Red Sox 2, White Sox 3: Slip-n-Slidin Down the Standings

I feel like Jake Roy dong an anatomy of an inning here.

After four solid innings from Kutter Crawford, he enters the top of the 5th inning clinging to a 1-0 lead.

First up, Gavin Sheets. He worked a really tough eight-pitch walk. Granted ball four as nowhere near a strike, but Crawford pounded the strike zone to get to two strikes, then to maintain the full count. Lenyn Sosa flies out to Rafaela in five pitches, but Sheets swipes second base in the process. Zach Remillard strikes out in four pitches, two of which were swings at splitters that had no business being swung at. Alright, two down, one on, he can get out of this, right? You get Korey Lee into an 0-2 count, you have the end of the inning in the palm of your hand.

Lee walks on four straight pitches. A fifth straight ball, as Elvis Andrus has to get out of the way. The next strike, Andrus makes Crawford pay.

Pain.

An anemic offense combined with rain and one flawed inning, and that’s all that written. Leaving a runner on at third in the fifth hurt the Red Sox even more, and by the sixth, Crawford was cooked. It was painful to watch.

There’s only a week left, I keep saying to myself. It’s a good mantra.

FanGraphs

Three Studs

Adam Duvall (1-for-2, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .125 WPA)

Duvall hammered his homer 413 feet. Could it have been a saving grace if the game were continued? We’ll never know.

Wilyer Abreu (1-for-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .044 WPA)

Abreu has a Major League swing, and he took his homer to the deep pocket of right field, hard enough at 106.5 MPH where right-fielder Gavin Sheets couldn’t get to the short wall anywhere in time.

Chris Murphy (0.2 IP, 0 H, -.002 WPA)

The sac fly in the 6th is harsh because if that run doesn’t score and Duvall still homers, maybe we’re waiting this rain out, but I can’t blame Murphy for getting out of the inning quickly.

Three Duds

Kutter Crawford (5.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, loss, -.052 WPA)

He had four very solid innings until he blew up on himself, then allowed two runners on in the sixth to leave the Sox in no-win position.

Rafael Devers (0-for-3, -.166 WPA)

Popping out to second base with Rafaela on third in the fifth? Brutal.

Justin Turner (0-for-3, -.070 WPA)

Turner’s numbers have taken a big downswing because of the bone bruise he’s been dealing with the last weeks of the season.

Play of the Game

Obviously for the game as a whole, it’s Elvis Andrus’ two-run double with a WPA of .255. For the Red Sox, it’s Duvall’s solo shot with a WPA of .126.