The Red Sox weren’t in on Aroldis Chapman, were never really in on Cole Hamels, and got their most calls on Betts, Bogaerts, and Swihart. Interesting reading from WEEI’s John Tomase.
Rookie Travis Shaw has a day
Red Sox Travis Shaw
Photo: Cindy M. Loo
The Red Sox took 2 of 3 games from the Rays in the just completed Fenway series with Boston’s sometimes spotty offense firing up to outscore Tampa Bay 21-16 in the 3-game set.
There were certainly some Red Sox offensive highlights over the weekend series, but none so bright as the day 25-year old rookie Travis Shaw had on Saturday.
Shaw, appearing in just his 10th MLB game ever, went 4-for-4 with 5 runs scored. His day included a single, a double, a walk, and 2 home runs. His 11 total bases were the most ever by a Red Sox player in one of his first ten games since at least 1914. His 5 runs scored were the most by any Red Sox since Dustin Pedroia‘s 5 on August 12, 2008 against the Rangers.
No rookie had ever scored more than 3 runs against the Rays in Tampa Bay franchise history.
Shaw became the first Red Sox player with at least 2 home runs and 5 runs in a game since Walt Dropo on June 8, 1950, a 29-4 Red Sox win over the St. Louis Browns. Dropo was also the last Red Sox rookie to score 5 runs.
The home runs, coming in the 3rd and 8th innings, were the first of Shaw’s major league career. The last MLB player to collect his 1st home run in a multi-HR game was the Jose Abreu of the White Sox on April 8, 2014. No Boston player has done it since Ryan Lavarnway on September 27, 2011.
A triple for the cycle, instead a home run
What Shaw didn’t do is hit for the cycle. He needed the triple but instead clubbed his 2nd home run of the day. “It’s obviously in your head,” Shaw said after the game, “That’s the only thing left, but I’ll definitely take the home run,” he told WEEI’s radio broadcasters.
Red Sox utilityman Brock Holt hit for the cycle earlier this season, the first Boston player to do so since John Valentin on June 6, 1996. The Sox have had 2 players hit for the cycle in the same season only once before when Bobby Doerr and Bob Johnson pulled it off May 17 and July 6, 1944, respectively.
In 2012 the Diamondbacks Aaron Hill hit for the cycle twice in the same season, on June 18 and 29. Hill was the 2nd MLB player to accomplish the rare feat twice in the same season. The other was Babe Herman on May 18 and July 24, 1931 for the Brooklyn Robins, which would later become the Brooklyn and then Los Angeles Dodgers.
The last club with two different players hitting for the cycle the same season was the 2009 Twins, with Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel collecting the achievements on May 22 and April 17, respectively. The Twins’ Lyman Bostock and Larry Hisle also hit for the cycle in the 1976 season.
The then-Philadelphia Athletics had 3 players hit for the cycle in 1933: Jimmie Foxx, Pinky Higgins, and Mickey Cochrane. Three years later, Hall of Famer Foxx would go on to play 7 seasons for the Red Sox.
Rock Bottom
There’s no way to sugarcoat it. The Red Sox have played some of their worst baseball of the season, getting swept by the Angels in a tough 4-game series. It was the first time Boston has been swept by the Angels in Anaheim in the history of the matchup, which dates back to 1961.
The Red Sox’ 4 total runs scored was their 5th fewest runs scored in a 4-game series in franchise history. The 1906 club scored fewest ever (2) in 4 games against the St. Louis Browns.
Ominous signs
Dark clouds brought heavy rain to Southern California Sunday night forcing the first rainout at Angels Stadium since June 16, 1995 (for contrast, the Red Sox have had 55 home games postponed since that date, not counting postponements related to the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and the Boston Marathon bombing).
Sunday’s postponement forced a Monday doubleheader. Even with Eduardo Rodríguez on the mound, the Sox’ fate was sealed early when the Angels scored 7 in the bottom of the 2nd inning.
In Game 2, with Steven Wright pitching, Los Angeles again scored in the 2nd inning with 1 run. The Angels tacked on 4 more in the 3rd, all coming with 2 outs.
The Red Sox are now 11-39 when opponents score first this season.
When playing two on the same day, Boston has now swept 496, split 834, and been swept 447 times.
Pujols crushes it
Fresh from the Home Run Derby and with no discernible after effects, Albert Pujols managed 3 home runs on Monday, 1 in the first game and 2 in the second. Game 2 was his third multi-home run game this season. Only the Rockies’ Nolan Arenado has more such games in 2015 (4). Monday’s 3 Pujols home runs made him the current MLB home run leader with 29 so far this season.
Since his first home run in 2001, no MLB player has more multi-home run games than Pujols (11). Before Monday night he had been tied with Alex Rodríguez, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds.
Now it’s on to Houston for 3 with the solid Astros. Angels fans will be cheering for Boston now, as the Astros start this next series just two games behind Anaheim for the Western division lead.
Withering run production
While the Red Sox have, for the most part, scored more runs of late—averaging 5.3 over their past 10 games—they’re still, at 376 total runs scored, just above the 30-club MLB average (367).
At this rate, Boston will finish with 677 runs scored in 2015. That’s above the 634 scored by the abysmal 2014 crew, but otherwise the lowest run tally since 552 in strike-shortened season of 1994, when they finished 4th in the division. For fewer runs in a full 162-game schedule you need to go back to 1992 (599). Only 26 times in the past 95 years have the Sox scored fewer than their projected 677 runs in a season.
Fans who’ve paid attention (or renewed attention) to the Sox since the 2004 World Series championship can be excused for finding the lack of production surprising. Excluding this year and last, the Red Sox have averaged 854.3 regular-season runs per year since 2004, including 949 regular-season runs in the run up to the 2004 championship. Since 1914, the 2004 tally was Boston’s 3rd-most runs scored behind only the 1950 and 2003 clubs, which collected 1,027 and 961 runs, respectively.
The 1950 results were, in fact, the only time the Sox amassed more than 1,000 runs in any season of club history. That year, the Red Sox averaged a franchise-best 6.67 runs/game, one of only two seasons since 1914 where the club averaged 6 or more runs per game. The other was 6.01 in 1938.
If the 2015 season ended today the Red Sox average would be 4.18 runs per game, among the 20 lowest such averages for any Boston season since 1920.
Red Sox allow just 2 Angels hits, still suffer loss
The Red Sox’ Wade Miley pitched a gem Friday against the Angels, but it wasn’t enough.
In what the Boston Globe called, “arguably the best start of his career,” Miley was perfect into the 6th inning. He left the game after 7.0 innings and 101 pitches, having allowed just one hit to go along with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts, but no runs.
Junichi Tazawa worked a perfect 8th inning and the game continued with no score until Red Sox closer Koji Uehara, with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, allowed a solo, walk-off home run to baseball’s best player, Mike Trout. It was the 3rd such dramatic HR of Trout’s young career, his other two coming last season on May 15 and July 4 against the Rays and Astros, respectively. It was also Trout’s 27th home run of the season, tied for the most in baseball, and the most ever by any Angels’ player through the first 89 games of a season.
For Uehara, it was the 5th time in his career he’s allowed a walk-off HR, the 2nd time this season. The other was April 25th facing the Orioles. Friday’s was the first time in Uehara career he’s allowed a walk-off HR with two outs.
Fewest hits allowed this season
Red Sox pitching had allowed only two Angels hits but took the loss, nonetheless. It was the fewest hits allowed by Red Sox pitching in any game this season. The previous low was 3 hits allowed. Boston was 3-0 in those games.
Friday’s game marked just the 17th time since 1914 that Boston has lost a game after containing an opponent to 2 or fewer total hits. The 1-0 Los Angeles win marked just the 2nd time in club history that the Angels’ lone run came on a walk-off solo home run. The other time was when Joe Rudi did it on April 13, 1978 in a game against the Twins.
For the Red Sox it was the 6th time they have been shut out this season, kept from scoring by the Angels combination of C.J. Wilson and Joe Smith. Wilson, who impressively went 8.0 strong innings, allowed 5 hits and 3 walks but no Boston runs. The Red Sox were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left 7 men on base. This season, only the Indians (7.25) are average more men left on base per game than the Sox (7.20).
The Angels, meanwhile, continue to play good baseball. It was their 7th walk-off win of the season, tying them with the WhiteSox for the most in the American League. Only the Cubs have had more such wins (9) in 2015. The lackluster Red Sox have had 2.
A loss after allowing just two runs is a tough one to swallow, but not quite as bad as the one on April 12, 1992. That’s was the day the Red Sox lost to Indians, 2-1 despite allowing no hits. But that’s a story for another day.