John Danks pitched outstanding this evening, but in true Danks fashion, it wasn't enough to win as the Sox dropped their 6th game in a row. The Rays took the early 1-0 lead after a Ben Zobrist triple and a Felipe Lopez groundout. Danks left runners in scoring position in the 2nd and 3rd innings before having a relatively easy 4th. The Sox finally scratched a run across in the top of the 5th inning as Carlos Quentin doubled down the left field line and A.J. Pierzynski brought him across with a chopper up the middle to tie the game at 1.
Unfortunately, the tie wouldn't last long as a triple by Sean Rodriguez followed a Zobrist single to make the score 2-1. Danks stranded Rodriguez at third and breezed through the 6th and 7th. Jesse Crain pitched a strong bottom of the 8th, but the Sox couldn't bring anyone across as we entered the 9th inning.
Juan Pierre led the inning off with an infield single. Ozzie called for the mandatory late inning Gordon Beckham sacrifice bunt, which he did get down this time. With Pierre on 2nd, Adam Dunn promptly struck out and after fouling off some tough pitches, so did Paul Konerko as the Sox dropped another one.
I knew it was too good to be true that the Sox offense looked so strong to start the season. We are back to our mandatory early season slump, scoring 5 runs in the last 4 contests. I expect the fire Greg Walker talk to start up any time now.
I have always hated sacrifice bunts, but this year it is taking it to an extreme. Adam Dunn looked absolutely terrible this evening. Having Beckham bunt Pierre to 2nd before Dunn came up didn't make any sense to me as Dunn didn't look like he could hit a beach ball. Dunn struck out 3 more times this evening and is now batting .162. They should have had him bunt Pierre to 3rd base and hoped for a wild pitch to tie the game.
Danks was the clear cut player of the game for the Sox. He has given up 2 runs or less in 3 of his 4 starts, yet does not have a win due to putrid offensive performances and bullpen blow jobs. He deserves better.
The Sox will try to break the losing streak tomorrow evening as Philip Humber takes on Wade Davis.
Record: 7-10| Box| Play by Play