Behind five home runs by the Boston Red Sox, the San Francisco Giants dropped their fifth consecutive game following the All-Star break in an 11-7 Beantown slugfest.
Hanley Ramirez was amongst the Red Sox who were responsible for spoiling Matt Cain's first start back from the disabled list, hitting three home runs while driving in six RBIs, leading the charge to complete the brief two-game sweep of the orange and black.
The former Rookie of the Year was denied the opportunity to become the 17th player in history to hit four home runs in a game when Derek Law induced a groundout in the first baseman’s final at-bat of the day.
Wednesday night’s matinee wasn’t the first time the two members of the 2006 rookie class have met, as the two have squared off against each other 55 times in their careers, with Ramirez tacking on a pair of home runs last night prior to last night’s game.
All of Ramirez’s bombs were of the two-run variety, with two of them coming off of the San Francisco lifer and his final dinger of the day coming against Albert Suarez.
Cain became just the latest Giants starter to fall victim to the long ball, allowing three home runs and five earned runs while only registering one out in the third before being yanked from the game.
San Francisco starters have struggled with keeping the opposition in the ballpark in their return to regular season play, having allowed eleven home runs in 24.1 innings of work. No starter has completed nor made it past the sixth inning in the previous five starts as well.
The veteran’s last start for San Francisco’s Single-A affiliate may have been an omen, as in that start he surrendered nine runs over the course of four innings against the Lancaster JetHawks.
Suarez, Cain’s replacement during his absence, didn’t fare any better against the Red Sox, allowing five runs as well in three innings of work.
Although the Giants and the Red Sox don’t meet each other often, the orange and black faced off against a familiar face in Drew Pomeranz, who was traded to Boston.
Coming into the game with a 2.60 ERA in four starts against the Giants this season, the lefty had all the run support he would ever need after the Red Sox jumped out to a 8-0 lead, but San Francisco battled back.
With the help of a pair of home runs from Mac Williamson and Trevor Brown, the Giants put up a five spot in the fourth inning and knocked Pomeranz out of the game.
San Francisco fought all the way back, pulling the score to 8-7 with the bases loaded and no outs, but were unable to either tie the score or take the lead.
Bruce Bochy, for all his greatness, made a questionable decision, pinch-hitting Williamson for Gregor Blanco in order to get the right-on-left matchup.
Although Williamson already had the home run, he is by far nowhere near as effective facing right-handed pitching. Also, should Blanco hit a grounder, he would have the speed to avoid the double play.
Ironically, Blanco ended up grounding into a double play, effectively all but ending what could have been a big inning.
To add insult to injury, Ramirez homered in the following inning, sending the Giants to New York still looking for their first win at Fenway Park in 101 years.
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