1st Inning
Grant Craddolph (2-0, 6.86 ERA) took the mound for his first start of the season. He was solid in 3 innings of work - allowing only 3 runs. After out 1 was recorded by Jonathan Phelps on a ground ball to first base, the Dbacks got on track as Devin drew a walk. Armani followed with a towering fly ball double to right center field. Red Sox outfielders Desmond Box and Bailey Goldstein hustled to get the ball back in and hold the runners at 2nd and 3rd. Christian hit an RBI ground ball to Lawrence Gilliam at second base who just missed getting Devin at plate. Mychal followed with a ground ball to short stop to score Armani. Tristan Williams fielded the ground ball and stepped on second base to record out 2. The final out was recorded on a heads up play by Red Sox catcher, Derek Marshall, as he fired to Tristan to nail a runner attempting to steal second base.
The Red Sox answered in the bottom half of the first. Jonathan (.667 BA, .750 OBP) who leads the team in batting and on base percentage, got things started with a ground ball up the middle. He would reach 2nd and 3rd on wild pitches and eventually score on an overthrow. Desmond took one for the team (HBP), Lawrence walked, and Kyle Reece took another one for the team (HBP) to load the bases. Tristan showed patience at the plate as Dbacks starting pitcher, Anthony, struggled with control. He drew a walk which scored Desmond. Evan Lott stepped to the plate and collected an RBI – scoring Lawrence on a ground ball that was mishandled by the Dbacks short stop. Bailey collected 2 RBIs – scoring Kyle and Tristan on a ground ball hit to short stop to bring the total to 5 runs.
At the end of 1, the score was 5-2 Red Sox.
2nd Inning
After a strikeout for out 1, Grant allowed a walk to Shane, and an infield single to 3rd base by Anthony. Shane would score on wild pitch to bring the score to 5-3. The Red Sox tightened the strings as Jonathan recorded out 2 on a fly ball to foul territory. After another walk to Devin, Grant buckled down and recorded out 3 with his second strike out of the day.
Grant singled on a ground ball to center field to start the 2nd, and Jonathan followed with a walk. Grant and Jonathan moved to second and third on wild pitchers. With the Dbacks experiencing a case of TeeBall-itus (the dreaded ailment that grossly afflicted Red Sox Land last season), Grant and Jonathan were able to score on the same wild pitch. Sticking with the theme, Desmond drew a walk to score Grant. Lawrence collected an RBI on a ground ball back to the box – scoring Desmond. Kyle, who must have had a ball magnet in his back pocket, was hit by another pitch. Tristan followed with an infield single. Both runners were left stranded as Dback reliever pulled it together and recorded out 3 on a strike out.
3rd Inning
Terrance Gant and Dominic Vasquez took over for Evan and Desmond in the outfield. After surrendering a lead off walk to Christian, Grant retired the side on strikes – needing only 9 pitches. This would close the book on Grant. In 3 innings of work, he threw 33 of 69 pitches for strikes, allowed 2 hits, 3 runs, walked 5 and struck out 5; another great performance by a Red Sox starting pitcher.
Bailey led of the 3rd with a line drive double to deep right center field. Grant reached on a fielder's choice to place runners at first and second. Jonathan walked to load the bases. Bailey hustled home on a wild pitch and displayed a bit of creativity – employing the seldom used "crawl slide" to evade the tag at the plate. Grant would follow to score the second run of the inning. Dominic and Lawrence followed with walks to load the bases for Kyle. The Dbacks countered by bringing in experienced pitcher, Christian Cook. Kyle collected an RBI, scoring Jonathan on a ground out to the pitcher. With runners on second and third, Tristan hit a ground ball to short stop. Lawrence was overcome with sudden case of Teeball-itus and ran "unforced" into the tag between short and third for out number three.
At the end of 3, the score was Red Sox 11, Dbacks 3.
4th Inning
Derek made his second appearance on the mound this year in relief of Grant at the top of the 4th. Grant moved to catcher. Derek turned in a flawless inning, getting the first 3 batters he faced with a total of 14 pitches. He struck out the first 2 batters that he faced. Out 3 was recorded by Tristan who fielded a ground ball that took him to his knees. He scrambled to his feet and threw a bullet to Jonathan at first to get the runner - a play worthy of Web Gem consideration. In total, Derek faced 3 batters, allow no runners, collected 2 strikeouts, and threw 9 of 14 pitches for strikes.
Dbacks pitcher Christian made quick work of the Red Sox in the bottom of the 4th. He struck out the lead off batter on 4 pitches. After a walk to the next batter, Grant stroked a line drive to first base. Dbacks first baseman, Sal, snagged the line drive and stepped on the bag to double up the runner at first – WEB GEM!!!
No runs were scored in the 4th inning.
5th Inning
Jonathan (0-1, 4.00 ERA) filled the closer role for the Red Sox in the top of the 5th. Derek moved to first, Lawrence to short, Tristan to third, Dominic to second, and Desmond returned to center. Jonathan was strong in relief. After walking the lead off batter, he settled in to strike out the number 2 hitter. The lead off batter would score on misplayed ground ball. Tristan and Lawrence combined to get out 2 with a force play at second. Jonathan would take care of the rest, striking out the last batter of the game. In one inning of work, Jonathan threw, 15 of 24 pitches for strikes, walked 2, struck out 2, allowed no hits and no earned runs.
Game Balls go to the following players:
- Grant for solid starting pitching, solid catching, and scoring 2 runs.
- Bailey for the double to right center field.
- Jonathan for solid work at 1st base, scoring 3 runs, and closing out the game on the mound.
Scoring Note: The original game recap that I posted had Jonathan with an earned run in bottom of the 5th. I corrected this as the run was scored as the result of an error. The attached score sheet has not been corrected but the website and the box score is correct.
_____________________________________Lawrence Gilliam
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