As for the game, its about time the Boston Red Sox looked good. Granted, it was against the lowly Tampa Bay Rays but at least its a start. "Slick" Rick Porcello (9-2, 3.78 ERA) tossed 6 solid innings and allowed just 1 run. Travis Shaw was a man possessed with a home run and 5 total runs driven in as the Sox beat up Rays ace Chris Archer for 4 runs and another 4 off the Tampa bullpen. Junichi Tazawa, Koji Uehara and Matt Barnes slammed the door as the Sox finally put one in the win column with an 8-2 win at Tropicana Field.
Archer got the ball in the top of the first and Desmond Jennings jumped into the centerfield wall to rob Mr. Mookie Betts of an extra base hit to start. Dustin Pedroia grounded out to third but David Ortiz walked. Hanley Ramirez lined a base hit to right but Jackie Bradley Jr whiffed to end the inning. Porcello got the ball in the bottom of the first and Logan Forsythe led off with a ground out to short to start. Brad Miller also grounded out to short but Evan Longoria doubled into the left field corner. Logan Morrison took strike three to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second as Travis Shaw clobbered his 8th home run of the season to put Boston on top. Bryce Brentz took strike three and Christian Vazquez went down hacking before Marco Hernandez grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Jennings dumped a base hit to right to start the bottom of the second but Oswaldo Arcia went down swinging. Taylor Motter broke his bat on a liner to Shaw and Nick Franklin took strike three to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third as Mr. Mookie led off with a double to the left field wall to start. Pedroia took a slider on the outsider corner for strike three and Ortiz hit a routine pop up to right, but Arcia fell down trying to make the catch. The ball bounced away for a "double" to score Betts to increase the lead and Ramirez walked. JBJ dropped a base hit to right to load the bases but Shaw whiffed. Brentz hit a comebacker to the mound to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.
Hank Conger grounded out into the shift to start the bottom of the third as Sox analyst Jerry Remy said Brock "The Hitman" Holt was close to returning. Forsythe hit a bullet off the glove of Hernandez for a base hit but Miller whiffed on a high 92 mph fastball. Longoria singled down the left field line but Morrison went down hacking to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as Vazquez grounded back to the mound to start. Hernandez whiffed and Mr. Mookie grounded out to second to end the inning. The Rays damn near blew it open in the bottom of the fourth as Jennings walked to start. Arcia blooped a single to center and Motter walked to load the bases with nobody out. Red Sox pitching coach Carl Willis sprinted to the mound to tell Porcello he had Dr. Dre's The Chronic playing in the clubhouse. Porcello didn't seem to care as he walked Franklin to cut the lead. Somehow Rick managed to strike out Conger swinging and Forsythe to pop up to shallow right. Miller took strike three to end the inning and Porcello managed to escape with a 2-1 lead.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fifth as Pedroia walked to start. Ortiz banged into a double play but Hanley walked. JBJ doubled into the left field corner and Ramirez made a mad dash home to score the run to increase the lead. Shaw whiffed on a high fastball to end the inning but it was 3-1 Red Sox.
Porcello cruised in the bottom of the fifth as Longoria grounded out to third to start. Morrison grounded out to second and Jennings popped up to Betts to end the inning.
Brentz took strike three to start the top of the sixth and Vazquez went down hacking as well. Hernandez grounded out to second to end the inning. Porcello came back for the bottom of the sixth and got Arcia to pop up to Vazquez over by first base to start. Motter took strike three and Brentz made a running grab off a Franklin liner to end the inning. Porcello survived the bad fourth inning to go 6 innings while allowing just 1 run.
The Sox poured it on in the top of the seventh as Mr. Mookie lined out to right to start. Pedroia lashed a base hit to right to chase Archer from the game. Enny Romero came in to pitch and Ortiz singled down the right field line to put runners at the corners. Ramirez dropped a base hit to right to score Pedroia with another run. JBJ out a double play ball but Shaw doubled home both runners with a double into the left field corner. Brentz whiffed to end the inning but the Sox led 6-1.
Junichi Tazawa got tagged in the bottom of the seventh although Conger flied out to left to start. Forsythe grounded out to third but Miller smashed a home run all the way to the moon. Longoria whiffed to end the inning but the Sox were up 6-2.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the eighth as Vazquez popped up to first to start. Hernandez whiffed and Mr. Mookie popped up to Jennings to end the inning. Koji Uehara came in for the bottom of the eighth and Morrison flied out to center to start. Jennings took strike three and Arcia flied out to center to end the inning.
Boston wrapped up the scoring in the top of the ninth with Dana Eveland on the mound. Pedroia walked and swiped second, but Ortiz popped up to left. Ramirez was intentionally walked but was erased on the force by JBJ. Bradley swiped second and both runners scored on the Shaw base hit to left. Brentz grounded out to short to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 8-2.
Matt Barnes came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Motter grounded out to second to start. Franklin flied out to left and Conger whiffed to end the game. The Sox had won it 8-2.
Sox win
Shaw the Hero
Hero of the Night is Travis Shaw. He hit a home run and drove in 5 runs by himself.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, a stolen base and 2 runs scored.
David Ortiz was 2 for 4 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 2 with 3 walks, an rbi and a run scored.
Jackie Bradley was 2 for 5 with an rbi, stolen base and 2 runs scored.
Rick Porcello got the win with 6 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed 5 hits and 3 walks.
Koji Uehara tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Bryce Brentz was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Marco Hernandez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Junichi Tazawa allowed a run in the seventh inning.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
That's more like it. The Sox have looked like garbage this month but this was the kind of win they needed to hopefully get back on track. Porcello pitched himself out of a major jam and that turned out to be the difference in the game. Travis Shaw was a one man wrecking crew and they needed that out of him after the slumps he's been in. Everybody from 1-6 pitched in to help win this game and they needed all 6 of them. Beating the Rays is nothing special but for a team on the slide like the Red Sox, they'll take any win they can get at this point. There's only one more game left this month and the All-Star break is coming. Hopefully this will launch the Sox on a nice winning streak to take them to the break. The win improves the Sox to 42-35, 4.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow afternoon the Sox look to win the rubber game of this set with the Rays when they send David Price (8-4, 4.68 ERA) out against Matt Moore of the Rays. The game begins at 12:10 PM at Tropicana Field
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