Eduardo Rodriguez Took A Step Backwards, As Red Sox Implode During 8-Run Sixth Inning
As the Red Sox try to win their first division title since 2013, all eyes were on Eduardo Rodriguez on Sunday night.
We had last seen Rodriguez on August 16 when the left-hander carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning in Baltimore against his former ball club, the Orioles. Rodriguez was lifted from the game with an apparent injury, and Red Sox fans had feared the worst, given that the 23-year-old has a history of knee injuries. It ended up being “just” a hamstring injury, which ultimately cost him his next start. That start fell on a Sunday in Detroit, and the Red Sox got smoked with Henry Owens on the mound instead of Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was criticized pretty heavily for that one, because he had given the team every indication that he was going to make his next start, right up until the night before he was supposed to take the ball. It was pretty clear that manager John Farrell was not happy with Rodriguez, and I’d imagine that neither were his teammates. This kind of brings me back to that start down in Tampa on June 27 when Rodriguez gave up nine earned runs before being able to complete three innings.
Dustin Pedroia chewed his ass out on the mound in the first inning after Rodriguez had surrendered five runs, but it seems like that speech fell on deaf ears, because he just continued to unravel on the mound. Rodriguez was sent back to Pawtucket after that outing to work on a slew of issues, which included, but was not limited to, working on his slider, fixing a pitch tipping issue, and regaining his confidence. The lefty returned on July 16, and had a 2.52 ERA in 7 starts since returning from Pawtucket coming into last night’s game against the Royals.
I feel like any good will that Rodriguez had built up over that stretch of seven starts has to be gone now. Maybe not entirely, but close to it. There’s no doubt he pissed off a lot of people in that Red Sox clubhouse with that stunt he pulled in Detroit, bailing out of a start when his team needed him during a tough stretch of road games. Then, last night, the Red Sox offense bailed out Rodriguez after he had allowed two runs in the second by scoring one in the fourth and three in the fifth, only to give that lead right back and then some.
After being handed a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Rodriguez came back out in the top of the sixth and kickstarted a dumpster fire of an inning for the Red Sox by walking a pair and giving up a double. All three runs would score, thanks to Matt Barnes, who has been fucking atrocious lately. Remember that game against the Yankees three weeks ago when Craig Kimbrel walked the bases loaded, and then Barnes came in to strike out Mark Teixeira to win the game? Since that game, Barnes has appeared in 8 games and has a 14.73 ERA, allowing 12 earned runs in 7.1 innings, and opponents are hitting .344 with a .962 OPS against him. Barnes allowed five earned runs on three hits, hit a guy and did not record an out on Sunday. He’s out of the trust tree.
If there’s a silver lining in this game, it’s that Junichi Tazawa threw two scoreless garbage time innings. This didn’t really buy back any trust for me, but at least he’s showing some value in that he can eat some innings when the games get out of hand, one way or another. Now that Clay Buchholz is back in the bullpen, I think that’s the guy you go to in situations that you had previously been going to Barnes. For now. Because if this team is going to go anywhere in the postseason, they’re going to need to get Barnes right again.
Final score: Royals 10, Red Sox 4