Boston Red Sox exhibit an embarrassing display of baseball in ALCS loss

The Boston Red Sox looked helpless in Game 1 of the ALCS on Saturday night against the Houston Astros due to lack of offense and quality pitching.

Making mistakes will not fly when facing the Houston Astros. The Boston Red Sox found that out the hard way on Saturday night, as Alex Cora’s squad looked outmatched in every facet during a 7-2 Game 1 loss at Fenway.

Whether it was the inconsistent pitching of Chris Sale, or the inability to get anything going on offense against Justin Verlander, Boston failed to gain any type of momentum.

Even when the Sox hitters finally looked like they figured out Verlander’s tendencies, the Houston ace found a way to escape trouble. In the bottom half of the fifth, Andrew Benintendi struck out to end the inning with the bases loaded after the Sox tied the game up 2-2. The left fielder looked like he caught the Giancarlo Stanton ALDS bug, striking out three times throughout the game, going 0-4.

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Meanwhile, Mookie Betts continues his postseason struggles against every team he faces, going 1-4, with his one hit being a meager single to start the contest.

So far, the supposed MVP of the league is 4-20 in five games of playoff baseball (.200 average). This performance so-far adds to his .239 career average for October, which is far from his fantastic .303 overall career average (all according to MLB.com).

Once again in high stakes situations, Mookie can’t seem to find his footing. The offense in general failed to maintain any consistent momentum, as a bases loaded walk and passed ball were the only source of runs for the entire Game 1.

On the other side of things, Sale looked out of sorts command-wise, walking four batters and giving up two runs on only one technical hit. The lefty recorded only four innings of work on Saturday, mainly due to his pitch count (which ended up being a ridiculous 86 pitches).

Houston did a fantastic job of working the count in every at-bat (something you should do when facing the other team’s ace), as Sale only attained 50 strikes compared to 36 balls. The game plan worked wonders for AJ Hinch’s squad, as the Astro hitters managed to tire out Sale to the point where Boston’s inconsistent bullpen had to come in for the fifth.

Unfortunately, this strategy worked. Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes, and Ryan Brasier only gave up one run (not earned) combined, but also seemed to find trouble in throwing strikes. Barnes threw more balls in his one and one-third innings of relief, and same went for Brasier’s eighth inning appearance.

Disaster struck in the top half of the ninth inning, where Brandon Workman surrendered a solo home run to Josh Reddick, and a three-run home run to Yuli Gurriel, thus putting the Astros up 7-2 and ending any chance of late-game heroics for Boston’s offense. He only lasted a third of an inning until Cora finally decided to end the bleeding by calling on Heath Hembree to pitch the final two thirds. At that point, the Sox had no shot against Colin McHugh in the bottom half of the final frame.

Here’s something crazy to consider. In three postseason games for 2018, Workman has a 45 ERA in a combined one inning of work! He’s given up 5 earned runs in his past five innings of pitching.

On the flip side, Houston’s bullpen shut down the Red Sox after Boston’s mini comeback in the fifth. Ryan Pressly, Lance McCullers, and McHugh all combined for five strikeouts in four innings of relief, showing the incredible depth outside of the starting rotation. No runs were allowed during that time as well.

As of right now, the Astros are in the drivers seat, especially after putting up a great offensive performance in the ninth inning. They now have another Cy Young-caliber pitcher in Gerrit Cole starting Game 2 on Sunday night going up against the struggling David Price on Boston’s side. I don’t think there’s been a bigger game for both Price or the Sox in general this year. This is a must-win. The last thing Cora wants is to head to Houston down 0-2.

Hopefully, the Boston Red Sox made the necessary adjustments for Game 2, because their season is surely on the line.