Red Sox 3, Brewers 6: No No-No, But. . . You Know

Let’s get this out of the way first: a combined no-hitter is not a real no-hitter. Or, if it is, it’s not anything to celebrate. A true no-hitter — that is to say, one thrown by one pitcher, keeping a lineup off balance through three-plus turns through the order and walking around the mound and wiping sweat off his brow in the eighth to catch a quick breather before facing the clean-up man once again — is a vision of baseball success; it’s one player besting an entire team in the foundational contest of the game. A combined no-hitter, on the other hand, is a vision baseball failure; it’s one entire team collectively unable to take the first tentative step towards competing. Combined no-hitters suck.

The Brewers did not no-hit the Red Sox, in combination or otherwise. But they made a go of it.

Jared Koenig made his second consecutive appearance against the Sox as an opener (another thing that sucks) and retired the first four hitters of the game (only three of which were lefties tonight). And then 33-year-old Colin Rea — a career journeyman with a lifetime ERA of 4.62 — proceeded to render the Red Sox’ bats surplus to requirements for the next 4.2 innings. By the time the Sox hitters did break through via a pair of doubles by Rafael Devers and Wilyer Abreu and a single by Ceddanne Rafaela, it was too little too late. Nick Pivetta had already been knocked around in what was his second poor start of four since returning from the IL. Since his injury, his fastball usage has been way up; it seems possible that the injury has led him to change his repertoire.

Oh, and Tyler O’Neill left the game with knee soreness. So. . . yeah, not great.

A Stud

Dom Smith: 0-1, 3 BB

That’s right: a dude who went 0-1 is your only stud! His three walks come on the heels of a homer. Hopefully he can heat up.

A Dud

Nick Pivetta: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 5 ER

All of the damage against him was done in the third, but he had to escape a jam in the second, too. In other words: this line could’ve been even worse.

Play of the Game

I don’t ever want to see the Red Sox get no-hit, and I REALLY don’t want to see it happen at Fenway.