It began simply with David Ortiz taking ball four, and making his way down to first base. That’s about all you need to know about Cain’s second start since May 27. It was his longest homer this season and his second longest in the MLB.com Statcast era. With the Red Sox up 3-0, it seemed as though the offense was beginning to heat up.
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With the defensive display out of the way, Ramirez turned his attention to the plate. The Sox now were sitting on a 5-0 lead over San Francisco and were in full control of the game.
At first, it was supposed to be Drew Pomeranz’ big debut. On defense, he hasn’t looked out of place at first base since transitioning from the outfield in spring training, but he’s never looked as good at the position as he did last night. He certainly missed a few of his spots and it was incredibly noticeable, but overall, he looked dialed in.
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jake Peavy delivers during the first inning of a baseball game …
The next inning, Ramirez held his follow-through as he jumped on another Cain four-seamer, trotting ever-so-slowly the way another certain Red Sox player named Ramirez used to, as it landed softly onto the platform holding the American flag over the 379-foot sign in left-center field. He’ll be evaluated today to see how bad the injury night be, but with closer Craig Kimbrel already on the shelf and Junichi Tazawa a question mark as he gets ready to make his first appearance since coming back from the 15-day disabled list, the Red Sox can ill afford to lose more bullpen arms. He dove to his right to stop a line drive in the first inning, and made a play to his right on a hard grounder from Grant Green.
MARINERS 6, WHITE SOX 5, 11 inn.: In Seattle, Leonys Martin hit his second home run of the game, a solo shot with one out in the 11th inning that sent Seattle over Chicago.
Pomeranz, who was traded to Boston from San Diego on Friday for pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza, is 8-7 with a 2.47 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. His previous shortest was an April 25 loss at San Francisco when he went 4 1/3 innings.
In a follow-up question, a reporter told him lip-readers would suggest he told Suarez, “I’ll get you back”, to which Ramirez let out an extended laugh.
The show didn’t last long. He also struck out two batters. He would escape the inning with a pop up. Red Sox Junichi Tazawa and his stellar performance as a relief pitcher saw him being drafted for the Eastern League All-Star team where he achieved a total of 88 strikeouts. Layne continued with the theme of the night and pitched relatively poor. “I had some good breaking balls and a lot of fastballs were good”. Belt, Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford struck out in succession.
The Giants spent the early part of the game showing what not to do on the road against a team that can score. Cradling a chopper to his left, Ramirez retired Gregor Blanco at first, then lasered a ideal throw home to Sandy Leon, who spun for a back-shoulder tag of Brandon Belt just in time, an out that was upheld after Giants manager Bruce Bochy challenged. The Boston Red Sox have the potential to improve even further though.
He led off the game with a walk to Denard Span, but ended a scoreless inning three batters later after 21 pitches.
The only other time in his career that Drew Pomeranz got a chance to pitch for a contending team, there just wasn’t any room for him.
Hanley had gotten his chance against Suarez in the bottom of the sixth. He has a great offensive lineup around him, and the Red Sox have put together a solid rotation as well. Through seven innings, Leon’s average had climbed to an out of this world, .435.
Leon spun and tagged Belt as he slid home. He starts the final game of a series against the Braves.
Dustin Pedroia is 0-for-3.
Rodriguez then made a throwing error and appeared to be shaken up, but after a conference at the mound he stayed in and allowed a two-run shot by Rosario.
And finally, Ziegler was able to get the third and final out of the game by getting Ramiro Pena to fly out to Brock Holt in left field giving the celebratory dance in center field, permission to commence. Instead, we were forced to the edge of our seats, biting our nails and praying that Boston does not blow yet another winnable game. In both 2014 and 2015, their pitching staff was ranked in the bottom third of Major League Baseball.
– Boston’s bats rallied again in the third inning, scoring five runs, including Ramirez’s second homer. On Tuesday, the Giants dropped their fourth straight game to open the second half, losing to the Boston Red Sox, 4-0.
This is without a question, Hanley Ramirez. First Ramirez burned Cain with a two-run home run.
Monster home runs are apparently the theme of the day. Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, and Jackie Bradley Jr. have all stepped up in a big way.
The Red Sox have officially completed the two game sweep of the San Francisco Giants and are now welcoming in the Minnesota Twins. Steven Wright takes the hill, and he’s 11-5 with a 2.78 ERA and 98 strikeouts this season.
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If the Red Sox do not want to go after an ace, the best option would be Jimmy Nelson of the Milwaukee Brewers.
