 or 1-0: nothing would surprise me with these two mercurial talents on the mound. You could say they both have great stuff.
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