Josh Johnson got the ball in the top of the first for Toronto and Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a walk. Daniel Nava singled and Ellsbury moved to third on the fly out by Dustin Pedroia. The rally stalled as both Mike Napoli and Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out to end the inning. Felix Doubront got the ball to start the bottom of the first inning. Jose Reyes doubled but Emilio Bonifacio struck out. A wild pitch moved Reyes to third but Melky Cabrera grounded out to third. Edwin Encarnarcion then hit a ball to third base and Reyes was tagged out, then Encarnarcion got caught in a rundown and tagged out to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second. Will Middlebrooks popped up but Shane Victorino and Jackie Bradley Jr both singled. Jose Iglesias was hit to load the bases, making him scream in pain.
Ellsbury slammed through a single to score Victorino. Nava then bounced into a double play to end the inning but got the lead. Toronto answered in the bottom of the first. JP Arencibia popped up but Rajai Davis singled. Colby Rasmus doubled Davis to third and Davis scored on a sac fly by Mark DeRosa. Macier Izturis grounded out to end the inning but the game was tied.
Johnson cruised in the top of the third. Pedroia flied out, Napoli popped up and Saltalamacchia flied out to end the inning. Reyes singled to lead off the bottom of the second but Bonifacio struck out. Reyes was erased on the force by Cabrera and Encarnarcion looked at strike 3 to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fourth due to some shoddy defense by Toronto. Middlebooks whiffed and both Victorino and JBJ reached on back to back errors by Bonifacio. Pedro Ciriaco pinch hit for Jose Iglesias and singled home Victorino to give the Sox a 2-1 lead.
Ellsbury popped up and Nava lined out to end the inning. It was announced Jose left after being hit with the pitch. Doubront remained tough in the bottom of the fourth. Arencibia struck out, Davis grounded out and Rasmus struck out to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fifth. Pedroia singled and Napoli blasted his first home run of the year to extend the lead 4-1. Saltalamacchia struck out and Middlebrooks grounded out. Victorino singled but JBJ grounded out to end the inning.
The Jays struck back in the bottom of the fifth. DeRosa led the inning off with a solo blast to cut the lead 4-2. Izturis singled and scored on the double by Reyes but Jose was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Bonifacio singled but Cabrera flied out. Encarnarcion struck out to end the inning but the game was now 4-3.
The Sox threatened in the top of the sixth when Ciriaco led off with a double. He was stranded when Ellsbury struck out and Nava popped up. Pedroia was intentionally walked and Napoli struck out to end the inning. Doubront returned for the bottom of the sixth but was immediately chased when Arencibia doubled.
Koji Uehara made his presence felt by striking out both Davis and Rasmus. Adam Lind pinch hit for DeRosa and flied out to end the inning. Great job Koji.
Brett Cecil got the ball in the top of the seventh as Lind moved to first. Saltalamacchia walked and Middlebrooks doubled...but Victorino, Bradley and Ciriaco all struck out to end the inning. The missed opportunity came back to haunt the Sox as the Jays tied it in the bottom of the seventh. Junichi Tazawa got Izturis to fly out but Reyes crushed a solo shot to tie the game at 4 apiece. Taz recovered to strike out Bonifacio but Cabrera tripled. Encarnarcion flied out to end the inning.
The Sox took the lead in the top of the eighth. Cecil got Ellsbury to strike out and Esmil Rogers was brought in to face pinch hitter Jonny Gomes (for Nava). Gomes walked and Pedroia doubled him to third. Napoli then brought home Gomes with a ground out to give the sox a 5-4 lead. Saltalamacchia struck out to end the inning. Andrew Bailey got the ball to start the bottom of the eighth. Arencibia struck out but Davis doubled and Rasmus walked. Lind and Izturis flied out to end the inning.
The Sox got a huge insurance run in the top of the ninth. Jeremy Jeffress got the ball and Will Middlebrooks greeted him with his first home run of the season to make it 6-4. Victorino struck out but Bradley walked and stole second. Bonifacio committed his third error of the game to put runners at the corners. Bradley was thrown out at home on a ground ball by Ellsbury. Both Ellsbury and Ciriaco pulled off a double steal and Gomes walked to load the bases. Pedroia flied out to end the inning but it was 6-4. Joel Hanrahan came on for the save in the bottom of the ninth. Reyes popped up, Bonifacio struck out and Cabrera walked. Encarnarcion grounded out to end the game. The Sox had won 6-4.
Hero of the night is Mike Napoli. He put the Sox on top twice including the go-ahead rbi
The Good:
Jonny Gomes walked twice and scored the go-ahead run. Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 5 with a walk and a run scored. Will Middlebrooks was 2 for 5 with a walk and a solo home run. Shane Victorino was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored. Jose Iglesias was hit with a pitch in his only at bat before leaving the game. Pedro Ciriaco was 2 for 4 with an rbi coming in after Iglesias was hurt. Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless 7th inning. Andrew Bailey pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Joel Hanrahan earned his second save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Junichi Tazawa gave up the lead in the bottom of the seventh.
The Ugly:
Jacoby Ellsbury was just 1 for 5 with a walk but drove in a run. Daniel Nava was just 1 for 4. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked. Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 with a walk. Felix Doubront lasted just 5 innings and allowed 3 runs on NINE hits. He did manage to strike out 6.
Final Thoughts:
3 wins in 4 games is a much better start than anyone predicted. The late inning hitting is what they missed last year with only 3 walkoff wins the entire season. It was great to see last year's little spark plug Ciriaco continue to contribute and the bullpen was nearly lights out apart from Tazawa. Great work by Uehara, Bailey and Hanrahan to slam the door. With Stephen Drew in Portland tonight, the Sox are down to just Ciriaco and Iglesias until Drew comes back. Hopefully they can ride a momentum wave until then. Tomorrow John Lackey takes on JA Happ in Game 2 of the series.
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