The modern-day Babe Ruth took the mound at Fenway Park on Marathon Monday, only to be rained out of the game after two innings.
Why should Boston continued to be punished for the sins of Harry Frazee?
A total of 34,942 people paid to come to Major League Baseball’s oldest ballpark to see Shohei Ohtani’s only start in Boston this year, and were rewarded with over two hours of rain delays, a game over three hours, and a 5-4 loss for the Red Sox.
The game began 56 minutes late and went into a second break in the top of the third. In between, Ohtani collected two hits for his side and pitched two hitless innings against the home team, with an earned run, one walk, two wild pitches, and three strikeouts. His hardest pitch of the game was a 98.4 mph four-seam fastball to Team Japan teammate Masataka Yoshida, who swung for a strike.
After an hour and 25-minute rain delay, the game resumed, but the starters’ days were over. All in all, Ohtani needed just 31 pitches (20 strikes) to dispatch the Red Sox, then remained in the game as the designated hitter.
From a Brayan Bello standpoint, the rain delay seemed to be a blessing.
It was the 23-year-old righty’s season debut. Forearm soreness slowed his spring training program, and he began the year on the 15-day injured list. Doing so enabled him to ramp up in the minor leagues before joining the rotation. He looked sharp in his last rehab start with Triple-A Worcester, pitching six innings of one-run ball with four hits, four strikeouts, and no walks.
But over 2 2/3 innings on this rainy afternoon, Pedro Martinez’s protégé gave up five earned runs on eight hits, issued a walk, hit a batter, and struck out five. It began promisingly enough, with Bello striking out the first batter he faced, but the entire Angels lineup came up to bat before he was able to end the inning.
“His stuff was OK, but they did a good job covering the sinker in,” manager Alex Cora said. “And he wasn’t able to throw the four-seamer for a strike. He started using the changeup later on, and he got some swings and misses in the second. He struck out two guys on pitches down in the zone, so it seemed like they were hunting hard down and they put some good at-bats.”
Replacing Bello after the downpour, Kutter Crawford came in with two outs and runners on. He ended the inning on the first pitch, and the Angels didn’t score again.
“After the delay, I kind of just treated it like a start, honestly,” the 27-year-old righty said.
Barely two weeks into the season, he’s has already been used as a starter and reliever, been sent down to Triple-A, and recalled due to pitching injuries. That he’s managed to perform in every capacity is impressive.
“Once I step on the mound, I’ve got to fill the zone up and just compete,” he said. “No matter what the role is, I still have the same mindset when I step on the rubber, and that’s just to fill the strike zone and attack hitters.”
“It’s kind of been a whirlwind,” Crawford admitted, “but I know at the end of the day, there’s decisions that need to be made, with the roster and whatnot. But I know no matter what, my role is I have one job to do, and that’s to go out there and fill the zone up, and give my team the best chance to win.”
He did just that, giving his team 6 1/3 innings of masterful pitching. He gave up one hit, struck out five, and didn’t allow walk or run.
Crawford giving the bullpen such a significant rest is “huge” for the team, Cora said, as was his actual performance. “His stuff, great. His command, great. Efficient. I think he was 75-76 percent strikes, right? And quality. The four-seamer was playing.”
While fans were robbed of the privilege of watching the Japanese phenom work a full start, getting Ohtani off the mound gave the Red Sox a chance to collect their first hit of the game. They went quietly against lefty Tucker Davidson in the third, before Rafael Devers ended the no-hit bid with a leadoff double in the fourth. Yoshida and Triston Casas joined him on the bases with a pair of walks, but the Red Sox quickly squandered the one-out, bases-loaded situation. They entered Monday’s game 2-for-12 when hitting with the bases loaded.
Vying for a series sweep, Cora had Kenley Jansen warming in the bullpen and sent Justin Turner in to pinch-hit with a runner on and two outs in the eighth. When Turner flew out, Cora kept Crawford in the game. After a scoreless top of the ninth, the Red Sox skipper turned to Alex Verdugo, who led off with a pinch-hit single. Raimel Tapia drew a walk, and Devers cut the Angels’ lead to one with a single to right.
It all came down to Yoshida, but he popped out to end the game.
The Red Sox are 2-3 in series finales, and fall under .500 again.
The Minnesota Twins come to town on Tuesday for a three-game set, with longtime Red Sox catcher Christian Vázquez in tow. After being traded to the Houston Astros in time to catch a combined no-hitter in the World Series and win a ring, he became a free agent and signed a three-year deal to play in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Probable pitching matchups are Chris Sale/Sonny Gray (Tuesday, 7:10 p.m.), Corey Kluber/Joe Ryan (Wednesday, 7:10 p.m.) andTanner Houck/Tyler Mahle (Thursday, 1:35 p.m.).