At first, O'Sullivan started well. Jose Altuve flied to center to begin the game. George Springer flied out but Carlos Correa struck out to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time scoring in the bottom of the first. Mr. Mookie Betts and Dustin Pedroia walked to lead off the game. Xander Bogaerts lined out and Betts moved to third. Pedroia then took off for second and Jason Castro's throw airmailed, allowing Betts to scamper home with the 1-0 lead. Travis Shaw struck out but Hanley Ramirez home Pedroia. Jackie Bradley Jr popped up to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
O'Sullivan promptly vomited up his intestines in the top of the second. O'Sullivan fumbled a ground ball hit by Colby Rasmus and threw wide, only for Bogaerts to fumble and Rasmus ended up on second....two errrors on one play. Tyler White walked and Luis Valbuena gave the Astros the lead with a 3 run blast. Carlos Gomez walked and stole second but Preston Tucker struck out. Castro grounded out and Altuve flied out to end the inning with Houston in front 3-2. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the second. Josh "Razor" Rutledge doubled and Brock "Hitman" Holt moved him to third on a ground out. Ryan "Hot Hands" Hanigan singled home Razor to tie the game. Mr. Mookie singled and Pedroia flied out, moving Hanigan to third. Bogaerts then cleared the bases with a 3 run bomb to give the Sox a 6-3 lead. Shaw flied out to end the inning.
The slugfest continued in the top of the third. Springer grounded out but Correa launched a solo home run to cut the lead 6-4. Rasmus caught the defense asleep with a bunt single but White struck out. Valbuena popped up to end the inning. Mike Fiers relieved Devenski in the bottom of the third. Ramirez singled and JBJ moved him to second on a groundout. Razor hit one in the hole for a single, advancing Hanley to third. Razor swiped second but Holt struck out. Hanigan delivered the clutch hit with a single to score both runners. Mr. Mookie flied out but the Sox now had a commanding 8-4 lead.
The lead was kept intact in the top of the fourth. Gomez popped up, Tucker grounded out and Castro lined out to end the inning. The Sox offense finally quieted in the bottom of the fourth. Pedroia grounded out, Bogaerts flied out and Shaw grounded out to end the inning.
O'Sullivan then gagged in the top of the fifth. Altuve singled and Springer singled him to third. Correa lined out and Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough, pulling O'Sullivan for Robbie Ross Jr. Rasmus struck out but White walked to load the bases. Valbuena hit a ground rule double to plate two runners and Gomez was plunked to re-load the bases. Tucker struck out to end the inning but the Astros were now down 8-6. The Sox tried to rally in the bottom of the fifth. Ramirez doubled and JBJ singled him to third. Ramirez was then thrown out at home on the force by Rutledge. Holt moved the runners with a groundout but Hanigan grounded out to end the inning.
The opportunity wasted loomed large in the top of the sixth when the Astros rallied. Castro walked and Sox manager John Farrell replaced Ross with Heath Hembree (2-0). Castro was erased at second on the force by Altuve, who promptly stole second. Springer struck out but Altuve stole third as well. Correa then grounded a ball to Rutledge who fired....100 FEET OVER THE HEAD OF RAMIREZ, allowing Altuve to score. The Astros quickly pounced as Rasmus doubled home Correa to tie the game and White singled him in to take the lead. Valbuena grounded out but the damage was done. The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the frame. Mr. Mookie grounded out but Pedroia legged out an infield hit. Bogaerts walked and Shaw moved both runners over with a ground out. With a chance to tie or take the lead....Ramirez grounded out. Another opportunity wasted.
Hembree settled down in the top of the seventh. Gomez tried to catch Hembree asleep with a bunt but Hembree risked life and limb to throw him out at first. Tucker grounded out but Castro walked. Altuve lined out to end the inning. Scott Feldman relieved Fiers as the Sox had another chance. JBJ grounded out but Razor singled. Joe West then decided to make himself the star of the game by ringing up Holt. Holt yelled at him and West gave him the heave-ho. Now the Sox needed a new left fielder and was still trailing.
Hanigan then lofted a routine fly to Gomez and Springer walked over.....AND THE BALL DROPPED IN! Someone forgot to call the other off and Rutledge made a mad dash home to tie the game. Since nobody touched it, Hanigan got credit for his 4th rbi of the game.
Mr.Mookie made the Astros pay with a triple into the gap to give the Sox a 10-9 lead. Pedroia lined out but now the Sox needed just 6 outs to survive.
Junichi Tazawa got the ball for the top of the eighth as Chris Young took over in left. Springer whiffed on a nasty splitter, Correa struck out and Rasmus grounded out to end the inning. Pat Neshek came on to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Bogaerts lined one off the glove of Pat but it was ruled an error. Shaw popped up and Ramirez looked at strike three. JBJ popped up to end the inning.
Sox manager John Farrell turned to the exhausted Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel to close the game out. Craig blew away White and the Sox got an assist from Joe West, calling a second strike on a 3-1 count to Valbuena that looked out of the zone. Valbuena then lined out to left on the next pitch, thanks Joe. Kimbrel blew away Gomez on a 3-2 pitch to end the game. The Sox survived 10-9.
Hero of the Night is Ryan Hanigan. He was 3 for 4 with 4 rbi's and 2 runs scored.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with a walk, rbi, stolen base and 2 runs scored. Hanley Ramirez was 3 for 5 with a run scored and rbi. Josh Rutledge was 3 for 4 with a stolen base and 3 runs scored. Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless eighth. Craig Kimbrel earned his 10th save of the year with a scoreless ninth.
The Bad:
Travis Shaw was 0 for 5. Brock Holt was 0 for 4 and was ejected in the bottom of the seventh. Sean O'Sullivan got knocked out in the 5th inning after surrendering 6 runs (5 earned) on 5 hits, 2 walks, 2 home runs in just 4 1/3 inning. Robbie Ross Jr allowed 2 inherited runners to score and one of his own in just 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 4 but walked, stole a base and scored. Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a walk but made the hit count as it was a 3 run home run. Jackie Bradley Jr extended his hitting streak to 21 games but was just 1 for 5. Heath Hembree got the win but gave up 2 runs (1 earned) which could have cost the game.
Honorable Mention:
Chris Young played left field in the 8th and 9th innings.
Final Thoughts:
Eduardo Rodriguez and Joe Kelly can't come back fast enough. The Sox offense is damn good but short starts by spot starters such as Sean O'Sullivan, Henry Owens, etc kill the bullpen early. The big four of Carson Smith, Koji Uehara, Tazawa and Kimbrel were used a lot this weekend due to lousy starting pitching and an extra inning affair. Still, they nailed down 3 of the 4 games and simply getting better starting pitching will help the cause. If it wasn't for mother nature, its quiet possibly the Sox could have swept the series. The win, combined with the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles losing, put the Sox in a first place tie in the AL east with Baltimore and a 3 way tie for the best record in the American League. The 24-14 Sox now travel to Kansas City to play a 3 game set with the defending world champions. Rick Porcello (6-1, 3.11 ERA) matches up against Yordano Ventura at 7:05 tomorrow night.
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