Red Sox complete opening series; set for Tampa Bay Rays

Backstop Podcast

Coming up on the BaCKSTOP pODCAST, The Red Sox completed their series with the Orioles. How well did they do? Major League Baseball pulled the All Star game in Atlanta. I have special guest Joe Aguiar on the show to explain more about it. And the Red Sox get set for their next series with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Welcome to Episode 7 on the Backstop Podcast, I'm your host Ovi Muniz.

The Red Sox completed their opening series in Fenway Park swept by the Baltimore Orioles. In game 1, the Red Sox were held 2 hits in the game losing 3-0. JD Martinez and Kike Hernandez were the only two batters that hit the ball. Nathan Eovaldi Pitcher 5 ⅓ innings 4 strikeouts and charged with an earned run. In game 2, Red Sox bats were at a slump again. JD Martinez and Marwin Gonzalez combined went 5 for 6 with 2 RBIs. Tanner Houck made his impressive start by pitching 5 innings, 8 strikeouts but gave up 6 hits and 3 runs, 2 of them earned. The Red Sox had a chance to get the third out in the fourth inning but Rafael Devers threw an error to 2Bmen Marwin Gonzalez resulting in the Orioles getting into scoring position. The Orioles would score 2 runs in the inning and win the game 4-2.

In Game 3, the Orioles bats pounded Garrett Richards and Josh Taylor. Both pitchers combined pitched 2 ⅔ innings, gave up 12 hits, 10 runs, and 3 walks. However, Richards seemed to not be able to locate his pitches. During the Left Hander defensive shifts, Orioles batters were able to hit to the opposite field. That was the real damage that caused early runs to be scored. Taylor came in for relief and walked the batter with bases loaded. It was just so terrible to see these two pitchers today. I hope they can do better on their next appearance.

Garrett Whitlock came in relief in the third inning to get an out. He would continue to look awesome pitching a total of 3 ⅓ innings, 5 strikeouts and only gave up 3 hits.

In the offense, JD Martinez continued to be successful by hitting his first home run and going 2 for 4. Christian Vasquez also went 3 for 4 with a run scored. The Orioles complete the sweep with a 11 to 3 victory.

As Red Sox manager Cora noted, this has been “a rough start” for Boston in general, though Sunday’s loss was particularly difficult to take.

“It was a tough one, there’s nothing else you can say,” Cora said during his postgame video press conference. “We got beat in every aspect of the game. The first two games, we didn’t play good defense. We didn’t swing the bat. Today, I didn't pitch.”

The last time the Red Sox were swept in the opening season came in 2012. The Red Sox lost to the Detroit Tigers. John Lester, Josh Beckett, and Clay Buchholz were the starters in each game. That year, Bobby Valentine was the manager as the Red Sox finished with a 69-93 record in last place. In 2011, The Red Sox started 0-6 before winning their first game. The last time the Red Sox were swept in Fenway Park was in 1948. The Philadelphia Athletics defeated the Red Sox in a three game series. However, the Red Sox would eventually reach the World Series and lose to the Cleveland Indians four games to two.

Notable Red Sox Roster

Alex Cora had Designated Hitter JD Martinez, First Baseman Bobby Dalbec and ShortStop Xander Bogaerts in their primary positions for all three games. Marwin Gonzalez started all three games as a Utility player. He played LF, 2B, and 3B. Kike Hernandez played 2B and CF. And Alex Verdugo played all outfield positions.

JD Martinez is by far the only Red Sox hitter who is hot with 6 hits, 3 doubles, 1 HR with 3 Runs Batted Ins. In pitching, Tanner Houck struck out 8 and Garrett Whitlock struck out 5 in relief.

— The Red Sox-Rays series begins Monday at Fenway Park. First pitch is slated for 7:10 p.m. ET.

The projected starter for the Red Sox will be Nick Pivetta. The Rays are batting a .048 in 10 ABs.

On Tuesday, Martin Perez will pitch. Rays are batting a .211. Rays’ CF Kevin Kiermaier has not done well against Perez. However, the catcher Mike Zunino has hit 3 home runs against Perez.

And on Wednesday, Nathan Eovaldi will make his second start. He is 0-1 with a 1.69 ERA. He will be challenged as the Rays have done great against him, batting a .349.

Joe Aguiar, owner of ClovercrestMedia, the CMGPodcast. He is the host of the political podcast, Divided WE Stand, and co-host of I'll Piss You Off Shortly.

Major League baseball decided to pull the All-Star Game out of Atlanta in a swift reaction to Georgia’s new voting law that many view as voter suppression targeting minorities. There was great influence by the civil rights group and MLB Players Association that resulted in baseball commissioner Rob Manfred to quickly make the decision. On the other side, Manfred received a lot of backlash from the Governor of Georgia Brian P. Kemp by tweeting this statement…”Perhaps the MLB should take a look at the restrictive voting laws in their home state of New York before criticizing ours.”

The Braves issued a statement stating that they were disappointed.

The Wall Street Journal chimed in by writing a headline “The Biden Baseball league” and “Democratic Baseball league.”