Boston Red Sox bullpen squanders Eduardo Rodriguez shutout performance
By Gio Rivera
Addison Reed, Joe Kelly, and the Boston Red Sox bullpen fails to maintain 3-run lead following 6.0 shutout innings by starter, Eduardo Rodriguez in tough 5-4 loss.
After a 3-0 lead in the 8th inning it appeared as though the Boston Red Sox were heading for their 9th straight victory to continue the win streak and build upon their first place lead over the Yankees in New York.
However after 6 shutout innings from starter, Eduardo Rodriguez and a scoreless 7th inning by reliever Matt Barnes, the Red Sox failed to hold on till the end.
Eduardo Rodriguez in Bronx…
Yankee Stadium cannot not be one which Rodriguez is not very fond of like most Red Sox players, posting a 2.08 ERA in 2015 and 1.29 in 2016 when pitching in Bronx.
In his last start at Yankee Stadium, Rodriguez went 7 strong innings while allowing just a run off 4 hits.
Despite Rodriguez dominance in Yankee Stadium, the veteran lefty would not receive the necessary support from the back end of the bullpen.
In the 8th…
Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell called in right-handed reliever, Addison Reed to maintain the lead in the 8th inning with Boston on top 3-0 and New York struggling to put together any kind of offensive momentum throughout the game.
However Reed didn’t only fail to maintain the lead, Reed failed to record a single out allowing 2 hits, including a 2-run home run to Aaron Hicks.
After the game, Reed stated that Hicks “played to the ballpark”, making a reference to Yankee Stadium’s 314 foot, right field wall.
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Boston appeared to be rallying back in the 9th with Yankees closer, Arodlis Chapman struggling to find the strike zone.
Chapman threw 1 strike out of the first 10 pitches he threw and walked the bases loaded.
All hope was lost when a very controversial base running mistake by Eduardo Nunez helped Champan in attempting to advance from 2nd to 3rd base on a fly out to left. Another base running mistake in what’s been a very rough base running season for the Red Sox.
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Joe Kelly’s return
Kelly had made his first appearance since being placed on the disabled list, welcomed with identical fortune as Reed.
Kelly faced 6 batters while only recording 2 outs and allowing 1 run.
Since acquiring Reed
Addison Reed has been fairly disappointing since joining the Boston Red Sox with his ERA rising from 2.57 in New York to 3.25 in Boston.
Reed’s ERA as a Red Sox sits at an atrocious 12.27 through 5 games in Boston.
Boston’s one of the top ranked bullpen’s in all of baseball but has received minimal contribution from their primary trade deadline acquisition.
However there’s no question who’s impacted the team more between Nunez and Reed.
Nunez continues to swing a hot bat since he’s stepped foot in Boston with his batting average standing at .323.
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The Red Sox will look to turn this series around with 11-game winner, Drew Pomeranz taking the mound in game 2 of the series on Saturday at 4:05 PM ET.