Albert Suarez got the start for the Giants and Mr. Mookie Betts greeted him by grounding out to third to start. Dustin Pedroia grounded out to second and Xander Bogaerts popped up to center to end the inning. Porcello got the ball in the bottom of the first and Chris Young made a great diving catch on a pop up in foul territory by Denard Span. Joe Panik grounded out to second before Matt Duffy went down swinging to end the inning
The Sox struck first in the top of the second inning as Travis Shaw popped up to right to start. Hanley Ramirez flied out to center but Jackie Bradley Jr doubled to the left field wall. Young made the great catch in the bottom of the first and he put the Sox on top with a double down the left field line. Christian Vazquez grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Porcello stayed tough in the top of the second as Brandon Belt led off with a pop up to JBJ to begin. Young made another good catch in foul territory on a Brandon Crawford pop up and Gregor Blanco popped up to JBJ to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third although Porcello grounded out to first to start. Mr. Mookie pulled a double down the left field line and moved to third on the grounder to second by Pedroia. Bogaerts slid into first to beat out a grounder to short that scored Betts with another run. Shaw grounded into the shift to end the inning but it was 2-0 Sox.
Jarrett Parker broke up the shut out with a solo home run just over the wall in right to begin the bottom of the third. Trevor Brown went down swinging and Suarez whiffed as well. Span was rung up for strike three to end the inning with the Giants down 2-1.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the fourth inning as Ramirez grounded back to the mound to start. JBJ grounded out to second and Young grounded out to short to end the inning. The Giants took the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Panik blooped a single to center to start. Duffy roped a single to left and Belt hit a seeing eye single to right to load the bases with nobody out. Crawford drew a walk to tie the game and Duffy scored on the double play by Blanco. Parker grounded out to second to end the inning with the Giants ahead 3-2.
Crawford made a great stab on a Vazquez base hit but dropped the transfer throw to start the top of the fifth. Porcello bunted foul for strike three and Mr. Mookie banged into a double play to end the inning. Brown hit a bullet to Pedroia to start the bottom of the fifth before Suarez went down swinging. Span poked a base hit past the diving Pedroia but Panik popped up to left to end the inning.
Pedroia hit a bullet to start the top of the sixth but Parker ran it down for the out. Bogaerts accidentally check swinged a roller to Suarez for an out and Shaw grounded out to short to end the inning. Duffy led off the bottom of the sixth by lining out to a running JBJ to start. Belt popped up to left and Crawford whiffed to end the inning. That was it for Porcello who was serviceable, tossing 6 innings of 3 run ball to keep the Sox in the game.
The Sox rallied in the top of the seventh inning although Hanley grounded out to second to start. JBJ drew a walk to chase Suarez. George Kontos came in and JBJ took off for second. Brown heaved the ball into center and Jackie took third on the error. Young drew a walk and David Ortiz pinch hit for Vazquez. Giants manager Bruce Bochte countered by bringing in old friend Javier Lopez to face Papi. Ortiz did his job by driving in JBJ with a grounder to tie the game. Josh Rutledge pinch hit for Porcello and Hunter Strickland came in to pitch to him. Rutledge whiffed to end the inning but the game was tied 3-3.
Robbie Ross Jr came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh with Sandy Leon (making his season debut) taking over behind the plate. Blanco whiffed to start, Parker grounded out to short and Brown hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
Mr. Mookie opened the top of the eighth by hitting a bullet right to Strickland. Pedroia got a base hit up the middle but was forced by Bogaerts. Bogaerts took second in what was ruled as a wild pitch but Shaw grounded out to first to end the inning. The Orient Express was called in as Koji Uehara took over for the bottom of the eighth with Conor Gillaspie pinch hitting for Strickland. Uehara struck him out on a high fastball but Span dumped a base hit into right field. Panik popped up to right and Duffy waived at strike three to end the inning.
Santiago Casilla took over for the top of the ninth and Hanley whiffed on a slider on the outside corner. JBJ was robbed of a hit by a great play by Duffy and Young was rung up for strike three to end the inning. The other half of the Orient Express, Junichi Tazawa came in for the bottom of the ninth. Belt grounded out to short to start before Crawford swung and missed at a splitter for strike three. Blanco hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning and send the game to extras.
The Sox wasted no time scoring in the top of the tenth as Leon ripped a double into the right field corner to start. Marco Hernandez pinch hit for Tazawa and ended up walking after attempting a bunt. Mr. Mookie dropped down a perfect bunt but beat it out to load the bases with nobody out. Pedroia forced Leon at home but Bogaerts blooped a single to center to score both Hernandez and Betts to give the Sox the lead. That was it for Casilla as Josh Osich came in only for Pedroia and Bogaerts to pull off a double steal. Travis whiffed and Hanley was intentionally walked to load the bases. JBJ lined out to a running Parker to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-3.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to close out the bottom of the tenth and Parker sent the first pitch up the middle for a base hit. Brown flied out to left and Mac Williamson pinch hit for Osich. Williamson broke his bat on a pop up to short and Span flied out to JBJ on the warning track to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-3 in 10 innings.
Hero of the Night is Xander Bogaerts. His 2 run single broke the tie in the 10th inning and drove in a run earlier in the game.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Chris Young was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 2.
David Ortiz drove in a run in his only at bat.
Sandy Leon doubled as a pinch hitter.
Marco Hernandez walked and scored as a pinch hitter
Rick Porcello tossed 6 innings of 3 run ball to keep the Sox in the game.
Robbie Ross Jr pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless 9th inning to earn the win.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 14th save with a scoreless 10th.
The Bad:
Travis Shaw was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Josh Rutledge struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 5 but stole a base.
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4 but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 but walked, stole a base and scored twice.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox needed to send a statement that they are for real this season and a win over the world champs is what the doctor ordered. Porcello did what he could but the bullpen didn't give an inch the final four innings. The Sox younger players like Betts and Bogaerts stepped up in this one and the Sox will need every win with the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles both battling for AL East supremacy. Not much to complain about in this game, just hope they can keep the momentum going in the next one. The win improves the Sox to 34-24, 0.5 games behind the Orioles for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night is the Monster Match between San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner and David Price (7-2, 4.88 ERA). The game begins at 10:15 Eastern time at AT&T Park.
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