The Sox came up in the top of the first facing Marcus Stroman. Mr. Mookie Betts and Dustin Pedroia both whiffed and Xander "X-Man" Bogaerts grounded out in short order. Joe Kelly was the Boston starter and he fared no better than Clay Buchholz in the last game. Kevin Pillar (no, not Millar) set the tone of the game when he clubbed a lead-off triple to begin the bottom of the first. Kelly bared down to strike out reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson. Jose Bautista walked and Edwin Encarnarcion brought home Pillar with a sac fly. Just like that it was 1-0. Troy Tulowitzky walked but Kelly struck out Michael Saunders to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the second. David Ortiz struck out but Hanley Ramirez stroked a single to center.....before getting gunned down at second trying to stretch a single into a double.
That lost opportunity loomed large when Travis Shaw and Brock "Hitman" Holt hit back to back doubles to tie the game. Ryan Hanigan walked but Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to end the inning. At least the game was tied. Kelly recovered from his auspicious start to strike out Russell Martin. Ryan Goins grounded out to second but Darwin Barney beat out an infield single to short. Pillar grounded out to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third. Mr Mookie grounded out and Pedroia lined out. X-Man singled and scored on the double by Ortiz to give the Sox a 2-1 lead. Ramirez grounded out to end the inning. Kelly had another strong inning by inducing a Donaldson ground out. Kelly whiffed Bautista but walked Encarnarcion. Tulowitzky grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
Travis Shaw flied out to begin the top of the fourth. Hitman Holt grounded out and Hanigan flied out. The wheels fell off for Kelly in the bottom of the fourth. Saunders singled, Martin singled and Goins singled to load the bases in the blink of an eye. Barney singled home Saunders to tie the game. Kelly drilled Pillar to give Toronto the 3-2 lead. Josh Donaldson then chased Kelly by swatting a grand slam to left field. That was it for Kelly as a disgusted Sox manager John Farrell lifted him for Noe Ramirez. 3 innings, 7 runs for Kelly...what a disaster.
Ramirez struck out Bautista but Encarnarcion singled. Tulowitzky struck out but Saunders reached on an infield single. Ramirez struck out Martin to strike out the side, and what an important out that turned out to be.
Could the Sox rally in the top of the 5th? NO! JBJ grounded out, Mr. Mookie grounded out and Pedroia whiffed. Ramirez continued his strong outing by whiffing Goins to begin the bottom of the 5th. Barney walked but Pillar popped up. Donaldson grounded out to end the inning. Solid effort by Ramirez to keep the Sox in the game.
The Sox struck back in the top of the 6th. X-Man singled and Ortiz worked a walk. Hanley moved both runners with a ground out and Shaw walked to load the bases. Toronto manager John Gibbons pulled Stroman for Jesse Chavez. Hitman Holt hit what looked to be a routine line drive over the wall for a shocking grand slam to cut the lead 7-6. Bad move Gibbons...bad move.
Hanigan flied out and Bradley Jr struck out to end the inning, but we had a ballgame again. Matt Barnes (1-0) was brought in to hold the fort. Bautista and Encarnarcion both lined out and Tulowitzky grounded out in short order. Good work Barnes.
The Sox completed the rally in the top of the 7th inning against new pitcher Drew Storen (0-1). Mr. Mookie flied out but Pedroia singled. X-Man got his third hit of the game to chase Storen. Gibbons went with the lefty-lefty matchup with Brett Cecil against David Ortiz. It failed as Ortiz tied the game with a double. Ramirez then singled home the go-ahead run to give the Sox an 8-7 lead. Chris Young pinch hit for Travis Shaw and struck out. Fans wondered why Farrell would pinch hit for the red hot Shaw and its simple, give at-bats to Young and see if he produces. If he doesn't, he's trade bait. Holt reached on an error to load the bases. Unfortunately Hanigan popped up to end the rally. Not everyone can be Mike Carp. Farrell then made the peculiar decision to bring in Junichi Tazawa for the bottom of the 7th. Tazawa's personal house of horrors is Toronto, but they needed him to step up this one time. Holt moved over to third and Young stayed in left field. Saunders popped up and Martin whiffed. Goins grounded out and Tazawa finally had a clean inning in Toronto.
Gavin Floyd was brought in for the top of the 8th. JBJ struck out, Mr. Mookie popped up and Pedroia grounded out. Koji Uehara came on for the bottom of the 8th. Justin Smoak pinch hit for Barney and worked a walk. Ezequiel Carrera ran for Smoak and moved to second on the sacrifice bunt by Pillar. Uehara bared down to get Donaldson to ground out to third and Bautista to ground out right back to him. The Orient Express had came through.
Russell Martin moved to third base and Josh Thole came in at catcher. Joe Biagni relieved Floyd for the top of the 9th. X-Man grounded out, Ortiz struck out and Ramirez grounded out. It was onto Craig "Game Over" Kimbrel to finish off the win in the bottom of the 9th. Encarnarcion flied out to right and Tulowitzky whiffed. Saunders flied out and it was over. The Sox had come back to win 8-7 after trailing 7-2 in the 4th inning.
Hero of the Night is an easy one. Brock "The Hitman" Holt saved the Sox bacon tonight. He was 2 for 4 with a grand slam and 5 total rbis
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored. David Ortiz was 2 for 4 with a walk, 2 runs batted in and a run scored. Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 5 with an rbi. Travis Shaw was 1 for 2 with a walk and 2 runs scored before being lifted for a pinch hitter. Noe Ramirez struck out 4 in his 2 innings of relief. Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 6th inning to earn the win. Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless 7th inning. Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Craig Kimbrel got his first save of the season with a clean ninth inning.
The Bad:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 5 with a strikeout. Chris Young struck out in his only plate appearance. Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. Joe Kelly pitched miserably, lasting only 3 innings giving up 7 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 5 but scored a run. Ryan Hanigan was 0 for 3 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
If this is how the game's are going to, the Sox are in big trouble. They can't keep having their starters last 3-5 innings or else things will turn out like last year. An overworked bullpen, a miserable starting staff and last place. The Sox can't bop their way back in every game like they did tonight. Sooner or later someone besides David Price will have to step up. Kelly went 8-0 at the end of last season but he pitched more like the 3-7 loser he was in the season's first half. Luckily the Sox offense bailed him out. The bullpen was outstanding and the offense is clicking, but neither can last at this rate. A win is a win, and right now the Sox are 2-1 on the season. Rick Porcello makes his season debut against RA Dickey tomorrow at 1:07 PM.
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