Kelly got the ball in the bottom of the first and Alejandro De Aza off with a ground out to third. Steve Pearce flied out to center and Travis Snider lined out to center to end the inning. Kelly threw too many pitches but got the job done. Ubaldo Jimenez was red hot to begin the bottom of the first. Mookie Betts grounded out to second, Dustin Pedroia struck out looking and David Ortiz flied out to center to end the inning.
Kelly ran into trouble in the top of the second. Adam Jones took strike three but Chris Davis doubled to center. Davis advanced to third on the ground out by Manny Machado. Caleb Joseph walked to put runners at the corners but Everth Cabrera struck out swinging to end the inning. Hanley Ramirez led off the bottom of the second with a ground out to second. Pablo Sandoval walked but was erased on the Mike Napoli force out. Sandoval came in high and hard and it irked Orioles manager Buck Showalter. Shane Victorino walked but Xander Bogaerts grounded into a force to end the inning.
Kelly remained tough in the top of the third. Jonathan Schoop grounded out to short, De Aza struck out swinging and Pearce grounded out to third to end the inning. Ryan Hanigan struck out to open the bottom of the third. Mr. Mookie walked but Pedroia banged into a double play to end the inning.
The O's struck first in the top of the 4th. Snider singled to left and Jones singled him over to third. Davis banged into a double play but Snider scored to give the Dirty Birds a lead. Machado lined out to Bogaerts to end the inning with the O's up 1-0.
Things got hairy in the bottom of the 4th. Ortiz grounded out to first and Ramirez grounded out to third, giving Jimenez 3 2/3 hitless innings. Then Ubaldo plunked Sandoval as revenge for his hard slide earlier. Umpire Jim Baker gave Jimenez the sudden HEAVE HO! Shades of Scott Kazmir in 2004, Ubaldo was tossed with a no-hitter going. Naturally the O's were pissed at Ubaldo not even given a warning before getting tossed.
When thing settled down, Kevin Gausman took over for Jimenez got Napoli to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning. The Sox still didn't have a hit through 4 innings but Jimenez was out of the game and Baltimore had to go to the bullpen early.
The O's struck back in the top of the fifth when Joseph launched one barely over the right field fence, out of the reach of Victorino to increase the lead. Cabrera grounded out to first, Schoop grounded out to third and De Aza lined out to center to end the inning with the O's up 2-0.
A two run lead seemed insurmountable given the lack of offense to this point, but in reality the lead lasted about 10 minutes. In the bottom of the 5th, Victorino popped up to second but Bogaerts singled to left. Hanigan then swatted one into the monster seats to tie the game. The Sox first hit of the game was an important one, that's for sure. Mr. Mookie struck out swinging and Pedroia grounded out to second to end the inning, but the Sox were back in it 2-2.
Kelly got into trouble early in the top of the 6th when Pedroia flubbed one to allow Pearce to reach first. Snider and Jones flied out to right but a wild pitch moved Pearce to second. Davis walked and with 118 pitches on Kelly's arm, Sox manager John Farrell pulled him for Edward Mujica. Mujica struck out Machado to strand the two baserunners to end the inning. Kelly battled but threw way too many pitches and its too early in the season to ask him to keep throwing.
Ortiz walked to begin the bottom of the sixth but was erased on the force by Ramirez. Sandoval gave a big fat middle finger to the Dirty Birds with a single past second base. Darren O'Day relieved Gausman and whiffed Napoli. Daniel Nava pinch hit for Victorino and flied out to right to end the inning.
Nava stayed in the game at right and Mujica returned for the top of the seventh. Joseph flied out to center but Cabrera singled to right. Schoop flied out to left but Cabrera stole second. With the go-ahead run at second...Mujica got De Aza to ground out to second. Pretty nice piece of pitching to keep the game tied since taking over for Kelly. O'Day remained tough in the bottom of the seventh when Bogaerts flied out to right to start. Hanigan watched strike three go by and Mr. Mookie grounded out to short to end the inning.
It was time for the Orient Express as Junichi Tazawa was brought in to pitch the top of the eighth with the game still tied. Taz got Pearce to ground out to third then struck out both Snider and Jones swinging to end the inning. The Sox attempted to rally in the bottom of the eighth off new pitcher Brian Matusz. Pedoia walked but Ortiz flied out to right. Pedroia advanced to second on a wild pitch and Ramirez was intentionally walked. The move paid off as Sandoval banged into a double play to end the inning.
Koji Uehara (1-0, 0.00 ERA) was brought in to pitch the top of the ninth and he got Davis to pop up to right to start. He then struck out Machado and Joseph swinging in short order to end the inning. Could the Sox win it in the bottom of the ninth? Napoli walked to open the frame and advanced to second on the sacrifice bunt by Nava. Tommy Hunter replaced Matusz and Xander Bogaerts sent the fans home happy with a shot into the gap that scored Napoli to win the game. A WALKOFF HIT BY BOGAERTS!!!!
Hero of the Night is easy Xander Bogaerts. He was 2 for 4 with a run scored as well as the game winning hit.
The Good:
Pablo Sandoval was 1 for 2 with a walk and got plunked, leading to ejection of Jimenez.
Ryan Hanigan was 1 for 3 and his two run bomb tied the game in the 6th.
Joe Kelly lasting just 5 2/3 innings. Still, he only let up 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. If he kept his pitch count down, he would have lasted longer.
Edward Mujica pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless 9th and got the win.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 3 with a walk.
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 3 with a walk.
David Ortiz was 0 for 3 with a walk.
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 3 with a walk.
Mike Napoli was also 0 for 3 with a walk, but that walk along with his heads up base running led to him scoring the winning run in the ninth.
Shane Victorino was 0 for 1 with a walk before being lifted for Daniel Nava.
Final Thoughts:
It wasn't pretty but a win's a win. These were the kind of games the Sox lost in 2014 but won in 2013, that's a pretty good sign this early in the season. They caught a break when Jimenez was ejected early, I myself feel he should have been warned first. Through the first 10 games it seems like different people are stepping up every night, that's a formula for success. If they rely on one guy, what happens when he gets hurt? The pitching is still a little iffy but that can be corrected with some moves. Tomorrow the schizophrenic Clay Buchholz (1-1) matches up against Baltimore's ace Chris Tillman. Which Clay will show up? We'll find out tomorrow at 4:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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