TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2019 The Boston Globe Sports D5
Chad Finn
YANKEES 11, ORIOLES 8
GAME 2
BALTIMORE AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Villarss 511001 .269Mancini rfSantandercf4 (^511200) 0 0 0 0 1 .304.279
Núñez dh 400002 .237
Peterson lf 321010 .246
Sisco c 3 1 1 0 1 1 .222
Alberto 2b 433300 .321
Davis1b 300002 .178
Wilkerson phRuiz 3b 101000301310 .225.245
Totals 35 8 9 8 3 7
NY YANKEES AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
LeMahieu 3b 423010 .338
Judge rf 320020 .268
Urshela dh 523000 .332
Torres ss 433611 .283
Gardner cf 401311 .258
Maybin lfRomine c 400002.3124 0 0 0 0 2 .259
Ford1b 411101.164
Valera 2b 311010.219
Totals 35 11 12 10 6 7
Baltimore...................003 000 302 — 8 9 1
NY Yankees...............310 133 00x — 11 12 0
E—Sisco (5).LOB—Baltimore 3, NY Yan-
kees 6.3B—Alberto (2), Gardner (6).HR—
Mancini (29), off Mantiply, Alberto (7), offLail, Torres 2 (26), off Phillips, off Eshelman,
Ford (4), off Blach.DP—Baltimore 1; NY Yan-
kees 1.
Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO ERA
Blach L 0-1 4 7 7 6 3 4 13.50
Phillips 1233228.84
Eshelman 331111 6. 09
NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO ERA
Green 1‚ 0 0 0 0 1 4.69
Mantiply W 1-0 3333229.00
LailCortes Jr. 2„ 2 3 3 1 2 10.131‚ 3 2 2 0 1 4.44
Ottavino S 2 „ 100011.71
lips pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.Blach pitched to 2 batters in the 5th. Phil-Inherited
runners-scored—Phillips 2-2, Eshelman 2-2,
Lail 1-0, Ottavino 3-2.IBB—off Eshelman (Tor-
res).WP—Blach.NP—Blach 76, Phillips 31,
Eshelman 47, Green 11, Mantiply 52, Lail 46,Cortes Jr. 33, Ottavino 8.Umpires—Home,
Tripp Gibson; First, Marvin Hudson; Second,
Mark Carlson; Third, Alex Tosi.T—2:51.
A—40,354 (47,309).
NATIONALS 7, REDS 6
CINCINNATI AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Winkerlf 411100 .266
Hughes p 0 00000 —
Farmer phVotto 1b 100000.254302120.259
Gray pr 000000.176
Suárez3b 310021.258
VanMeter 2b-lf 502001.283
Aquino rf 411202.429
Senzel cf 400001.273
Barnhart cErvinph (^3) 111100.35511000.220
JIglesias ss 413100.292
DeSclafani p 1 00001.162
O’Grady ph 100000.200
Gausmanp 000000.037
Peraza ph-2b 200001.242
Totals 36611647
WASHINGTON AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
TurnerssEatonrf 512401.290211020.283
Rendon3b 400001.317
Adams1b 411201.244
Cabrera 2b 311010.313
Parra lf 402100.249
Suzukic 400000.258
RoblescfFeddep 412001.240211001.143
Guerrap 000000.000
Kendrick ph 111000.319
Rainey p 0 0 0000 —
Dozierph 000010.232
Doolittle p 0 0 0000.000
Totals 33711745
Cincinnati..................110 000 022 — 6 11 0
Washington...............300 300 10x — 7 11 0
to (25), JIglesias (16), Cabrera (2), RoblesLOB—Cincinnati 7, Washington 6.2B—Vot-
(19), Kendrick (17).3B—JIglesias (3).HR—
Winker (16), off Fedde, Aquino (8), off Rainey,
Ervin (3), off Doolittle, Turner (11), off DeS-
clafani, Adams (18), off DeSclafani.ra (3).DP—Cincinnati 1; Washington 1.CS—Par-
Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO ERA
DeSclafani L 7-7 4666234.51
GausmanHughes 2100026.112411204.37
WashingtonFeddeW3-2 6622244.09IP H R ER BB SO ERA
Guerra 1100014.94
Rainey 1122124.40
Doolittle S 27 1322103.73
IBB—off Doolittle (Suárez).NP—DeSclafani
83, Gausman 32, Hughes 45, Fedde 102, Guer-
ra 21, Rainey 19, Doolittle 24.Umpires—
Home, Jim Reynolds; First, Stu Scheurwater;Second, Alan Porter; Third, Mark Wegner.
T—3:11.A—22,394 (41,376).
BLUE JAYS 19, RANGERS 4
TEXAS AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Choodh 400010 .272
Santana cf-ss 401000 .307
Andrusss 300000 .282
DeShields cf 0 0 0000 .258
Calhoun lf 4 1 1100 .274
Mazararf 422100 .264
Odor2bForsythe 1b (^412101) 4 0 0 0 0 2 .248.208
Kiner-Falefa 3b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .229
Trevino c 4 0 1 1 0 2 .200
Totals 35 4 8 4 1 6
TORONTO AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Bichettess 634100 .394
Biggio2b 602200 .208
Guerrero Jr. 3bSmoak dh (^432110) 5 2 3 4 0 2 .211.276
Grichuk rf 5 3 3 4 0 1 .238
Hernándezcf 411012.224
Fisherlf 331021 .213
Drury1b 512500 .232
Jansen c 5 3 3 2 0 1 .212
Totals 43 19 21 19 4 7
Texas..........................010 000 201 — 4 8 0
Toronto......................023 822 02x — 19 21 0
Bichette 2 (11), Biggio 2 (9), Guerrero Jr. (21),LOB—Texas 6, Toronto 4.2B—Mazara (23),
Smoak 2 (10), Grichuk (20), Hernández (12).
HR—Calhoun (10), off Stewart, Mazara (16),
off Stewart, Odor (21), off Stewart, Smoak
(19), off Jurado, Grichuk (21), off Jurado,Drury (14), off Sampson, Jansen (11), off Ma-
this.SB—Bichette (2).
Texas IP H R ER BB SO ERA
JuradoL6-8 3„118813Sampson ‚355215.315.71
Martin 1 2 2 2 1 0 5.00
Chávez 1 3 2 2 0 0 4.85
Montero 1 0 0 0 0 3 1.80
Mathis 1 2 2 2 0 0 9.00
Toronto IP H R ER BB SO ERA
Ramirez 100000 5.09
Stewart W 2-0 5‚ 5 3 3 0 3 2.89Boshers 1‚ 0 0 0 1 2 7.50
Shafer 1‚ 3 1 1 0 1 2.16
Shafer 2-0.Inherited runners-scoredHBP—by Boshers (DeShields).—Sampson 2-2,
NP—Jurado 83, Sampson 26, Martin 19,
Chávez 19, Montero 13, Mathis 11, Ramirez 7,
Stewart 76, Boshers 21, Shafer 16.Umpires—
Home, Gary Cederstrom; First, Quinn Wol-cott; Second, Sean Barber; Third, Adrian
Johnson.T—3:02.A—16,492 (49,286).
DIAMONDBACKS 8, ROCKIES 6
ARIZONA AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Dysonrf-cf 502000 .260
Martecf-2b 501100.317
Escobar2b-3b 400010.274
ChWalker 1b 421011.263
Lamb3b 321110.224
McFarland pFloresph 000000.000100000.275
Rojas lf 412100.500
Ahmed ss 412400.267
CKelly c 2 11121.270
MKellyp 210001.026
Peraltaph 100000.279
Locastro rfTotals 36811853 101000.252
COLORADOBlackmon rf AB R H BI BB SO Avg.511000.322
Story ss 4 2 3 1 1 0 .286
Murphy 1b 501001.285
Arenado 3b 410011.305
McMahon 2b 411112.264
Tapiacf 513200.283
DesmondlfWolters c 300012.261 4 02201 .286
Lambert p 2 00002.389
Daza ph 100000.176
Alonsoph 100000.333
Totals 38611649
Arizona.......................001 204 100 — 8 11 0
Colorado....................400 110 000 — 6 11 0
LOB—Arizona 6, Colorado 9.2B—Dyson
(9), Ahmed (25), Story 2 (32).off McGee, Ahmed (13), off McGee, CKellyHR—Lamb (5),
(17), off Bettis, Story (27), off MKelly, McMa-
hon (13), off MKelly.SB—Locastro (11).CS—
Marte (2).DP—Colorado 1.
Arizona IP H R ER BB SO ERA
MKelly W 8-12 5966254.75
Chafin „100104.20
Hirano 1100124.09
McFarland 1‚ 000014.63
Bradley S 4 1 000013.78
Colorado IP H R ER BB SO ERA
LambertMcGeeBS2 0333003.985433516.75
BettisL1-6 1111005.89
Díaz 1210005.02
Davis 1100016.23
Shaw 1000015.34
McGee pitched to 3 batters in the 6th.In-
herited runners-scored—Hirano 2-0, McFar-
land 2-0.IBB—off MKelly (Arenado), off Lam-
bert (CKelly).NP—MKelly 94, Chafin 21, Hirano 23, McFar-WP—Lambert.PB—Wolters.
land 14, Bradley 18, Lambert 74, McGee 10,
Bettis 9, Díaz 13, Davis 12, Shaw 17.Um-
piresknor; Second, Chris Conroy; Third, Paul Nau-—Home, Fieldin Culbreth; First, CB Buc-
ert.T—3:30.A—32,160 (46,897).
YANKEES 8, ORIOLES 5
GAME 1
BALTIMORE AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Alberto 3b 522002.316
Mancini 1b 421111.280
Santander rf 413100.310
Núñez dhVillar2b 3 0 0 2 0 0 .240100031.270
PeSeverino c 4 00003.261
Peterson lf 300110.242
Wilkerson cf 400001.222
Martinss 401001.192
Totals 3257559
NY YANKEES AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Gardnercf 231020.258
Urshela 3b 423200.328
Gregorius ss 311401.263
Sánchez c 4 00002.224
Torres dh 411100.278
Tauchman lf 400000.294
Maybin rfFord1b 3 1 1 1 1 0 .319400001.159
Valera2b 301001.207
Totals 3188835
Baltimore...................101 001 020 — 5 7 0
NY Yankees...............410 011 10x — 8 8 0
LOB—Baltimore 6, NY Yankees 3.2B—
Gardner (19), Urshela (28).HR—Mancini (28),
off Paxton, Santander (10), off Paxton, Urshe-la (18), off Ynoa, Gregorius (9), off Ynoa, Tor-
res (24), off Ynoa, Maybin (8), off Ynoa.SF—
Núñez, Gregorius.DP—NY Yankees 1.
Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO ERA
YnoaL1-7 6777135.93
Kline 1111127.44
Yacabonis 1000106.80
NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO ERA
PaxtonW8-6 6533274.40
Kahnle 1000002.92
CessaBritton „‚22220000112.223.99
Chapman S 32 1000012.51
WPInherited runners-scored—Paxton.NP—Ynoa 95, Kline 22, Yacabo-—Britton 3-1.
nis 21, Paxton 107, Kahnle 17, Cessa 22, Brit-
ton 11, Chapman 9.Umpires—Home, Ryan
Blakney; First, Alex Tosi; Second, MarvinHudson; Third, Mark Carlson.T—2:50.
A—42,843 (47,309).
AL
EAST W L Pct. GB WCGB Last 10 Streak
New York 79 41 .658 — — 8-2 W 3
Tampa Bay 69 50 .580 9½ — 8-2 W 3
Boston 62 59 .512 17½ 8 3-7 L 3
Toronto 50 72 .410 30 20½ 5-5 W 1
Baltimore 39 80 .328 39½ 30 3-7 L 2
CENTRAL W L Pct. GB WCGB Last 10 Streak
Cleveland 72 47 .605 — — 8-2 W 2
Minnesota 71 47 .602 ½ — 5-5 L 1
Chicago 52 64 .448 18½ 15½ 6-4 L 1
Kansas City 43 76 .361 29 26 3-7 W 2
Detroit 35 80 .304 35 32 3-7 L 2
WEST W L Pct. GB WCGB Last 10 Streak
Houston 77 41 .653 — — 8-2 L 1
Oakland 67 51 .568 10 1½ 6-4 W 1
Texas 59 59 .500 18 9½ 5-5 L 1
Los Angeles 58 61 .487 19½ 11 2-8 W 2
Seattle 48 71 .403 29½ 21 2-8 L 3
NL
EAST W L Pct. GB WCGB Last 10 Streak
Atlanta 70 50 .583 — — 5-5 W 1
Washington 63 55 .534 6 — 6-4 W 2
New York 61 57 .517 8 1 8-2 L 1
Philadelphia 60 58 .508 9 2 3-7 L 2
Miami 44 73 .376 24½ 17½ 2-8 L 1
CENTRAL W L Pct. GB WCGB Last 10 Streak
Chicago 64 54 .542 — — 7-3 W 1
St. Louis 61 55 .526 2 — 4-6 W 3
Milwaukee 62 57 .521 2½ ½ 5-5 L 1
Cincinnati 56 61 .479 7½ 5½ 6-4 L 2
Pittsburgh 48 69 .410 15½ 13½ 1-9 L 8
WEST W L Pct. GB WCGB Last 10 Streak
Los Angeles 79 41 .658 — — 8-2 W 2
Arizona 60 59 .504 18½ 2½ 6-4 W 1
San Francisco 59 60 .496 19½ 3½ 4-6 W 2
San Diego 55 62 .470 22½ 6½ 5-5 L 1
Colorado 53 66 .445 25½ 9½ 3-7 L 1
- — Not including late game
RESULTS
MONDAY
At Cleveland 6 Boston 5 Houston (ppd.) at Chi. White Sox
1st: At NY Yankees 8 Baltimore 5 Arizona 8 at Colorado 6
2d: At NY Yankees 11 Baltimore 8 Pittsburgh at LA Angels
At Washington 7 Cincinnati 6 Tampa Bay at San Diego
At Toronto 19 Texas 4
SUNDAY
LA Angels 5 (10 inn.) at Boston 4 Oakland 2 at Chi. White Sox 0
At Baltimore 8 Houston 7 Texas 1 at Milwaukee 0
NY Yankees 1 at Toronto 0 At St. Louis 11 Pittsburgh 9
Atlanta 5 at Miami 4 Colorado 8 at San Diego 3
Chi. Cubs 6 at Cincinnati 3 At LA Dodgers 9 Arizona 3
Kansas City 10 at Detroit 2 Tampa Bay 1 at Seattle 0
Washington 7 at NY Mets 4 At San Francisco 9 Philadelphia 6
Cleveland 7 (10 inn.) at Minnesota 3
TUESDAY’S GAMES
........2019........ Team .......2019 vs. opp ....... .......Last 3 starts .......
Odds W-L ERA rec. W-L IP ERA W-L IP ERA
BOSTONATCLEVELAND,7:10p.m.
Sale (L)Clevinger (R) -115 6-11 4.41 9-15 0-0-105 7-2 3.02 8-3 0-0 0.0 0.00 1-2 17.0 7.410.0 0.00 3-0 20.1 1.77
BALTIMORE AT NY YANKEES, 7:05 p.m.
Means (L) +250 8-7 3.36 7-11 1-1 9.1 4.82 1-2 13.0 6.23
Germán (R) -310 15-2 4.05 16-3 3-0 18.0 2.50 3-0 17.1 4.15
CHI.CUBSATPHILADELPHIA, 7 :05p.m.
Quintana (L) -130 10-7 4.23 13-9 0-0 6.0 0.00 2-0 17.2 3.06
Vargas (L) +110 6-6 4.09 10-10 0-0 4.2 3.86 1-1 17.0 4.76
CINCINNATI AT WASHINGTON, 7:05 p.m.
Wood (L) -105 1-0 5.65 2-1 0-0 0.0 0.00 1-0 14.1 5.65
Ross (R) -115 2-3 6.75 2-1 0-0 0.0 0.00 2-1 16.2 1.62
TEXAS AT TORONTO, 7:07 p.m.
Lynn (R) -135 14-7 3.60 15-9 1-0 6.0 7.50 2-1 20.0 1.35
Pannone (L) +115 2-5 6.83 1-5 0-1 2.1 27.00 0-1 14.1 8.16
LA DODGERS AT MIAMI, 7:10 p.m.
Kershaw (L)Yamamoto (R) +225 4-3 4.17 6-4 0-1-275 11-2 2.77 16-4 0-0 6.0 0.00 3-0 19.0 2.374.0 11.25 0-2 16.0 7.88
SEATTLE AT DETROIT, 7:10 p.m.
Kikuchi (L) +140 4-8 5.34 10-14 0-0 6.2 2.70 0-1 15.2 5.17
VerHagen (R) -165 2-2 8.03 1-2 0-1 4.0 13.50 1-2 13.2 6.59
NY METS AT ATLANTA, 7:20 p.m.
Wheeler (R) +105 9-6 4.20 12-10 1-1 12.0 4.50 3-0 20.1 1.33
Fried (L) -125 13-4 4.11 16-6 1-0 11.0 4.09 3-0 16.2 4.32
HOUSTON AT CHI. WHITE SOX, 8:10 p.m.
Cole (R) -310 14-5 2.87 18-7 0-1 5.0 10.80 3-0 20.0 1.80
Santiago (L) +250 1-1 7.11 0-1 0-0 0.0 0.00 0-1 4.2 7.71
MINNESOTA AT MILWAUKEE, 8:10 p.m.
Pérez (L) Off 8-5 4.80 11-9 0-0 0.0 0.00 0-2 17.0 7.41
Anderson (R) Off 5-2 3.70 9-9 0-0 0.0 0.00 0-0 16.2 2.70
ST. LOUIS AT KANSAS CITY, 8:15 p.m.
Wacha (R)Sparkman (R) +165 3-7 5.71 4-9 0-0-195 6-5 5.54 7-8 0-1 4.2 11.57 0-2 14.0 7.711.1 0.00 0-2 15.1 10.57
ARIZONA AT COLORADO, 8:40 p.m.
Gallen (R) +110 2-3 2.40 3-5 0-0 0.0 0.00 2-1 19.0 0.95
Gray (R) -130 10-8 4.06 13-11 1-1 16.1 3.31 1-1 17.2 4.08
OAKLAND AT SAN FRANCISCO, 9:45 p.m.
Anderson (L)TBA +105 10-7 3.99 15-8 0-0-125 — — 0-0 0-0 0.0 0.00 1-2 17.2 5.090.0 0.00 0-0 0.0 0.00
PITTSBURGH AT LA ANGELS, 10:07 p.m.
Williams (R) +145 4-5 5.06 9-8 0-0 0.0 0.00 1-2 18.0 5.50
Canning (R) -170 4-6 4.76 9-6 0-0 0.0 0.00 1-0 12.1 3.65
TAMPA BAY AT SAN DIEGO, 10:10 p.m.
McKay (L) -110 2-2 4.55 2-4 0-0 0.0 0.00 1-2 13.2 7.90
Lauer (L) -110 6-8 4.51 11-10 0-0 0.0 0.00 1-1 12.1 6.57
ALLEADERS
Not including Monday’s games
BATTING
AB R H Avg.
LeMahieu, NY .............. 434 81 145 .334Brantley, Hou............... 433 68 140 .323
Devers, BOS................. 476 96 151 .317
Alberto, Bal.................. 364 35 115 .316
Martinez, BOS.............. 438 72 135 .308
Merrifield, KC .............. 503 83 154 .306Bogaerts, BOS. ............ 459 91 139 .303
Gurriel, Hou.................. 433 65 131 .303
Moncada, Chi............... 372 58 112 .301
Lindor, Cle.................... 410 67 123 .300
HOME RUNS
Trout, Los Angeles...........................................39
Soler, KC............................................................35
Cruz, Minnesota...............................................32
Kepler, Minnesota............................................32
Encarnacion, New York...................................30
Bregman, Houston...........................................28
Mancini, Baltimore...........................................28
Martinez, BOSTON...........................................27
Calhoun, Los Angeles......................................26
Vogelbach, Seattle...........................................26
RUNS BATTED IN
Trout, Los Angeles...........................................92
Devers, BOSTON...............................................90
Bogaerts, BOSTON...........................................87
Soler, KC............................................................87
Abreu, Chicago.................................................83
Gurriel, Houston...............................................81
LeMahieu, New York.......................................80
Kepler, Minnesota............................................78
Rosario, Minnesota..........................................78
Cruz, Minnesota...............................................76
Encarnacion, New York...................................76
PITCHING
German, New York.......................................15-2
Verlander, Houston......................................15-4
Cole, Houston................................................14-5
Lynn, Texas....................................................14-7
Morton, TB.....................................................13-4
Odorizzi, Minnesota.....................................13-5
Rodriguez, BOSTON......................................13-5
Bieber, Cleveland..........................................12-4
Giolito, Chicago.............................................12-6
Gonzales, Seattle..........................................12-9
Baseball
Whatwouldtrade-offbe?
In a serendipitous twist of tim-
ing, at least for those of us who
dabble in sarcasm and irony, the
Red Sox schedule was released for
the 2020 season Monday after-
noon.
Perfect. The day after Andrew
Cashner (who has been so abysmal
since coming over from the Orioles
in June that the 2003 Jeff Suppan
trade suddenly looks like a savvy
pickup) and these underachieving
Red Sox convince the majority of us
that this post-World Series season
willendbeforeOctober,we’real-
ready being pointed toward next
year.
For the record, they open March
26 against the Blue Jays. Hopefully,
Chris Sale, David Price, and whoev-
er else make up this pitching staff
will have faced live batters by that
point.
I imagine even the scattered op-
timists among us are having a hard
time rationalizing that this edition
of the Red Sox will find itself. Six
American League teams have a bet-
ter record, and the Sox went into
Monday six games back of Oakland
in the wild-card race... and Oak-
land was 1½ games back of Tampa
Bay for the second wild-card spot.
The Red Sox began a three-
game series Monday against Terry
Francona’s Indians, who surged
over the weekend to tie the Twins
in the AL Central. This doesn’t feel
like a series that will change the
Red Sox’ fortunes. It feels like one
that will further confirm them,
probably in an ugly fashion.
They’re running out of chances
and they’re running out of games,
so it’s impossible not to look at that
brand-new 2020 schedule and
wonder what will be different then.
Beyond inevitable changes to the
roster, some off-field personnel will
be changed, too. Some will deserve
it. Others will be scapegoats for the
underachievement.
I suspect president of baseball
operations Dave Dombrowski will
be the highest-profile personnel
change.
It seems to me that Red Sox fans
would be fine with this. I don’t
think it is that simple.
I’m not arguing that he deserves
to stay, because this season has
been a mess a dozen different ways,
and most of them lead back to deci-
sions he made. I still cannot believe
Sale got $145 million after basically
being a sore-shouldered question
mark for the last four months of
the 2018 season. And that’s just
one of the bewildering decisions.
I’ve often thought Dombrows-
ki’s struggles to build a bullpen
wherever he’s been have been
mostly bad luck. This year, it was
bad decision-making, a bad philos-
ophy, and neglect.
The Red Sox actually have had
pretty good luck; just imagine if
Brandon Workman hadn’t turned
into 1999 Derek Lowe all of a sud-
den.
It’seasytoforgetnow,inthe
midst of whatever you want to call
this massive hangover of a season,
but it’s not that Dombrowski has
done a lot right here since coming
aboard in August 2015 after the Ti-
gers let him go. He has done most
things right, at least before this sea-
son. Not all. But most.
He arrived with a reputation for
gutting farm systems, but he traded
the right guys here, for the most
part. He kept Rafael Devers and
Andrew Benintendi. He resisted
dealing the likes of Xander Bo-
gaerts for Cole Hamels, a very hot
trade rumor at one point.
There are deals that could look
more regrettable in the future, and
the Tyler Thornburg trade was a
flop, but, in general, Dombrowski
has made wise enough personnel
decisions that the ’18 Red Sox had a
very real argument as the best team
in franchise history, and one with a
young core.
Dombrowski has been a general
manager or a de facto one with a
fancier title since 1988, when he
took over the Montreal Expos as a
31-year-old. Because he’s been do-
ing this so long — he left the Expos
to build the expansion Marlins at
the end of the 1991 season, won a
title there and rebuilt the founda-
tion of a future champion before
going to the Tigers in ’02, where he
stayed through most of the ’15 sea-
son — you can find just about any-
thing you’re looking for on his résu-
mé to fit the argument you’re try-
ing to make.
High-profile free agent sign-
ings? He made a ton of those, from
Moises Alou, Kevin Brown, and
Bobby Bonilla with the Marlins to
Victor Martinez, Prince Fielder,
and Ivan Rodriguez with the Ti-
gers.
Memorable trades? He got Max
Scherzer and Miguel Cabrera in
Detroit, but traded young Randy
Johnson with the Expos.
Smart draft picks? He took Josh
Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, and
Charles Johnson with the Marlins,
then Justin Verlander, Andrew
Miller, and Curtis Granderson with
the Tigers. The Expos developed
Cliff Floyd, Marquis Grissom, Larry
Walker, and others on his watch.
And when Dombrowski had to
gut the ’97 champion Marlins, he
got A.J. Burnett and Derrek Lee
back in trades, and also swapped
three prospects for Yankees pros-
pect Mike Lowell.
The notion that he might not be
the right person to lead a rebuild
for the Red Sox really isn’t a fair
one based on at least part of his his-
tory. He has drafted well, and been
able to identify worthwhile young
keepers to acquire in deals for vet-
erans. He wasn’t around for that
second Marlins championship, but
he laid the groundwork for it with
smart trades under lousy circum-
stances.
Yes, he does have a knack for
overpaying for talent. He’s that guy
in your fantasy baseball league who
isn’t going to be outbid for the su-
perstar he wants, even if prices get
crazy.
Forget the Sale deal, or the $68
million given to Nathan Eovaldi, or
the $217 million for Price, or any-
thing else that makes you wish for
a rebate right about now. There’s a
deal that’s even scarier out there
that is Dombrowski’s doing.
Cabrera is 36 years old. He has
eight home runs this season in 421
plate appearances. And he has at
least four years and $124 million
left on his deal with the Tigers.
Yikes.
Dombrowski’s approach also
tends to leave his rosters short on
the back end. This Red Sox roster
feels like it has six All-Stars and an-
other six guys that don’t belong in
the majors.
We should also reiterate that
bullpen failings on his watch are
real, even if he’s unlucky. The Red
Sox really didn’t have much of a
bullpen last year when they won,
which is why the starters had to
bail them out in the postseason.
But it’s also worth remembering
— and the reminder seems neces-
sary — that Dombrowski has ful-
filled every aspect of being a gener-
al manager well at some point in
his long and successful career. He
has built good teams with money,
sure, but that’s not the only way
he’s done it, and if the Red Sox do
decide that rebuilding the farm sys-
tem is the highest priority, I believe
Dombrowski would be better at it
than conventional wisdom sug-
gests.
Maybe Dombrowski isn’t the
right guy to be running the Red Sox
when that new schedule begins.
I’m just not convinced he’s the
wrong one.
Chad Finn can be reached at
[email protected].
Floppingchampsjustshort-armed
Walden has pitched very well
this season, but the Sox needed
their best against the middle of
Cleveland’s lineup. As Workman
watched from the bullpen, Walden
left a slider up and Santana hit it
410 feet.
It’s why the Indians have won 9
of 11, and the Sox have lost three
straight and 12 of 15.
“It cost us the game there. It’s a
decision that, it’s a hard one be-
cause we were very limited,” Cora
said.
It has been that way since the
season started. The decision not to
replace Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel
left the Sox with a bullpen that is es-
sentially Workman, Walden, Matt
Barnes, and a constant shuffle of
borderline big leaguers.
It didn’t work in April and it still
doesn’t work in August. It was nev-
er going to work. The Sox are 3-9
since the trade deadline passed
without Dave Dombrowski at least
trying to fix the bullpen. That’s not
a coincidence.
Even the little, potentially help-
ful moves are somehow too diffi-
cult.
The Sox needed an extra relief
pitcher on Monday, but the four
roster moves they made earlier in
the day didn’t produce one. They
replaced injured Michael Chavis
with infielder Marco Hernandez,
and recalled rookie righthander
Travis Lakins to replace Ryan We-
ber.
Ryan Brasier, who has pitched
well since being demoted to Paw-
tucket last month, remained there.
A team with an unreliable rota-
tion dropped its extra relief pitcher
on Sunday to promote infielder
Chris Owings from Triple A Paw-
tucket. Owings, who was released
by Kansas City in June, promptly
went 0 for 5 and struck out three
uONBASEBALL
Continued from Page D1
times.
The Sox then used six relievers
in the extra-inning loss against the
Angels after Andrew Cashner start-
ed and only recorded five outs. Red
Sox starters have an 8.10 earned-
run average in the last 16 games
and the decision was made to drop
a reliever.
Cora remained relentlessly posi-
tive after his team’s fifth walkoff
loss of the season.
“I do feel this is one of the best
games we’ve played in a while as far
as being locked-in and grinding at-
bats,” he said.
“[The Indians are] a good base-
ball [team] as everybody knows and
we were in a hole and we kept fight-
ing, fighting, and fighting. We find
a way to tie the game but then that
happened.
“It really sucks, but we did a lot
of good things today that we ha-
ven’t done in a while.”
Except beat a team with a win-
ning record. They haven’t done that
since July 27.
One obvious move was made be-
fore the game when Cashner was
demoted to the bullpen. It would
have made more sense to release
Cashner, who was non-competitive
on Sunday. But the Sox have such
little pitching depth that they elect-
ed to keep him around.
The Sox also decided to give Rick
Porcello another shot and start him
against the Orioles on Friday at
Fenway Park.
Chris Sale starts Tuesday night.
The Sox haven’t named a starter for
Wednesday.
Can the Sox bounce back from
this latest kick in the teeth?
“We’re about to find out,” Cora
said. “Obviously you saw their fac-
es, you saw their reactions. It’s not
easy. You fight, fight, fight, and one
swing it’s over.”
The Red Sox have a day off on
Thursday. If the Indians sweep,
pitching coach Dana LeVangie
could be the fall guy.
Pitching coaches are a conve-
nient scapegoat when teams go
bad. Juan Nieves was the pitching
coach of the 2013 World Series
champion Red Sox, then lost his job
in May 2015.
Carl Willis, who replaced Nieves,
is now Cleveland’s successful pitch-
ing coach after the Red Sox let him
go and replaced him with, you
guessed it, LeVangie.
The coaches take the blame
when players fail to perform. It
didn’t help LeVangie that Eduardo
Rodriguez, who has been reliable
all season, allowed five runs in the
first three innings on Monday.
The Sox came back from a 5-1
deficit. But then, they’ve had a lot of
practice.
Peter Abraham can be reached at
[email protected].
JASON MILLER/GETTY IMAGES
Marcus Walden hadn’t given up
a hit in 32 batters before Carlos
Santana’s walkoff home run.