Wade Miley, John Farrell get into it as losses pile up for last-place Red Sox
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Frustration is mounting for the Boston Red Sox. They were swept by the Orioles after losing 6-5 on Thursday in Baltimore and during the game that frustration flared a little in the visitors dugout.
Red Sox starter Wade Miley got the hook after the fourth inning even though he had thrown just 69 pitches. Miley had given up nine hits, five runs, and three home runs and manager John Farrell had seen enough. Farrell informed Miley he was done for the night and that led to this heated exchange between pitcher and manager:
Miley and Farrell both downplayed the back-and-forth after the game:
What’s clear is that the team is not in a good place right now. The Red Sox are last in the AL East at 27-34 and their minus-48 run differential is the second worst in the AL. Star slugger David Ortiz is one of the key players struggling and it has gotten bad enough that he could be held out of the lineup against lefties.
It’s not about to get any easier for the Red Sox either. Up next for Boston is a three-game set against the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend.
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PUJOLS PASSES MANTLE, RICHARDS CRUISES AS ANGELS TOP RAYS
Albert Pujols and Mike Trout homered and the Angels got a strong performance from starter Garrett Richards to pick up a 6-2 win over the Rays.
The home run was especially significant for Pujols, as it was the 537th of his career and pulled him ahead of Mickey Mantle and into sole possession of 16th-place on the all-time home run list. Pujols is on a bit of a tear of late too. He’s hit nine home runs in his last 13 games and now has 17 on the season, putting him one back of Nelson Cruz for the AL lead.
Other than a two-run homer by Steven Souza Jr. in the second inning, Richards was sharp. He went seven innings and gave up two earned runs and four hits while striking out seven. It was a nice bounce-back start after he was shelled for six earned runs in 2/3 innings in his last outing.
The Angels are now at .500 with a 30-30 record, which puts them 3 1/2 back of the AL West-leading Houston Astros and 1 1/5 back in the wild-card standings.
CUDDYER LIFTS METS TO WIN WITH WALKOFF HIT
Michael Cuddyer was the hero the New York Mets needed on Thursday night.
Cuddyer stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth in a 4-4 game with runners at first and third and two outs against Giants reliever Sergio Romo. He didn’t take long to deliver, smacking a first pitch fastball to center field to bring home the winning run and secure a 5-4 win for the Mets. It had been awhile since the 36-year-old veteran had been able to end a game like that:
The Mets’ offense hasn’t been cooking lately, which has sparked trade rumors suggesting that general manager Sandy Alderson might part with some of his pitching depth for a bat. It doesn’t appear any trades are imminent and New York still tops the NL East holding a slim 1/2 game lead over Washington.
[On this week’s StewPod: Who belongs in the baseball video-game Hall of Fame?]
NATIONALS CAN’T HOLD LEAD, LOSE TO BREWERS LATE
The Nationals won’t be passing the Mets in the standings any time soon if they keep playing like this though. Washington blew a four-run lead and lost to the Brewers 6-5, making them 4-15 in their last 15 games as they’ve hit a real rough patch. The Nats went up 5-1 in the top of the fourth inning, only to give up two runs in the bottom half that made the game 5-3 and the Brewers added another in the fifth.
Tanner Roark was still pitching in the seventh with the Nationals holding onto a 5-4 lead, but he couldn’t get out of the inning as Milwaukee outfielder Gerardo Parra homered to tie the game at 5-5. Roark was pulled after striking out the next batter he faced, Ryan Braun, but the damage was already done.
In the eighth, Scooter Gennett, playing in his first game with the Brewers after a three-week stint in Triple-A, hit a single that scored Shane Peterson as the eventual game-winning run. The only reason the inning was still going was because of sloppy play from Washington. Aramis Ramirez reached base on a wild pitch after striking out. Right after that, Anthony Rendon threw away a ball that should have completed a double play but instead allowed Peterson to get to second.
To make the Nationals’ day even worse, Ryan Zimmerman was placed on the 15-day DL before the game with plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
Want to see more from Thursday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
