HIrokazu Sawamura probably lost Saturday's game on purpose as Red Sox lose 2-1 to Orioles in extras

Nathan Eovaldi (Photo from MLB.com video: https://www.mlb.com/gameday/red-sox-vs-orioles/2022/04/30/663364#game_state=final,game_tab=videos,game=663364)

Another wasted start for Boston Red Sox pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. Another one.

The Boston Red Sox lost to the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night 2-1 in 10 innings.

Red Sox relief pitcher Hirokazu Sawamura made a throwing error and threw the baseball way over Red Sox third baseman and fellow teammate Rafael Devers head.

The ball landed in foul territory somewhere in left field, and Orioles baserunner Jorge Mateo jogged and slowly trotted to home plate (and scored) due to the error.

Hirokazu Sawamura's throw (Photo from MLB.com VIdeo: https://www.mlb.com/gameday/red-sox-vs-orioles/2022/04/30/663364#game_state=final,game_tab=videos,game=663364)

To start the bottom of the tenth, the Red Sox decided to walk Ryan McKenna intentionally.

So with the way extra innings are set up now in Major League Baseball, the last batter to finish his at-bat of the previous offensive inning for the Orioles, starts on second base to begin the bottom of the tenth inning.

Two baserunners on-base for the Orioles. No outs.

On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Robinson Chirinos decided to lay down a bunt.

He hit it too hard to Sawamura. Easy play for Sawamura. To any base really.

Sawamura picked up the ball and threw in the direction of third base. And you know what happened.

Ballgame. Orioles win!

I think Sawamura threw that ball way too high to Devers on purpose. That game was fixed and rigged and you probably cannot convince me otherwise forever.

Another heartbreaking loss for the Red Sox. Again.

Again!

I feel like we have seen the ending to this movie too many times already this regular season for the Boston Red Sox.

Let's just look at the last three Saturday games for the Red Sox.

April 16th. Only shutout of the opponent this regular season for the Red Sox (before last night's game on May 3rd). Minnesota Twins lose 4-0. Red Sox win.

The first game after Opening Day at Fenway Park the previous day. Of course the Red Sox were expected to win.

April 23rd. Red Sox don't get any hits in the first nine innings. Neither the Red Sox nor the Tampa Bay Rays score any runs in the first innings.

Then suddenly Boston puts up two runs in the tenth and Tampa Bay puts up three runs in the tenth.

Extremely fishy.

And then Saturday, April 30th. One run for the Red Sox in the top of the first inning.

Then, no runs for Boston the rest of the game!

Plus, with the way the game ended. Red Sox let the Orioles score in the bottom of the eighth!

And with how the game ended.

Extremely fishy.

Let's look at Eovaldi's starts this regular season.

Red Sox lead 4-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning on April 8th. Red Sox pitcher Garrett Whitlock (before Thursday's game on April 28th) gave up his only run of the entire regular season to DJ LeMahieu (a solo home run) of the New York Yankees.

Boston then loses 6-5 to New York in 11 innings.

Almost anything can happen on Opening Day. Maybe Whitlock was just having a bad day.

Eovaldi gets credit for the win if Whitlock doesn't give up the home run and the Red Sox don't force the game to be tied again to the Yankees.

Extremely fishy.

Boston scores six runs in the top of the fourth on April 13th. It is raining for much of the game. During the top of the fourth inning, it looks like the umpires may stop play at any moment. But they never do.

Former Boston pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez gets taken out of the game for the Detroit Tigers before the end of the top of the fourth inning.

The Red Sox don't even have a chance to win that game if Boston doesn't score at least four runs in the top of the fourth.

Boston loses the game if they don't put up any runs in the top of the fourth (and Eovaldi probably would of had to take credit for the loss)!

Eovaldi ends up winning the game.

Boston wins 9-7.

Extremely fishy.

Eovaldi gives up a solo home run to Zack Collins in the top of the second inning on April 19th. Toronto doesn't score again.

Nathan Eovaldi probably completes at least five innings and gets the win if he doesn't give up that home run.

Eovaldi only pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up seven hits. So if Vladimir Guerrero Jr. scores in the fifth inning, Eovaldi possibly could have been on the hook for the loss.

Toronto outhits Boston eight to three.

How does Boston get outhit that much and still win the game?

Extremely fishy.

On April 25th (last Monday), Eovaldi pitches seven innings. With the pace of the game in which the game was already in the seventh inning well under two hours, you would have thought Eovaldi would have pitched the entire game. In hindsight, he maybe should have.

Boston ties the game in the top of the eighth inning in Toronto. Score tied at two heading to the bottom of the eighth.

If Boston takes the lead in the top of the eighth, Eovaldi has a chance for a win.

But they don't.

Bo Bichette then hits his first career grand slam in the bottom half of the eighth.

If Boston doesn't score at least two runs, Eovaldi would have been the losing pitcher.

Toronto wins 6-2.

Extremely fishy.

And Saturday's game.

Extremely fishy. Definitely.

In five starts for Eovaldi this regular season, the Red Sox have two wins and three losses, when, (if we are being completely honest), he probably should have five wins this season and be in the conversation right now to win the Cy Young Award at the end of the regular season.

Instead he isn't. And he probably won't win the Cy Young Award now at the end of the entire season. I feel like he has pitched so good in every start this season (other than the few moments when he gives up runs) that he probably should win the Cy Young Award at the end of the season.

Objectively, if a few things happen differently, Eovaldi's won-lost record probably should be at best 5-0 (or at least 4-1) and at worst Eovaldi has at least three losses this season. At worst I'm saying he probably loses the game against Detroit and if things would have went extremely bad he probably should have taken the loss against Toronto both times he has pitched against them this regular season.

So the fact that Eovaldi officially is 1-0 is good, but he really should have more than one decision at this point.

I could play the what-if game all day long, but it is obvious he should have probably won on Opening Day, he probably would have won more times than not against Detroit anyway, and his start on April 25th probably should have been a win too considering he threw the fewest pitches in a start, in that start, this regular season.

At the end of the day, it really is difficult to pinpoint his true (or actual) won-lost record this season, but the bottom line is that everyone knows Eovaldi can pitch in the Major Leagues.

In four of his five regular season starts, he has given up run(s). He has given up at least two runs in three starts and in three of the first four starts he gave up two home runs.

Saturday's start was odd in that he gave up zero runs (and zero home runs) for the first time this regular season and didn't even get credit for a win.

Clearly anything short of a Red Sox win (or at least a very outstanding game for Eovaldi) in his next start will be unacceptable at this point of the season (even though there is a lot of regular season baseball games still to be played).

The Red Sox should only lose half the games Eovaldi pitches in at worst this regular season. That really should be a goal for the team.

Eovaldis ERA is 2.51, in wins it is 2.79 and in losses it is 2.37 this regular season.

Nathan could have 3.227 wins this regular season in 5 games, instead he has 1.074 wins (in two Red Sox wins).

He also has just .833 losses (in two Red Sox losses) when it could be as bad as 2.119 losses (in four Red Sox losses).

...

Matt Barnes, the relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, exclusively on the pitching side of things, has to take all the blame for Saturday's loss (at least before Sawamura's mistake in the 10th inning).

Obviously, Barnes doesn't have to take 100% of the blame, but if you want to blame one pitcher, Barnes is the guy.

He allowed Cedric Mullins to double in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs.

Anthony Santander then singled and Mullins scored.

The fact that this happened in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs is very concerning.

Every time Barnes has given up a run this regular season, the Red Sox have lost the game.

That is five losses. Barnes has pitched in nine games this regular season. The Red Sox have only won twice when Barnes has pitched this regular season.

The most games Barnes has pitched in and he didn't give up any runs is two.

He has only done that once this regular season.

Barnes is on a pattern where he gives up run(s) in two straight games and then he doesn't give up any in the next game after those two.

So whenever he pitches again, I expect him to give up run(s).

For the record, he didn't give up any runs on April 11th and April 13th in his two consecutive games of not giving up runs.

Whether you want to blame Barnes for 50%, 67% or 100% of the blame for the Red Sox loss, he probably deserves no less than two-thirds of the blame (on exclusively the pitching side of things) despite Sawamura's blatant mistake at the end of the game.

The true run average for Barnes right now is 6.46 and the very true run average (which is the same as his current ERA) is 5.87. His run average is 7.04.

In losses, his true run average is 7.82 and his very true run average (which also is the same as his current ERA) is 7.11. HIs run average is 8.53.

Before the month of May, Barnes is only a better pitcher this regular season than Ryan Brasier, Kutter Crawford, Tyler Danish, Jake Diekman, and starting pitcher Nick Pivetta.

...

Ryan Brasier had a scoreless game on Saturday. It was the third straight game he did not give up any runs.

Brasier has given up runs in six games this regular season and not given up runs in four games.

The thing that sucks for him is the Red Sox still have not won a game yet when he hasn't given up any runs (or partial runs) this regular season.

As of after May 3rd's Red Sox win, Brasier finally had a scoreless game in which Boston won!

So he hasn't given up a run in four straight games now and he has not given up any runs in five games this regular season.

Brasier has only pitched in three Red Sox wins this regular season out of 11 games he has pitched in.

Before the month of May, all of the following happened for Ryan Brasier:

Brasier's ERA is 2.57 this regular season, but that is misleading as his true run average and very true run average is worse at 8.36.

Brasier was tied for worst pitcher on the Red Sox with Kutter Crawford (based on very true run average, which is the most accurate ERA-like stat out there other than very true earned run average, which I don't think anyone has invented yet).

Brasier also had the most losses among Red Sox relievers (not including Garrett Whitlock, who Brasier is still worse than).

Brasier's true run average and very true run average in Red Sox wins is 13.50. Brasier's ERA in losses is 3.18 and his true run average and very true run average is 7.15.

...

Hirokazu Sawamura (right) being consoled by teammate Trevor Story (left). (Photo from MLB.com Video: https://www.mlb.com/gameday/red-sox-vs-orioles/2022/04/30/663364#game_state=final,game_tab=videos,game=663364)

Sawamura has given up runs in three games this regular season and the Red Sox lost all three of those games. Before any of May's games, Sawamura had five games in which he gave up zero runs.

At the end of April, he had a 2.57 ERA, a 4.18 true run average, a 3.54 very true run average and a 3.86 run average.

In losses, Sawamura had a 3.00, a 4.88 true run average, a 4.13 very true run average and a 4.50 run average.

After May 3rd's games, he now has seven games in which he has given up zero runs. Sawamura has pitched in three games the Red Sox have actually won out of ten games Sawamura has actually pitched in.

After May 3rd's game, Barnes, Brasier and Sawamura's ERA are still 0.00 in Red Sox wins when they pitch.

...

After everything I have said in this story, It just seems like to me that the Boston Red Sox are losing games intentionally (on purpose). And why? Because it makes all of the players more money.

The Los Angeles Angels are greatly benefiting right now because they are supposedly "winning" games and if the team with probably the most popular player in the Majors named Mike Trout is doing well, Major League Baseball is going to make a lot more money and people who don't even watch baseball that much (or at all) are going to want to watch or listen.

And that means more money even for the not very good players in MLB.

HIrokazu Sawamura is not really an established Major Leaguer yet.

So, of course he will do almost anything to make a significant amount of more money.

If that is $10,000 or $50,000 or $100,000 a lot of people would do it because it is easy money and it is so simple.

I mean, with all of these crazy losses that Boston probably SHOULD HAVE WON does a team like the Angels benefit greatly from a few extra Red Sox losses when the playoffs are near in September?

That seems to be the case.

People really ought to know that there is no United States law that says that Major League Baseball games have to be played honestly, meaning that they aren't required yet to get most (if not all) umpire decisions 100% correct.

So basically, Las Vegas decides who wins and who loses and Major League Baseball probably works with them (before the season) to decide which teams will be "successful" and which teams won't be.

And this is why sports betting never should have been legalized in any U.S. state.

I just blatantly refuse to believe that the Los Angeles Angels are good enough to get to the postseason after everything I saw from the Angels in 2021.

The Angels were a .500 or sub .500 team for much of 2021. I know it and you know it.

The fact that Albert Pujols was not a part of one playoff victory the entire time he was in Anaheim/Los Angeles really says it all.

Ohtani can replace the probably best player in the 2000's named Albert Pujols (if not ever) and it isn't going to make any difference. The Angels might be even worse!

And that's why a handful of Major League Baseball teams this season will be forced to lose certain games throughout the year.

To accommodate teams like the Los Angeles Angels who really cannot make it to the playoffs any year no matter how hard they try. So they have to have their opponents lose on purpose.

A handful of the games that are rigged or fixed will happen on Saturday or Sunday so you will want to tune in again the very next week to find out what happens and see how each team plays and reacts.

If the Red Sox lose two games every month of the regular season that they SHOULD probably win, that's twelve possible extra wins and they might not make the playoffs because of that!

A team like the Los Angeles Angels could benefit greatly from the Red Sox losing and a team like the Angels really cannot lose any extra games at all for any reason if they want to make it to the playoffs!

Part of me has an odd feeling that the Angels are going to win the World Series this year.

And why? Because we are probably going to learn someday that Mike Trout probably took the COVID-19 vaccine.

The COVID-19 vaccine will probably kill Mike Trout within the next five years, so MLB has to cash in on making a lot more money while he is still physically alive.

Also, Shohei Ohtani is a very popular baseball player right now that many people in Japan love and Major League Baseball needs to make a lot more money...now!

It honestly feel like to me that the Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays are going to win the World Series the next three years. That's how I have felt about it right now.

New York will win because of manager Buck Showalter to get him another World Series ring (and to say goodbye to him) and Toronto will win to keep Canadian fans interested in baseball so that they don't go focus on other sports or other things like the NHL or the NBA.

...

NOTE: Very true run average and run average include all runs scored. So they are not like earned runs. Very true run average is more accurate than true run average because it doesn't blame a pitcher for allowing a baserunner to start on second base in extra innings. True run average blames the pitcher for allowing a baserunner to start on second base to start extra innings. Other than that, very true run average and true run average are more accurate and truthful than earned run average (earned runs) and run average (runs).

FINAL NOTE: All statistics in this story are from after the April 30th, 2022, game and before the May 1st, 2022 game (unless otherwise noted). This story was posted on Wednesday, May 4th, 2022.

...

Actual won-lost records in the 2022 regular season for Boston Red Sox pitchers depending on the Boston Red Sox win/loss result for any one specific game

NEW: The "wins" are all games that the Boston Red Sox actually won. The "wins" are percentages of innings pitched for each pitcher. All of the percentages of innings pitched (of games the Red Sox actually won) are then added together to get "wins", which is what you see below. The "losses" can be thought of as the percentage of runs any one pitcher allowed the opposing team to score. These percentages of how many runs a pitcher allows in any one game to score are then added together for every game (and only of the games that the Red Sox actually lost) to get "losses". Pitchers who start any extra inning are blamed for allowing a baserunner to start the inning at second base (and any other additional bases they allow that baserunner to advance) if that baserunner eventually scores. The winning percentage is wins divided by wins plus losses.

Matt Barnes .148 wins and 1.192 losses (.111 win pct.)

Ryan Brasier .148 wins and 1.258 losses (.105 win pct.)

Kutter Crawford .259 wins and .635 losses (.290 win pct.)

Tyler Danish .111 wins and .542 losses (.170 win pct.)

Austin Davis .296 wins and .083 losses (.780 win pct.)

Jake Diekman .593 wins and .875 losses (.404 win pct.)

Nathan Eovaldi 1.074 wins and .833 losses (.563 win pct.)

Rich Hill .926 wins and .500 losses (.649 win pct.)

Tanner Houck 1.333 wins and 0.667 losses (.667 win pct.)

Nick Pivetta 0.000 wins and 2.667 losses (.000 win pct.)

Hansel Robles .667 wins and 1.000 losses (.400 win pct.)

Hirokazu Sawamura .111 wins and .781 losses (.125 win pct.)

John Schreiber .111 wins and 0 losses (1.000 win pct.)

Matt Strahm .630 wins and 0.167 losses (.791 win pct.)

Phillips Valdez 0 wins and .300 losses (.000 win pct.)

Michael Wacha 1.778 wins and .333 losses (.842 win pct.)

Garrett Whitlock .815 wins and 1.167 losses (.411 win pct.)

...

Actual won-lost records in the 2022 regular season for Boston Red Sox pitchers not depending on whether the Boston Red Sox actually win any one specific game or not.

In other words, this tells the complete picture of their entire regular season (the good and the bad) of how many people the pitcher got out (innings pitched) and how many runs the pitcher truthfully gave up (which is more accurate than runs or even earned runs given up). So to make this more easy for people to understand, starting pitchers don't 100% get blamed for the inherited runners that the reliever(s) allow to score. The starter will get 25%, 50% or 75% blame for giving up one run instead, for an inherited runner that eventually scores.

Also, a pitcher can get a partial win and a partial loss in the same game. So pitchers that throw more innings pitched are going to get a higher percentage of partial wins and pitchers who give up more runs are going to get a higher percentage of partial losses. So if one pitcher pitches a complete game he will get one win (regardless of the team's win/loss result) and if the pitcher's team actually loses that same game in which he was the only pitcher who pitched for his team, he will also get credit for one loss.

The only time any pitcher cannot take a loss or a partial loss is if the winning team doesn't give up any runs to the team they are playing.

Basically, this is truly giving credit where credit is due among pitchers only.

NEW: The "wins" are percentages of innings pitched for each game for each pitcher. All of the percentages of each game are then added together and the sum total of all percentages for each game are "wins" (whether the Red Sox actually won that specific game or not) and are what you see below. The "losses" can be thought of as the percentage of runs that any one pitcher allowed the opposing team to score for each game. All of the percentages of runs given up for each game are then added together and the sum total of all of those numbers are the "losses" and what you see below. The "losses" presented here are represented as the total number of potential losses that a pitcher could have if the Red Sox actually lost every single game in which a pitcher gave up a run(s). The winning percentage is wins divided by wins plus losses.

Matt Barnes .884 wins and 1.192 losses (.426 win pct.) 7 1/3 innings pitched

Ryan Brasier .796 wins and 2.425 losses (.247 win pct.) 7 innings pitched

Kutter Crawford .755 wins and .957 losses (.441 win pct.) 7 innings pitched

Tyler Danish .520 wins and 0.542 losses (.490 win pct.) 4 2/3 innings pitched

Austin Davis 1.044 wins and .369 losses (.739 win pct.) 9 1/3 innings pitched

Jake Diekman .778 wins and .982 losses (.442 win pct.) 7 innings pitched

Nathan Eovaldi 3.227 wins and 2.119 losses (.604 win pct.) 28 2/3 innings pitched

Rich Hill 1.944 wins and 1.500 losses (.565 win pct.) 17 innings pitched

Tanner Houck 2.097 wins and 1.250 losses (.627 win pct.) 18 2/3 innings pitched

Nick Pivetta 1.858 wins and 2.667 losses (.411 win pct.) 16 1/3 innings pitched

Hansel Robles 1.064 wins and 2.000 losses (.347 win pct.) 9 2/3 innings pitched

Hirokazu Sawamura .789 wins and .781 losses (.503 win pct.) 7 innings pitched

John Schreiber .278 wins and 0.000 losses (1.000 win pct.) 2 1/3 innings pitched

Matt Strahm .856 wins and 0.750 losses (.533 win pct.) 7 2/3 innings pitched

Phillips Valdez .954 wins and 0.300 losses (.761 win pct.) 8 1/3 innings pitched

Michael Wacha 2.319 wins and 2.000 losses (.537 win pct.) 20 1/3 innings pitched

Garrett Whitlock 1.837 wins and 1.167 losses (.612 win pct.) 16 2/3 innings pitched

...

Wins, Losses, Holds, Blown Saves and Saves that everybody understands

Matt Barnes 0-1 Blown Saves 1 Saves 1

Ryan Brasier Hold 1, Blown Saves 2

Kutter Crawford 1-1

Austin Davis 0-1 Holds 1

Jake Diekman Holds 7 Blown Saves 1 Saves 1

Nathan Eovaldi 1-0

Rich Hill

Tanner Houck 2-1

Nick Pivetta 0-3

Hansel Robles 1-1 Holds 4 Blown Saves 1 Saves 1

Hirokazu Sawamura 0-1 Holds 1

Matt Strahm 1-1 Holds 2 Saves 1

Phillips Valdez 0-1

Michael Wacha 2-0

Garrett Whitlock 1-1 Blown Saves 1 Saves 1