The Sox played a doubleheader on Sunday in order to make up Friday's game which was postponed due to the manhunt for the suspected Marathon terrorist. Ryan Dempster was pitching the day game and Allen Webster was making his debut for the night game.
The day began with Ryan Dempster taking the mound for the Sox. Dempster was still looking for his first win of the season. Dempster gave up a single run in the 1st with a HR to Escobar. Sox 0-1. The Sox bats got Dempster the lead back in the bottom of the 9th with an RBI single from Ortiz and then an RBI groundout from Napoli. Dempster found himself in trouble again in the 4th inning. Dempster gave up an RBI double and then gave up the lead with a 2 run RBI single to Perez. Sox 2-4. Dempster pitched through 7 innings and was the first starting pitcher this season to give up more than 3 runs. The streak had to be broken at some point and Dempster ended up being that guy. The Sox bats were not able to rally back and the Sox also lost their first game in a week.
Red Sox 4 Royals BOXSCORE
WP: Santana (2-1) LP: Dempster (0-2) SV: Holland (4)
The Sox took the field in the night game in hopes of at least splitting the doubleheader. They had the lead in the late innings, but they were unable to hold onto that lead and lost the game in extras. MLB has a rule that during a doubleheader each team can add another player to their roster, so Sox called up Allen Webster to make a spot start. Webster was one of the players sent over from the Dodgers in the blockbuster trade last year. Webster had impressed many in spring training, so I was excited to see his major league debut.
Webster pitched well and left the mound with the chance for his first major league win. The Royals grabbed a quick lead in the 1st when Escobar hit a single and then Ciriaco air mailed the throw to 1st to allow Gordon to score from 2nd. Sox 0-1. In the top of the 5th is the next time Webster would find any trouble. Webster gave up 2 solo HRs to Kottaras and Gordon to tie the game 3-3.
The Sox bats behind the timely hitting of Mike Napoli kept the team in the game at least until we got to extra innings. The Sox scored two runs in the bottom of the 2nd with a Napoli solo HR and a Carp double. Sox 2-1. The Sox added a third run in the 3rd with a Pedey RBI to score Ellsbury. Sox 3-1. After the game got tied 3-3 in the 5th, Mike Napoli came to the plate again and hit an RBI to score Nava. Sox 4-3.
Webster was out of the game in the 7th and Tazawa took the mound and pitched a scoreless inning. Uehara took the mound in the 8th and had a hiccup for the first time in a Sox uniform. Uehara gave up a solo HR to Butler to tie the game 4-4. Bailey pitched a scoreless 9th and then the Sox were on to extras. Andrew Miller took the mound in the 10th inning and that spelled the end for the Red Sox. Miller gave up a single, a walk and a single to have the bases loaded. With 2 outs, Miller just needed an out to head on to the 11th inning. However, Miller's issues with the walk showed up at the worst time possible. Miller walked Cain on a 4 pitch walk to give the Royals a 5-4 lead. Walking in the winning run is one of the most disheartening ways to lose a game, especially in extra innings. The Sox bats weren't able to get anything going in the bottom of the 11th and the Sox fell once again to the Royals.
Red Sox 4 Royals 5 BOXSCORE
WP: Herrera (2-2) LP: Miller (0-1) SV: (5)
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