Erasmo Ramirez was making his major league debut for the Mariners and Jacoby Ellsbury greeted him in the top of the first with his 3rd home run of the year to give the Sox a 1-0 lead one batter into the game.
Daniel Nava flied out, Dustin Pedroia struck out and David Ortiz grounded out to end the inning. Ryan Dempster took the ball in the bottom of the first. Brad Miller and Endy Chavez both struck out but Raul Ibanez singled. Kendrys Morales flied out to end the inning. Mike Carp walked with one out in the top of the second but nothing else happened.
Dempster crapped himself in the bottom of the second. Kyle Seager led off with a home run but Justin Smoak lined out. Mike Zunino singled but Michael Saunders flied out. All Dempster needed was one more out and the damage would be kept at 1. Instead he uncorked a wild pitch that moved Zunino to second. Brendan Ryan then lopped a ground ball to Brock Holt.....which was bobbled, allowing Zunino to reach third. Brad Miller hit a ground rule double to score Zunino. Endy Chavez singled home the remaining runners to make it 4-1 just like that. Chavez added insult to injury when he swiped second but thankfully Ibanez grounded out to end the inning. Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad inning.
Ellsbury worked a one out walk in the top of the 3rd but nothing else happened. Dempster struck out Morales and Seager flied out to open the bottom of the 3rd, but once again he got burned with 2 outs. Smoak walked, Zunino was hit with a pitch and Saunders singled home Smoak to make it 5-1. Ryan popped up to end the inning.
Now it was Boston's turn to rally in the top of the 4th. Ortiz walked but Jonny Gomes struck out. Carp was hit with a pitch but Ryan Lavarnway struck out. Brock Holt made up for his error by singling home Ortiz and advancing Carp to third. Jose Iglesias also singled to score Holt and cut the deficit 5-3. Ellsbury made it 5-4 by scoring Carp with a single. Nava grounded out but the game was close again.
Now all Dempster had to do was settle down.....but he didn't. Miller singled and Chavez bunted his way on, but Ryan recovered to strike out Ibanez. Morales then singled home Miller to make it 6-4 and Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough. Dempster was done after allowing NINE hits and a walk in 3 1/3 innings. He was due for a stinker and this was it.
Pressed into emergency relief, the returning Steven Wright got the ball to clean up the mess. Unfortunately Chavez pulled up lame and had to leave the game, replaced by Dustin Ackley. Seager singled to score Ackley and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. In what became one of the crucial plays of the game, Smoak grounded out to second. Zunino struck out but the damage was limited to 2 runs and the score stood 7-4.
Once again it was the Sox turn to rally in the top of the 5th. Pedroia singled and Ortiz walked. Gomes singled to load the bases and Pedroia scored on the sac fly by Carp. Lavarnway flied out and that was it for Ramirez. Limiting the rookie to 100 pitches, Mariners manager Eric Wedge brought in Charlie Furbush. Holt greeted him with a single that scored Ortiz to make it 7-6 and Iglesias singled in Gomes to tie the game. Who says Iglesias can't hit? Ellsbury struck out but the Sox had come back again.
At this point it became an unlike pitchers duel between Steven Wright and the Seattle bullpen. Wright worked around a 2 out walk in the bottom of the 5th to retire the side. Furbush pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 6th and Wright got a huge double play to get out of the bottom of the 6th. Lavarnway doubled with 2 out in the top of the 7th but was stranded. Carp misplayed a ground ball with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th allowing Saunders to reach. Ryan grounded out to end the inning. Oliver Perez relieved Furbush and struck out the side in the top of the 8th. Wright kept pace by working around a 2 out walk by Ibanez to retire the side. Gomes worked a 2 out walk in the top of the 9th and Wedge sent in closer Tom Wilhelmsen. Shane Victorino pinch hit for Carp and struck out. Nava moved to first and Victorino to right for the bottom of the 9th. Smoak singled with one out but Zunino banged into a double play. That's 5 2/3 scoreless innings of relief by Wright, very...VERY impressive.
Moved by Wright's effort, the Sox looked to end this damn thing in the top of the 10th. Lavarnway walked and Jackie Bradley Jr pinch ran for him. Holt laid down the picture perfect sacrifice bunt to advance Bradley to second. Iglesias struck out and Wedge had Ellsbury intentionally walked. Nava made Wedge pay by singling in Bradley with the go-ahead run. Pedroia flied out but the Sox had the lead after trailing 5-1 and 7-4.
Now it was up to Koji Uehara to preserve the win. No sweat, Uehara struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced to slam the door. Red Sox had won 8-7
THE GOOD:
Hero of the Night is Steven Wright. Pressed into emergency relief, he tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings to earn his first win of the season.
Other babyfaces included Jacoby Ellsbury who was 2 for 4 with 2 walks, 2 rbi's and a run scored. Brock Holt was 2 for 4 with 2 rbi's, a run scored and a big sacrifice bunt that led to the winning run. Jose Iglesias was 2 for 5 with 2 rbi's. Jackie Bradley Jr pinch ran for Ryan Lavarnway and scored the winning run. Koji Uehara earned his 7th save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
THE BAD:
Ryan Dempster pooped his pants allowing 9 hits, a walk and 7 runs in just 3 1/3 innings. Shane Victorino pinch hit for Mike Carp and struck out.
THE UGLY:
Daniel Nava was just 1 for 6 but the one hit was the game winning hit. Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 6 with a run scored. David Ortiz was 0 for 3 but with 2 walks and 2 runs scored. Jonny Gomes was just 1 for 4 with a Hat Trick but walked and scored. Ryan Lavarnway was 1 for 4 with a walk.
Final Thoughts:
That was a very impressive comeback and it was much needed as the Rays won again. Dempster was due for a stinker and he's a .500 pitcher so his effort was a shrug and "eh whataya gonna do". Luckily Steven Wright saved the day with a huge effort. The Sox have taken 3 out of 4 and are now 4-3 on the roadtrip. They have 3 games left in Oakland before the all-star break. If they can take 2 of 3 and go 6-4, it'll be great momentum going into the second half. The Sox improve to 57-37, once again 20 games over .500 and 3.5 in front of the Rays. Tomorrow night John Lackey takes the mound against Jarrod Parker of the A's.
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