Wright got the ball in the top of the first and struck out both Charlie Blackmon and DJ LeMahieu. Nolan Arenado whiffed but Ryan "Hot Hands" Hanigan booted the ball and Arenado reached first. Hanigan atoned for the passed ball by throwing out Arenado trying to steal second. Strangely the Red Sox DIDN'T score in the bottom of the first. Mr. Mookie Betts lined out to center. Dustin Pedroia lined out but Xander Bogaerts walked. David Ortiz popped up to end the inning.
Hanigan continued to play Putty Patrol in the top of the second as the Rockies took the lead. Carlos Gonzalez singled then took second on a passed ball, and third on a wild pitch. Mark Reynolds scored Gonzalez with a ground out to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. Geraldo Parra struck out but Ryan Raburn singled. Tony Wolters grounded out to end the inning. Bettis cruised in the bottom of the second. Hanley Ramirez, Jackie Bradley Jr and Travis Shaw all grounded out.
Wright returned for the top of the third inning and Cristhian Adames grounded out. Blackmon walk but LeMahieu flied out. Arenado lined out to end the inning. The Sox got their first hit in the bottom of the second when Hangigan singled. Blake Swihart flied out, Mr. Mookie flied out and Pedroia grounded out to end the inning.
History repeated itself in the top of the fourth. Gonzalez singled and took second on a passed ball. Reynolds singled him to third but Wright struck out Parra. A wild pitch scored Gonzalez and Reynolds moved to second. Rayburn struck out but Wolters walked. ANOTHER passed ball moved the runners over but Adames lined out to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fourth when Bogaerts led off the inning with a solo blast, his fifth of the year to make it 2-1. Ortiz walked but was erased on the Ramirez fielder's choice. JBJ singled and Shaw singled as well. Ramirez was safe at home when the throw got away, allowing Bradley to take third. Christian Vazquez pinch hit for the ineffective Hanigan and grounded into a fielder's choice when Bradley was thrown out at home. Swihart then cleared the bases with a triple to give the Sox a 4-2 lead. Mr. Mookie flied out to end the inning but the Sox had the lead.
With Vazquez behind the plate, Wright was still unpredictable in the top of the fifth.. Blackmon grounded out but LaMahieu singled. Arenado flied out but yet another wild pitch moved LaMahieu to second. Gonzalez grounded out to end the inning. The Sox knocked out the starter in the bottom of the fifth. Pedroia led off with a double but came up lame and left the game. Marco Hernandez pinch ran for him as Bogaerts struck out. Ortiz was intentionally walked and Ramirez worked a conventional walk to load the bases. JBJ got the run in with a ground out, and Shaw got the other 2 runs in with a ground rule double to chase Bettis. Justin Miller relieved Bettis and Vazquez lined out to end the inning.
Wright returned for the top of the sixth with Hernandez now at second base. Reynolds struck out and Parra flied out, but Raburn singled. Wolters popped up to end the inning. The Sox offense was held in check in the bottom of the sixth inning. Swihart and Mr. Mookie both lined out but Hernandez singled. Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning.
Wright cruised in the top of the seventh. Adames grounded out, Blackmon popped up and LeMahieu lined out to end the inning. Jason Motte came on to pitch the bottom of the seventh. Ortiz struck out and Ramirez grounded to third, but JBJ doubled. Shaw whiffed to end the inning.
Wright came back to start the eighth but was immediately chased when Arenado singled. Tommy Layne got the call to pitch to Gonzalez, and he singled Arenado to third but was thrown out trying to take second. Reynolds scored Arenado on a ground out to close the book on Wright. Parra grounded out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-3. The Sox got the run and more right back in the bottom of the eighth off Chad Qualls. Vazquez grounded out but Swihart tripled again. Mr. Mookie scored Blake with a single and Hernandez singled Betts to third. Josh "Razor" Rutledge pinch hit for Bogaerts and struck out. Ortiz wrapped up the scoring with a 2 run double to make it 10-3. Ramirez flied out to end the inning.
Junichi Tazawa got the ball in the top of the ninth with Hernandez now at short with Rutledge taking over at second. Rayburn and Wolters both struck out but Adames and Blackmon singled. LeMahieu then whiffed to end the game. The Sox had won 10-3
Hero of the night is Travis Shaw. He went 2 for 4, drove in 3 runs and scored a run while playing hurt.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 before leaving with a tight hamstring. Marco Hernandez replaced Pedroia and went 2 for 2 with 2 runs scored. Xander Bogaerts extended his hitting streak to 18 games by blasting a solo home run and walking. David Ortiz took over the lead league in doubles and rbi;s by going 1 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 rbis and a run scored. Jackie Bradley Jr extended his hitting streak to 29 games by going 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored. Blake Swihart was 2 for 4 with 2 triples, 2 rbis and a run scored. Steven Wright got the win by tossing 7 innings of 3 run ball (2 earned). He gave up 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7. Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Bad:
Josh Rutledge was 0 for 1 after coming in for Bogaerts.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run and scored. Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4 but walked and scored. Ryan Hanigan was 1 for 1 at the plate but allowed FOUR passed balls before leaving with "illness". Christian Vazquez went 0 for 3 but scored a run. Tommy Layne allowed an inherited runner to score but gave up none of his own in the top of the eighth.
Final Thoughts:
Guys are getting hurt left and right but the offense keeps plugging away. Shaw is banged up, Ramirez and Hanigan are hurt and now Pedroia has a hammy. With Holt on the DL, this is not good. Still, the guys that are healthy are continuing to produce on both sides of the ball. Steven Wright should be 7-1 but the lack of run support only gives him a 4-4 record. The Sox improved to 29-17, good for 1st place in the AL East and the best record in the American League. Tomorrow night is the finale of the 3 game series with...Clay Buchholz pitching. God help us.
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