Final, Orioles Win 5-3: Where’s the nearest panic button? It’s clearly time for the Red Sox to push it.
Now four games below .500 at 57-61, and having just guaranteed themselves a series loss to one of the teams they’re staring up at in the standings, the Red Sox season and playoff hopes are on life support at this point.
Once again, it was the sixth inning that hurts the Red Sox, as Aaron Cook effectively blew up and Boston gave up all five runs during that frame.
The Orioles, meanwhile, run their record to 64-53, continuing to march on towards one of the two wild card slots. Miguel Gonzalez (5-2) gets the win for the Birds, while Cook (3-6) gets saddled with the loss and Jim Johnson picks up his 35th save of the season.
These two teams will be back at it for one more contest on Thursday, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET. All the pregame action on NESN begins at 6 p.m., and we’ll be back with another live blog, as well. For now, that’s all for Wednesday’s edition of your Red Sox Live Blog.
Adios.
End 8th, Orioles 5-3: So, it’s been an odd game. Even more so, the pacing of the game just feels bizarre and restless, in a way that’s not necessarily easy to pin down.
Nonetheless, the Red Sox find themselves down two runs going into their last at-bat. It’s only a two run deficit, but it should be desperation time for the Red Sox, who would guarantee a series loss to a wild card leader if they can’t somehow pull this one out.
So, on to the ninth, as the Red Sox give it their last hacks.
Mid 8th, Orioles 5-3: So, we’re not quite sure what that argument was about. The only reasonable speculation we have to offer is that perhaps Gonzalez attempted to call time and wasn’t granted it. However, it was difficult to pick up where Gonzalez might have asked for a stoppage.
Now, with Gonzalez reported to be one of the players who led the now-infamous meeting where the team voiced their frustration with manager Bobby Valentine, and the two of them headed to the showers early… what do you think they’re saying to each other? Think things might get awkward?
Oh, to be a fly on wall in the visiting clubhouse at Oriole Park.
Top 7th, Orioles 5-2: Well, while Texas was in a rain delay down in New York waiting to take on the Yankees, apparently the Rangers did their best to live up to the fact that they basically play a kid’s game for a living.
We have no idea what the context for this Tweet might be, but we can only hope it’s not some kind of bizarre euphemism.
Underneath the bowls of a stadium it might make sense, but is there really a clubhouse in MLB big enough to play hide and seek?
This might be the funniest thing ever! We’re playing hide a seek In this enormous clubhouse and mike young get caught every time. #raindelay
— Mike Napoli (@MikeNapoli25) August 15, 2012
Bottom 6th, Orioles 5-2: Credit Saltalamacchia with sacrificing his body and holding on to that ball with Jones closing down on him, or the Red Sox are even further behind.
What a demoralizing inning, however, as the Sox have seen their two-run lead turn into a three-run deficit, and it all could have been over had Cook just been able to complete a simple throw to the second base bag.
On that play, it just looked like a lack of anticipation, as Cook looked confused and took several moments to decide what he was going to do with the ball upon it being hit back to him. Basically, there’s no excuse for not knowing the situation and having a plan before that back-to-the-box play.
Otherwise, if you want a lesson in how to bring a game to a screeching halt? By our count, this half inning has lasted about half an hour, and has now featured four different Red Sox pitchers.
And to think, Cook got one more out before his no hitter was broken up.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 2-0: Speaking of aberrations, Saltalamacchia’s season seems to fall under that category. In short, it’s difficult to determine exactly what the switch-hitter’s value is, and that’s an important task with Ryan Lavarnway pushing for playing time.
With a .470 slugging percentage, there aren’t many catchers across baseball who can match that kind of power. On the other hand, his on-base percentage of .280 or so suggests that Salty might be a bit overvalued, given his inability to get on base. It also might indicate that he’ll have a hard time keeping up his power pace, as players with poor pitch recognition typically get exposed eventually.
End 5th, Red Sox 2-0: It’s been much-discussed how Cook rarely walks or strikes out batters, so it was probably something of an aberration that he picked up one of each in that last half inning. Being one of the most extreme to-contact pitchers in baseball, it’s not something that happens too often.
Actually, there was more than one oddity, as that marked the second consecutive inning in which Cook walked the leadoff batter. Credit the right-hander with being able to work around that trouble, but here’s guessing the leadoff batter doesn’t walk in the bottom of the sixth.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 2-0: There isn’t much of a mystery as to what happened in that last half inning, and, as it turned out, the Red Sox hitters didn’t even need to adjust to Gonzalez.
After looking mostly immaculate on the night, Gonzalez just started missing his location, leaving his fastball in the middle of the plate and the Sox hitters didn’t miss it. In fact, Gonzalez was lucky Crawford didn’t do more with that last fastball he was given.
End 4th, 0-0: Great play under pressure there by Aviles, keeping the game tied and scoreless. According to the replay, it looks like the Orioles may have been on the wrong end of a bad call and should have scored, but the Red Sox will take some good breaks — they haven’t had many this season.
So, it looks like we have a legitimate pitching duel on our hands here, as both Gonzalez and Cook looked locked into their gameplans, and the hitters have shown no signs of adjusting. We’ll see what happens the second and third times through the batting order, but this could well continue as a low-scoring contest.
Mid 4th, 0-0: The Orioles are clearly one of the more surprising teams in MLB, right up there with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
It’s actually been kind of a mystery as to how the O’s have been able to contend, as their team statistics across the board have been pretty middling. The only player who really stands out is Adam Jones, who’s finally become the kind of player Baltimore thought he would be when they gave up Erik Bedard to get him.
Aside from that, it seems like they’ve been getting just enough out of their starting rotation, with Wei-Yin Chen — Tuesday’s starter — being indicative of the kind of unexpected performances they’ve gotten from number of sources. And yes, that included Miguel Gonzalez.
End 3rd, 0-0: Well, Cook is perfect through three innings, which started a conversation here in the NESN offices. Has anyone ever thrown a perfect game without picking up a strikeout in the process?
It seems unlikely, but it’s something we’ll try to look up before the end of this game. If Cook were to ever end up in that kind of groove, he’d be a candidate to do so. But then again, Cook’s to-contact style of pitching doesn’t bode well for eliminating the bloop and seeing-eye hits that can easily ruin perfection.
Mid 3rd, 0-0: After getting into a bit of trouble in the first inning, Gonzalez has now retired eight in a row, and it looks like the Sox now have some problems getting runners on at all, rather than leaving men in scoring position. So, that’s a step backwards.
Nonetheless, Gonzalez has been a pretty pleasant surprise for the Orioles thus far. It’s not often that 28-year-old rookies get the chance to come up and make an impact, but that’s exactly what Gonzalez has done. Since July 6 he’s been a regular part of the rotation, and over his last three times out he’s held opponents to a 2.08 ERA.
End 2nd, 0-0: With nary a baserunner allowed thus far and five of his six outs recorded via the ground ball, this is exactly what the Red Sox were looking for from Cook on the evening.
Cook doesn’t have the pure stuff to generate consistent swings and misses, but he does have the ability to induce batters to swing at balls they probably can’t do anything more with aside from drive straight into the ground. That’s what he’s done so far Wednesday.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: With a perfect inning there, Gonzalez has had a fair amount of success in 2012 against the Red Sox.
In his previous outing against Boston, Gonzalez yielded just a single run in four innings of relief work, giving up two hits and two walks.
In fact, coming into Wednesday Gonzalez is fresh off two of his best starts of the season, throwing eight innings of one-run ball against the Royals, and seven innings of shutout ball against the Rays.
End 1st, 0-0: Just like Cook drew it up pregame.
The right-hander got two of his three outs on ground balls, and worked very quickly through that first inning, which is always a plus for spectators watching the game in person or at home.
As we said pregame, if Cook continues to keep the ball down he can be one of the more frustrating pitchers to face across Major League Baseball. But if the ball stays up and the splitter ends up flat, then he’s probably one of the most hittable pitchers in MLB.
Mid 1st, 0-0: On Tuesday night the Red Sox left nine men in scoring position throughout the course of the game, and that trend appears to have bled over into Wednesday.
With two on and Gonzalez and Ross coming up, that’s a situation you’d like to see the Sox come through and set the tone early — especially after Tuesday’s 1-for-10 performance with men in scoring position.
However, the inning ends in more frustration as the Red Sox continue to look for answers and the big hit on the offensive end.
7:08 p.m.: We have first pitch! And for those wondering, the game-time temperature in Baltimore is 83 degrees with 56 percent humidity and winds from the west at seven miles per hour.
6:30 p.m.: With Scott Podsednik taking over in right field, Nick Punto and Jarrod Saltalamacchia resuming his normal spot behind behind the dish, that means Pedro Ciriaco, Danny Valencia and Ryan Lavarnway all start the game on the bench.
Aside from that, the lineup is pretty much status quo, with Carl Crawford moving back to the No. 2 slot in the order with the right-hander Gonzalez on the mound.
Otherwise, Aaron Cook takes the hill for the Red Sox, and you know what that means: ground balls, a quick pace, and very few walks or strikeouts. Cook’s been kind of a mixed bag this season, ending a three-start skid last time out with seven innings of one-run ball against Texas.
However, when Cook is keeping the ball down in the zone and letting his sinker do the work for him, he can be as frustrating to face as any pitcher in baseball. So, look for cook to keep the ball down, induce ground balls, and get in a quick-paced rhythm. If he leaves the ball up, however, it could be a long night.
Check out the lineups for both teams, below:
Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Carl Crawford, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Cody Ross, DH
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Mike Aviles, SS
Scott Podsednik, RF
Nick Punto, 3B
Aaron Cook, RHP
Orioles
Nick Markakis, RF
J.J. Hardy, SS
Nate McLouth, LF
Adam Jones, CF
Matt Wieters, C
Chris Davis, DH
Mark Reynolds, 1B
Manny Machado, 3B
Omar Quintanilla, 2B
Miguel Gonzalez, RHP
8 a.m. ET: Waking up Wednesday and finding themselves 6 1/2 games back in the race for the American League’s two wild card spots, hard reality is beginning to sink in for the Boston Red Sox. That reality is that by the end of this week, the team could be moraly — if not mathematically — eliminated from playoff contention.
So, the choices are clear — either put a string of wins together that makes a statement, or recede into irrelevance for the rest of the 2012 campaign. And Wednesday is the day to figure out some answers while playing a Baltimore Orioles ballclub that Boston is looking up at in those wild card standings.
All this has to happen while the club continues to go without the integral bats of third baseman Will Middlebrooks and designated hitter David Ortiz, and also while the Red Sox deal with the fallout of everything that happened Tuesday regarding manager Bobby Valentine.
To get things back on a winning track, Boston turns to sinkerball pitcher Aaron Cook (3-5, 4.70), who was in a bit of a tailspin himself before throwing seven innings of one-run ball against a prolific Texas Rangers offense at Fenway Park his last time out.
He’ll be opposed by Miguel Gonzalez (4-2, 3.42), who is coming off likely his best start of the year in which he yielded just six hits, one walk and one run over eight innings of work.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET, but our Red Sox live blog will have the starting lineups and any other Red Sox news you’ll need to get ready for the game in the hours beforehand.
