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| Lucas Giolito |
Lance Lynn, Dylan Cease and Lucas Giolito have combined to pitch 20 innings, allowing only three runs. That should lead to a 3-0 record, or 2-1 at the very least. Instead, the Sox are 1-2 because they can't hit, and their allegedly lights-out bullpen stinks.
Giolito tossed six innings of one-run ball Wednesday night, but it wasn't enough. Toronto scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and beat the Sox, 3-1.
The bullpen management by Tony La Russa was curious, to say the least. Ryan Tepera worked a scoreless seventh, and that part was fine. But it was baffling that lefty Aaron Bummer got the call in the eighth to pitch against the right-hand-dominant middle of the Toronto batting order.
It almost worked, in spite of the faulty logic. Bummer struck out Marcus Semien and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to start the inning. But the three right-handed hitters that followed -- Teoscar Hernandez, Breyvic Valera and Alejandro Kirk -- delivered three straight singles, the last of which produced a 2-1 Toronto lead.
Finally, La Russa gave Bummer the hook, and he goes to ... Jose Ruiz. To be fair to Ruiz, his defense failed him. Yoan Moncada kicked a grounder by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to load the bases. The inning should have been over. But Ruiz walked Randal Grichuk on four pitches to force in Toronto's third and final run of the night, and that's hard to accept.
Ruiz has proven time and again he doesn't belong in high-leverage spots. I guess if he was going to be the guy to come in, might as well have stuck with Bummer, huh?
Regardless, the Sox can't hit right now. They managed only six hits, all singles, and struck out 16 times in this loss. For this team, it doesn't end well when the home run power isn't there.
The Sox are 73-55. The AL Central lead is nine games, after Cleveland beat Texas on Wednesday.
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