Detroit 9, Sox 2
WP: Miller (4-2)
LP: Tavarez (5-7)
HRs: BOS-Mirabelli (3); DET- Granderson (12), Thames (9)
SUMMARY
Boston got a taste of its own medicine tonight as the Tigers used a big inning and a game-breaking grand slam (stop me if this sounds familiar) to halt the Sox four game winning streak.
Just one night after Boston racked up 21 hits and 15 runs, rookie lefty Andrew Miller shut the Sox offense down, and Julian Tavarez got lit up like a Montecristo en route to his third straight defeat.
#1 STUNNER Marcus Thames 1-3, GS, 5RBI
Not only did the giant left fielder break the game open with his 5th inning grand slam, but two of his other fly outs were long enough to be gone in most major league ballparks.
All told I'd say he hit roughly a thousand feet worth of outs tonight, and if it weren't for Coco he would have had 10-12 total bases on the evening. Not a bad game.
PAN's FAUN Tavarez 4.2IP, 10H, 8ER, BB, 4K, 2HRs
I already renamed this category in honor of Julie's otherworldly, goat-like tendencies, and now I might have switch the name again, to Tavarez' Twisted
RECAP
Just when you think it safe to believe that the Sox had put the rough patch of poor pitching and spotty hitting behind them, along comes a game like this to act like a slap in the face from a co-worker who didn't appreciate your happiness hugs.
One night after dismantling the Devil Rays, Boston got its lunch handed to them in the form of a D-Town beatdown as the Tigers scored eight runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined, fueled by a monster granny from Marcus Thames, and coasted to an easy victory from there.
And unfortunately for Boston the flammable material known as Julian Tavarez who hastened his ouster from the pen last season due to his knack for blowing games wide open has reared his ugly head again, and who knows if 'dependable 5th starter Julie' will ever make an appearance again.
Tavarez has seemed to implode both psychically and mentally over his last few starts, displaying more tics than Rain Man on crack and suffering from a sudden inability to make it past the fifth inning without having at least one horrendous episode where the other team circles the bases like video game characters.
Tonight Julie was generous; he spread the carnage over two innings. Detroit sent seven men to the plate in the fourth and had four hits and scored three runs, then topped that by batting eight times in the fifth, with five of those men coming around to score as Detroit blew the game wide open and took an 8-2 lead.
At least none of them got two hits in an inning.
Ironically the Sox struck first on a glorious Detroit summer evening in front of a packed house, but the way Boston had to fight to score that run should have given an inkling as to what kind of night it would be.
Wily Mo (playing left field in place of Manny, who was DHing) hit a drive to right center that dropped in front of Curtis Granderson and the talented center fielder mistakenly allowed the ball to get past him; as it skidded all the way to the wall, Wily Mo raced around the bases for a leadoff triple.
Sweet. Whiffy Mo finally got a big hit!
But what would follow next wasn't so sweet (for Boston fans), and in the blink of an eye Granderson would have his revenge for his minor fielding miscue.
New addition Jeff Bailey, called up today to play first base and making his big league debut, lofted a ball high to center that Granderson camped under; perhaps with the blunder in mind, third base coach DeMarlo Hale sent Wily Mo to the plate.
Granderson's throw was right on the money, and so was Mike Rabelo's tag and Wily was a dead duck, and just like that a man on third and no outs turned into no one on, no one home and two outs, and it was time for that queasy feeling to start taking root in the stomachs of RSN.
The agita was temporally erased when Lugo followed the play with a walk, then stole second and came around to score on Coco's clutch RBI single to give the Sox a 1-0 lead, but the advantage would be short lived and it would not return.
That's because Tavarez, who had been pitching pretty decently up to that point, came unglued in the bottom of the fourth.
The whole mess started when Gary Steroidfield hit a hard grounder to third and Lowell tossed it into the stands for a single and an error, and Detroit had a man in scoring position just three pitches into the inning.
Magglio Ordonez, the leading hitter in the majors, then muscled a Tavarez pitch into shallow center that scored Sheff with the tying run, but after Carlos Guillen hit a sharp single to center (very busy position tonight), Coco made a pair of back-to-back spectacular catches that appeared to save the game.
Sean Casey tested Crisp first as he launched a Tavarez fastball into the cavernous centerfield region that Coco easily tracked down and hauled in, making the awesome look merely routine, but it was his grab of Thames' moonshot that followed that had to impress even the most jaded Coco watcher.
Thames, who's built like Wily Mo but is more flexible, drove a deep shot that was curling away from Crisp and appeared would score both runners with ease. But the Amazing Coco charged in on his cloud of magic dust and snagged the ball just before the wall for as dazzling a sacrifice fly as you'll ever see, and Detroit had to settle for three runs and a 3-1 lead.
Just like Granderson, Thames would get his revenge, though.
Miller (7IP, 3H, 1ER, 4BB, 6K) retired Boston on 11 pitches in the top of the fourth, and Detroit immediately got started on removing Tavarez from the game in the bottom of the frame.
Immediately, as in Granderson (3-5, BI) hit Julie's first pitch of the inning deep into the seats in right for a momentum-building homer, and suddenly the guy who nearly allowed a run to score for Boston earlier had taken one away from them and added one for his own team.
I should've named him the player of the game I guess.
Wait a minute, I know why I didn't. After Tavarez loaded the bases on a single, HBP and walk (was Tito just fucking with everyone by leaving him in there to roast or what?), Thames stepped to the plate and made sure that the next pitch he hit would not be hauled in by any circus-like catch.
Thames destroyed Julie's fifth pitch for a demoralizing grand slam, and much like the night before the Sox knew what it felt like to have a game torn wide open by a back-breaking granny.
Except last night's version of the experience was way more fun, I thought.
Tavarez would leave after that having allowed a season high 8 earned runs, and although Boston did muster a couple of meek scoring chances off Miller, including back-to-back walks to Drew & Pena in the sixth and the promise of walk and ground rule double by Lowell in the eigth, but each opportunity was quickly snuffed out.
By the time Doug Mirabelli hit a leadoff homer in the 9th it was time to start thinking about tomorrow's game, especially like which lineup will Tito employ, and who will be the first man to come out of the pen when Gabbard gets in trouble?
NOTES
- Hit & miss: for all his awesome offensive exploits, Lowell's declining defense remains a mystery. The Gold Glover committed his 13th error on the season, and to put that into perspective, his career high is 14 errors for an entire season. Baffling.
- Defensive gems: along with Coco's catches and Granderson's dart, Wily Mo made a nice running catch of an Inge rocket in the fourth; Pedroia snagged a hot liner that saved a run in the fifth; Polanco snared a hot shot by Lugo in the seventh; and Coco made a circling, over the shoulder catch of another Thames scud in the seventh. He's starting to resemble a circus freak out there!
- Flip side: a sign of how things went for Boston--a pop up by Polanco dropped in between three Sox fielders for a cheesy bloop double in the bottom of the 8th. Check please!
- No Papi: Ortiz was told he would have the night off on the plane ride to Detroit last night, according to the Globe
- Hello, Jeff: Bailey is an incredible story, having struggled through 11 minor league seasons and a position change (from catcher to 1B/DH) due to a shoulder injury that led to a sudden inability to throw the ball from the plate to the mound; he follows PawSox teammate Jacoby Ellsbury as the only position players to make their MLB debuts for the Sox this season
- Boston managed just five hits, one each by Coco, Lowell, Manny, Belli and Lowell; Pedroia (0-4) had a nine-game hitting streak snapped
- As I predicted (pat pat) don't think about Youk taking the field in this series, and expect Papi to get another game off as well
"We were down 4-1, and we didn't want to go to the pen in the fifth, so we walked Casey to try to get Julian against Thames. That worked out about as badly as it could have."--Francona, clearing up my question as to why the fuck he left Tavarez in there
"This was my worst outing."-- Tavarez. My question: How can you tell?
"He's got a tremendous arm with good stuff. As he progresses and learns command, he's going to be a special kid."--Francona on Miller
RECORD: 53-32
AL EAST: Up 11 on TOR, NYY
STREAK: L-1
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Sat @ Det 7:05
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