Back when I was growing up and would watch Red Sox games on a near-nightly basis with my family, my Mom introduced me to the concept of the “run bank.” Whenever the Red Sox started scoring, oh, let’s say eight-or-more runs in a game, my Mom would loudly sigh. The conversation I’d have with her would always go something like this:
ME: Mom, how are you possibly upset right now?
MOM: They need the run bank! They’re scoring all of their runs tonight.
ME: That’s super not how it works.
MOM: We lost by one run to TEAM X three days ago. We need to borrow runs, I’m telling you.
ME: /AIM messages something snotty to a friend
If the last two nights have proven anything, it’s that my Mom is right. These Red Sox need the run bank.
Top Play (WPA): Drew Pomeranz was pretty good, but in the bottom of the fourth with two on and two out, he gave up a bomb to Adam Rosales, of all people.
“Wow, Adam Rosales is still playing baseball,” you’re thinking to yourself.
Yes, yes he is. And he’s the reason the Red Sox lost yesterday. What a weird year.
Bottom Play (WPA): With Hanley Ramirez on first base and Mookie Betts on second with no outs in the top of the seventh, Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded into a double play (-.176). It was painful, yes, but just one disappointing moment in a game filled with squandered opportunities for the Red Sox. Don’t believe me? The Red Sox had the nine worst plays of the game, per WPA.
Key Moment: Thanks to an Aaron Hill double and a Dustin Pedroia “productive out” that moved him to third with one out in the top of the eight, the Red Sox were poised to at least bring the game to within one. Then Sandy Leon and Xander Bogaerts struck out back-to-back, and that was that. Xander was about as expressive as you’ll ever see him, flinging his bat in disgust and almost getting tossed from the game after his called strike three. It was a strike, though.
Trend to Watch: The Red Sox keep losing games in which they don’t score as much as their opposition. It’s frustrating.
For real though, you tell me if you see a trend here:
Make sense of this … pic.twitter.com/wXgau1xEPk
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) September 6, 2016
Shruggy guy.
Coming Next: With Steven Wright (mercifully) skipping a start with a sore shoulder, we’re back to Clay Buchholz in the rotation. He’ll face off against something called a Paul Clemens on Tuesday at 10:10 pm EST. Woof on all accounts.
Photo by Jake Roth/USA Today Sports Images