Steven Wright took the hill in the top of the first inning. Nick Markakis grounded out and Jackie Bradley Jr made a great diving catch to rob Jason Castro of a hit. Adonis Garcia struck out to end the inning. Bud Norris got the ball in the bottom of the second inning. Mr. Mookie Betts opened the bottom of the first with a fly out, but Dustin Pedroia singled. Pedroia was erased on the force by Xander Bogaerts. David Ortiz opened the scoring with a double that brought in Bogaerts. Hanley Ramirez singled in Ortiz to make it 2-0. Ramirez stole second and Travis Shaw walked. Brock "Hitman" Holt grounded out to end the inning but the Sox had the lead.
Wright promptly pissed the lead away in the top of the second when Freddie Freeman doubled off the Monster. Jeff Francoeur struck out but AJ Pierzynski singled Freeman to third. Kelly Johnson singled home Freeman. Just like against Price yesterday, none of the balls were hit particularly hard. A passed ball by Ryan Hanigan allowed the runners to move over but Wright struck out Erick Aybar. Drew Stubbs popped up to end the inning but the Braves cut the lead 2-1. The Sox got the run back and more in the bottom of the second. Ryan Hanigan atoned for his passed ball by getting a base hit. He moved to second on a passed ball by Pierzynski before Jackie Bradley Jr walked. Mr. Mookie singled to load the bases and Pedroia cleared the bases with a line drive grand slam off the Pesky Pole. JJ Hardy be damned! It was 6-1 Boston as Bogaerts grounded out. Holt and Clay Buchholz danced in the dugout as Ortiz doubled off the Monster. Braves manager Freddi Gonzalez had seen enough and pulled Bud Norris. John Gant came on and Ramirez popped up behind the plate. Shaw worked a 9 pitch walk but Holt flied out to end the inning. After all that, the Sox had a 5 run lead.
Wright ran into trouble again in the top of the third when Markakis worked a leadoff walk. Castro struck out but Garcia walked. Freeman smacked one back to Wright but he threw it in the dirt and everyone was safe. Francoeur aided the Sox' cause by popping up to Pedroia. The knuckleball came back to haunt Wright as Pierzynski was plunked to score Markakis. Johnson popped up to end the inning but it was now 6-2. Hanigan grounded out to begin the bottom of the third. JBJ struck out and Mr. Mookie flied out to end the inning.
Aybar struck out....but reached on yet another passed ball by Hanigan to start the top of the fourth. Stubbs struck out but dropped the ball, allowing Aybar to take second. Markakis grounded out but Aybar didn't go to third. Yet ANOTHER passed ball moved Aybar to third. Castro grounded out to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fourth. Pedroia struck out but Bogaerts walked. Ortiz doubled to score Bogaerts. Ramirez struck out but Shaw tripled into the gap to score Ortiz. Holt flied out to end the inning but the score was now 8-2.
Wright came back for the top of the fifth. Garcia flied out, Freeman flied out and Francoeur popped up to end the inning. The Sox threatened in the bottom of the fifth but Hanigan led off with a strikeout. JBJ singled and Mr. Mookie walked....but Pedroia banged into a double play to end the inning.
Wright continued his hot streak in the top of the sixth. Pierzynski grounded out, Johnson flied out and Shaw robbed Aybar of a hit with a huge snare to end the inning. Gant came back for another inning and got Bogaerts to ground out leading off the bottom of the sixth. Ortiz and Ramirez both grounded out as well to end the inning.
Wright was brought back for the top of seventh. Chris Young replaced Betts in right field seeing as Betts hasn't had a day off yet. Stubbs struck out as Markakis flied out. Castro walked but Garcia struck out to end the inning.Wright finished with a flury and ended up tossing 7 innings of 2 run (1 earned) ball. Outstanding.
Hunter Cervenka was brought in to pitch the bottom of the seventh. Shaw and Holt struck out and Hanigan grounded out to end the inning.
Tommy Layne was brought into the game to relieve Wright. Layne immediately made no friends by allowing a solo home run to Freeman, Atlanta's first home run in WEEKS. Layne recovered to get Francoeur to fly out, Pierzynski to ground out and Johnson to strike out to end the inning. The Sox got the run back in the bottom of the 8th against Jason Grilli. JBJ lined out and so did Young. Pedroia then hit an Adrian Beltre like home run into the Monster Seats. Who says he's lost his power? Bogaerts walked but Ortiz flied out to end the inning with the Sox leading 9-3.
Matt Barnes took over for the top of the ninth and Jeff Rutledge took over at second base. Aybar struck out but Stubbs singled. Markakis doubled home Stubbs to make it 9-4. Castro grounded out then Garcia grounded out to end the game. The Sox had won 9-4.
Hero of the Night is easy. Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 5 with 5 total runs batted in due two a grand slam and solo shot.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 1 for 3 with a walk. David Ortiz was 3 for 5 with 2 runs and 2 rbi's. Travis Shaw was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and an rbi. Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk, a run scored and a diving catch in the field. Steven Wright kept up his great start to the season by tossing 7 innings of 2 run ball (1 earned) on 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 8.
The Bad:
Chris Young was 0 for 1 at the plate. Brock Holt was 0 for 4 with a strikeout. Tommy Layne gave up a home run to Freeman in the 8th. Matt Barnes gave up a run in the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 but walked twice and scored 2 runs. Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 4 with an rbi and a stolen base. Ryan Hanigan was 1 for 4 with a run scored and several passed balls.
Honorable Mention:
Jeff Rutledge played second base in the ninth inning.
Final Thoughts:
Once again the Sox feasted on the incompetent Braves but again every win counts. In the era of the second wild card, these are the must-win games you look back at the end of the season. It was great to see Pedroia break out and for Wright to continue his hot streak. It'll be interesting to see who goes when Joe Kelly comes back. Wright is pitching too well to keep him out of the rotation. Tomorrow night Clay Buchholz takes the mound against the Braves at 7:10 PM. If he can't beat the Braves, he could be the odd man out.
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