Boston Red Sox pitching depth fails, as club facing trouble in September – MLB Update
Boston Red Sox pitching depth has failed in an important opening outing of the pivotal four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays played at Fenway Park in Boston on Thursday, September 15.
The September slump has brought gloom in the baseball crazy city, as the Red Sox pitching depth gave away nine runs in a packed stadium.
Starter Kyle Weiland started solid and tossed two shut-out innings but his third was full of mistakes. He first allowed single and then received a serious home-run from the Rays’ Evan Longoria. This hit proved devastating for him and the club.
Weiland lost his second outing that sent the bullpen under grave pressure.
"The bat beat the ball there," said manager Terry Francona. "That's about as unfortunate as you can be. He made a pitch to get out of the inning and the bat's flying and it beat the ball. It makes it difficult to impossible."
Trever Miller and Scott Atchison relieved pressure holding the Rays off the board in the fourth and the fifth inning respectively. However the pitching camp started a downward spiral after Franklin Morales went for a two-run homer in the sixth. Matt Albers
first tossed for a home-run and then allowed a double and the Rays jumped to 9-1 in the top of the seventh.
Andrew Miller and Michael Bowden stopped the Rays’ batting but the Tampa Bay domination was enough to make the Red Sox fans leave their seats in the middle of the game.
The Red Sox has lost 11 of their last 14 games during this month. The Red Sox spectators have left all their hopes of the playoffs but the camp will try to return that belief on Friday as Josh Beckett has to make his first appearance since September 5. Left-hand
ace Jon Lester is a second hope for Saturday’s outing.
"It'll be nice to see him out there healthy," said Francona of Beckett. "We wouldn't pitch him if he wasn't, but it will be nice to see him out there attacking the strike zone and being the Josh we've come to rely on, because they like their guy, too."
Red Sox strength which includes Becket, Erik Bedard, Clay Buchholz and Kevin Youkilis all have either been out or in a slump this month. However, the Red Sox will have to prove their health making some brilliant wins in the coming outings.
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