EXTRA PAINFUL
Kimbrel yields tying run in ninth, Sox then crumble in 16th to waste marathon effort
John Farrell had at his disposal perhaps the greatest bullpen weapon in baseball. But when the Red Sox manager walked to the mound yesterday and signaled for his closer, the fans at Fenway Park erupted in boos.
They didn’t want the Chris Sale show to end. It seems they had a point. Sale was as good as he’d been all season, and that’s saying something for the American League Cy Young Award favorite, but it was all downhill after the ace walked off the mound.
Craig Kimbrel allowed a game-tying home run in the ninth inning, the lineup blew two prime scoring opportunities in extras, Jackie Bradley Jr.’s would-be home run went just foul in the 15th, and the New York Yankees finally scored three runs in the 16th to beat the Red Sox, 4-1, in an exhausting letdown that lasted 5 hours and 50 minutes.
“I wanted to finish that one,” Sale said. “You’ve got a guy like Craig down there, it’s kind of like, pick your poison. Makes it a little easier to pass the ball off when you’ve got a guy like that down there.”
Officially, the game was played under Red Sox protest because of a bizarre play at first base on a double play attempt with the Yankees batting in the 11th, but given the way the inning ended without a run being scored, it seems unlikely anything will come of it.
“It’s on record, so how that’s determined remains to be seen,” Farrell said.
It was Fenway’s fourthlongest game by time since 1913, and less than half of that time was spent with Sale in the game. But he was still the star of the show, delivering another masterpiece.
He struck out 13, matching a season high.
He allowed just three hits, the last one a soft single in the eighth inning.
His ERA is down to 2.59, but this was the third time this season that he allowed no runs without getting a win to show for it.
He threw 118 pitches, also his highest total of the year.
“I have not been around a pitcher personally that has been this effective, this quality, this dominant,” Farrell said.
The Red Sox were leading by the one run when Farrell went to Kimbrel to face rookie sensation Aaron Judge with two outs in the eighth. That 10-pitch at-bat ended with five straight foul balls before Judge flied out to right field to end the inning.
Kimbrel had done his job for the moment, but the ninth inning started with Matt Holliday sending a 96mph fastball over the Green Monster for a game-tying homer. It was Kimbrel’s third blown save of the year, each of which has come on one of the three home runs he’s allowed.
“I show up every day ready for the ball whenever it’s asked,” Kimbrel said. “During the game they asked if I could go for (a four-out save), and I said yes. I felt it was a great situation for it. I got Judge in the eighth, and it was just one pitch in the ninth inning and we played a lot more innings after that.”
After Kimbrel, the Red Sox used six more relievers — including losing pitcher Doug Fister, the team’s scheduled starter for Tuesday. The Sox might have used fewer pitchers, but Blaine Boyer left after one inning because of elbow tightness, adding injury to insult.
Fister came on with two on and one out in the 14th to end that threat and went the rest of the way. Jacoby Ellsbury doubled off Fister to lead off the 16th inning, and three straight singles, an intentional walk and a sacrifice fly followed.
Fister suffered his third loss in four appearances for the Sox.
New York had its own All-Star on the mound in Luis Severino, who allowed just the one run on four singles and two walks in seven innings. The Sox scored on Mitch Moreland’s basesloaded sacrifice fly in the third inning.
Instead of Sale saving the bullpen for today’s daynight doubleheader, the ’pen was depleted. The same can be said for the Yankees, who also used seven relievers.
“We were looking at a four-out save today,” Farrell said. “With Joe Kelly (on the disabled list), we were in the lead, so yeah, the fact that (Sale’s) day was coming to an end, that was a lot of pitches after the two innings on Tuesday night (in the All-Star Game).
“Craig was rested and ready to go, and unfortunately the leadoff hitter the next inning ties things up.”