A Depressing Day at Fenway Features Little Offense and Sloppy Defense
Context
The Sox put on a show for the history books today—twice. The first shot at immortality was Game One of the doubleheader, when Danny Jansen became the first player to play for both teams in the same game.
The second game featured another first: two female broadcasters for the Red Sox (working alongside two male broadcasters), as the excellent duo from Double A, Emma Tiedemann and Rylee Pay, staffed the NESN booth with the regular crew. The occasion was in celebration of Women’s Equality Day, which was passed by Congress in 1973 and commemorates the day in 1920 when women were granted the right to vote. And as Kevin Youkilis noted in Game One, this game was also history-making for featuring four broadcasters in the Fenway booth, which is a pretty interesting way to observe Women’s Equality Day—because why not let Tiedemann and Pay have the booth to themselves for the occasion? I’m planning a feature on this notable duo and occasion later this week.
On top of making history, there were the usual problems of going about trying to salvage the doubleheader, and to win a damn ballgame. Time is slipping through our fingers, and as much as the Sox love to extend the drama, it’s getting a little late for all that. This quote feels appropriate:
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is today. —Japanese proverb
That’s my punk-ass way of saying let’s get it in gear. Happy Women’s Equality Day and let’s go!
Game Action
The game was scoreless through the top of the third, while the chatter from the booth was a fascinating study in contrasts. OB was okay, and did his best to lob questions to Tiedemann and Pay, which elicited interesting and insightful answers. Youk was doing Youk things (such as bragging a bit about not knowing how to pronounce the name of the Jays’ center fielder and saying juvenile things like threatening to mix coffee and pizza together because he’s a “fat kid”). From a broadcasting standpoint, I couldn’t wait to get to the fourth inning, when Tiedemann and Pay were going to be allowed to call the game their way as the regular team promised to leave the booth for the middle three innings.
Wilyer Abreu was ejected after a brief argument with the home plate umpire, and while it may have been a quick hook, the Sox need to keep their cool! Don’t give away any edge to the opponent, for chrissake.
In the bottom of the third, Duran doubled then took third on a throwing error by the pitcher, eventually scoring on Triston Casas’s single. Hooray!
Into the fourth. Damn, OB and Youk said they were going to exit the booth during the middle innings so that Tiedemann and Pay could call the game, so why can I still hear them? Dammit.
In the top of the fifth, George Springer homered like he did in Game One, this time scoring three. It barely seemed to hook around the Pesky Pole, and it was a bummer. On the next batter, the usually reliable Rob Refsnyder overran the ball at the warning track in left and simply came up empty, resulting in a double. The fifth opened it up for the Blue Jays—they scored two more on a single and double, and batted around. Bummer!
The Sox scored two in the eighth on Duran’s home run, and held the Blue Jays at bay until the ninth. But the ninth was messy again and removed all hope of a comeback: the Sox gave up four hits, Chris Martin committed a catching error while covering first, and Refsnyder was a little slow in the outfield. Two more runs scored and the game was way out of our reach
Badasses
For tonight, we have Badasses instead of Studs because there’s no female equivalent to the word. Spoiler: only one of the people recognized below actually played in tonight’s game (that’s how bad the Sox were).
Emma Tiedemann and Rylee Pay
When OB and Youk gave them a chance to get a word in edgewise, their brand of egoless, knowledgeable game calling was refreshing.
Duran
Scored a run, and hit a huge home run in the eighth that brought the Sox within two. All for naught, however. 3-4, 2 RBI
Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony
No, they didn’t play in the game, but Tiedemann revealed that they offered their babysitting services for her six-month old daughter and I’m laughing/crying emoji all over the place.
Duds
So many, many duds tonight that I need to group them into categories.
Brad Keller
Although he eventually settled down, it was too late; his fifth inning was devastating.
4.0 IP, 7H, 5R, 3ER, 1K, 2BB, 2K, 1HR
Offense. Again.
Very simply, we need more of it. Too few hits from key guys, especially guys like Refsnyder, Yoshida, O’Neill, and Devers. While Reliable Rob and Yoshida were hitless, Devers didn’t record a hit until the bottom of the ninth, and even then it was a single, following the current Red Sox pattern of too little, too late. He was erased anyway when O’Neill ground into a double play. Painful.
Defense
Refsnyder and Devers each recorded an error early in the game. Chris Martin’s catching error at first base in the ninth inning allowed a run to score from second. That sixth run felt like the last nail in the coffin. Refsnyder had an uncharacteristic hesitation in the top of the ninth that contributed to the seventh run coming around.
Youk and OB from NESN
While they did nothing as egregious as other blunders that have landed them on this list before, they didn’t compare well to Emma Tiedemann and Rylee Pay…the equivalent of minor leaguers next to seasoned veterans. Can we please option them or something? OB (or someone higher up?) allowed Tiedemann to continue calling the game past the sixth, which was the original plan, so that was a nice tip of the cap, as well as a win for fans.
Play of the Game
Please enjoy this video of Emma Tiedemann deftly telling a story about having to pull the tarps on-field in Portland, while not missing a moment of tonight’s game. While this isn’t a typical Play of the Game, nothing that happened on the field seemed to qualify tonight. What a bummer.