There was a baseball game tonight. I watched it in its entirety, and I’m still not quite sure what to say about it. Was it a masterclass in pitching, or a display of incompetent hitting?

For nine innings, the game remained scoreless. The Red Sox had very few baserunners and scoring opportunities. Their biggest threat came in the sixth inning when Ceddane Rafaela led off with a double. Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers followed him up by striking out. Alex Bregman was hit by a pitch to add traffic to the bases, but Kristian Campbell was rung up on a pitch well below the zone, killing the rally. More on the blind guy behind the plate momentarily.

The Royals had more opportunities to get runs across. Hunter Dobbins gave up five hits in six innings, but was able to navigate the jams with relative ease. The defense showed up at the right moments to help Dobbins’ cause.

The Red Sox finally got on the board in the eleventh inning on a Devers groundout, but it was the only run they could get across in the contest. The Royals responded quickly with a Vinnie Pasquantino single to tie the game off Garrett Whitlock, though that was all they could muster in the bottom half.

The Red Sox went down in order in the twelfth. Sean Newcomb took over for the bottom of the inning and saw two batters. The first was Cavan Biggio, who laid down an incredibly lucky bunt as he tried to get out of the way of a pitch at his head. Freddy Fermin then quickly singled in the winning run.

I’d like to point to the situational hitting as the issue tonight, but aside from the sixth inning and the automatic runners in extras, there weren’t very many opportunities to score runs. At a certain point, it felt like it was home run or bust, and the home run never materialized.

Garrett Crochet against Cole Ragans tomorrow in a meeting of the huge lefties. Should be a fun one.

Three Studs

Hunter Dobbins was fantastic tonight. I’ve been skeptical of his performances so far, but I thought he looked like a legitimate big leaguer tonight. Unfortunately, there are only three studs, and his was like, six years ago, so he misses out tonight. Instead, here are some off the beaten path studs.

Alex Cora

Until Sean Newcomb entered the game, I felt like Alex Cora pulled all the right levers with the bullpen tonight. He pulled Dobbins with a relatively low pitch count, but the velocity was beginning to dip, and had a rested Greg Weissert, who has been lights out recently. That move looked questionable for a brief period until Weissert induced a double-play ball to lessen the threat. After that, each pitcher did almost everything asked of them. The pitchers themselves obviously deserve credit, but I thought Alex Cora did a great job putting them in the right spots.

The Defense

The defense showed up tonight in a big way. From Trevor Story and Alex Bregman combining for an unorthodox double play, to Ceddane Rafaela making a catch at the wall. Kristian Campbell misplayed a ball, but it was ultimately irrelevant. When the ball was in play, the defense took care of it. A welcome change of pace from recent years if you ask me.

Mike Monaco

I like Dave O’Brien, but Mike Monaco was great on the call tonight. He brings a level of excitement that you don’t always get from OB. Excited to hear Monaco for the rest of the series.

Three Duds

The Home Plate Umpire

I don’t know his name, but man did that guy stink. I’m not even saying he screwed the Red Sox. He was just consistently wrong. Feed me the challenge system.

The Guy Who Designed My Scorecard

I ran out of innings. Everyone knows scorecards should have at least twelve innings.

Pod on Landsdowne

These guys are supposed to be Red Sox fans, but I just know they were giddy to tweet this meme tonight. Look at them, they were taunting people. Sickos.