Wright took the mound in the top of the first and Jose Bautista drew a walk to open the game. He was quickly erased on a Michael Saunders double play. Edwin Encarnacion hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. Marcus Stroman got the ball in the bottom of the first and Mr. Mookie Betts popped up to center to start. Dustin Pedroia extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a double into the left field corner. Xander Bogaerts waived at a pitch in the dirt for strike three but Pedroia swiped third when nobody covered the bag trying to shift for David Ortiz. Sox analyst said Darwin Barney was sound asleep at third. Ortiz walked but Hanley Ramirez grounded out to first to end the inning.
Justin Smoak led off the top of the second inning with a pop-up to third. Devon Travis lined out to second but Russell Martin walked. Sox analyst Dave O'Brien and Eck paid tribute to the recently deceased Muhammad Ali as Travis Shaw made a diving stab at third to rob Kevin Pillar of a hit to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second when Shaw led off by doubling off the Monster and moved to third on the ground out by Jackie Bradley Jr. The infield was pulled in and Blake Swihart singled up the middle to score Travis. Ryan Hanigan banged into a double play to end the inning but the Sox were up 1-0.
Wright kept up the pace in the top of the third by getting Barney to fly out to right to start. Ryan Goins was frozen for strike three by "mediocre cheese paint" by Wright before Bautista popped up to center to end the inning. The Sox struck again although Mr. Mookie led off by dribbling one to Stroman for an out. Pedroia walked and Bogaerts doubled off the centerfield wall. Ortiz scored both of them with a single through the shift to increase the lead. Ramirez banged into a double play to end the inning but the Sox had a 3-0 lead.
The Jays struck back in the top of the fourth when Saunders singled and Encarnacion walked to begin the frame. A passed ball moved both runners into scoring position before Smoak lashed a single to score Saunders and move Encarnacion to third. Wright got a big out when he "blew away" Travis with an 87 mph fastball. Martin banged into a double play to end the inning but the Jays were on the board 3-1.
The Sox got the run back in the bottom of the fourth although Shaw grounded out to second to start. JBJ walked and stole second before Swihart walked. Hanigan whiffed but Mr. Mookie singled home JBJ and advance Swihart to third. Betts swiped second but Pedroia grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 4-1.
The Jays took advantage of shoddy catching to get back into it in the top of the fifth. Pillar popped up to third and Barney flied out to right, but the wheels fell off as Goins singled past the diving Shaw. Bautista walked as another passed ball moved the runners into scoring position. Saunders swung and missed for strike three but the ball got away from Hanigan. Both runners scored and Saunders made it to first to cut the lead to 1. Wright never covered the plate which allowed Bautista to score. Encarnacion walked as the boo birds came out. Smoak popped up to third to end the inning but it was now 4-3 Sox. That was it for Wright who got no help from Hanigan, allowing 3 runs in 5 innings.
The Sox answered in the bottom of the fifth. Bogaerts lashed a single to left and moved to third on a routine grounder by Ortiz because nobody was covering third in the shift. Ramirez whiffed but Shaw singled home Xander only to be foolishly thrown out at second trying to stretch to end the inning. Still, the Sox had the insurance run and led 5-3.
Matt Barnes took the hill in the top of the sixth and promptly walked Travis. Travis took second on a wild pitch but Barnes froze Martin with a fastball at the knees. Travis stole third and scored on the ground out to second by Pillar. Barney grounded out to short to end the inning but the Jays clawed back to trail 5-4.
The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning. JBJ grounded out to short on a great play by Goins but Swihart walked. Hanigan continued his miserable game by striking out but Mr. Mookie doubled down the left field line. Swihart motored around and slid into home.......OUT! But wait, Sox manager John Farrell challenged the call at home and sure enough, Swihart's foot made it in just in time and was ruled safe. Betts took third on the throw and when play resumed, Jays manager John Gibbons waddled to the mound to replace Stroman with Jesse Chavez. Pedroia grounded out to first to end the inning but it was 6-4 Sox.
Barnes came back for the top of the seventh as Farrell mercifully pulled Hanigan from the game. Christian Vazquez took over behind the plate but the Sox got a huge scare. Goins flied out to center and Bautista grounded out to short but Swihart smashed his ankle running into the wall to make a catch of a Saunders line drive. The worst part was Gibbons challenged the call and correctly the ball did hit the wall first, meaning its a foul ball. Barnes struck out Saunders anyway to end the inning but Swihart was hurt.
Bogaerts kept up his hot streak with a base hit off Chavez to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning. Ortiz popped up to short and Ramirez was rung up for strike three on a borderline pitch. Shaw grounded out to short to end the inning.
Junichi Tazawa got the call to pitch the top of the eighth inning and cruised. Encarnacion popped up to first, Smoak whiffed and Travis flied out to a running Betts in right to end the inning. Good bounce back inning for Tazawa after the disaster in Baltimore. Drew Storen came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning and JBJ greeted him with a double. Young grounded out to third and Vazquez hit a comebacker to the mound. Mr. Mookie also hit a comebacker to end the inning.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel got the call to close out the top of the ninth inning. Martin singled but Pillar grounded into a double play. Barney flied out to right to end the game. The Sox had won it 6-4.
Hero of the Night is Mookie Betts. He was 2 for 5 with 2 rbi's and a stolen base. Both of his rbi's ended up being the difference in the game.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with a walk, run scored and a stolen base.
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
David Ortiz was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 rbi's.
Travis Shaw was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk, run scored and stolen base.
Blake Swihart was 1 for 1 with 2 walks and an rbi before leaving with injury.
Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 13th save with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Chris Young was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Ryan Hanigan had a terrible game, going 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts and allowing 3 passed balls.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 1 at the plate.
The Ugly:
Steven Wright got the win but allowed 3 runs in just 5 innings. Yes 2 of the runs were unearned but he was wild for most of the day.
Matt Barnes allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
Good that the Sox won but bad they lost Swihart. He was starting to find his niche in left with Vazquez and Hanigan slotted as the starting catchers this year, and then this happens. It put a damper on an otherwise good win against a good team. Wright pitched relatively well apart from the walks and hapless Hanigan. It was revealed after the game Hanigan has a "neck strain". Yeah, he kept turning his head to see the balls go by him so that makes sense. In other news, the Chicago White Sox look to mean business as they made a trade for "Big Game" James Shields to put him with Chris Sale and Jose Quintana in the rotation. Kansas City is still the team to beat in the AL Central but that could make a dent in the standings. The Sox improved to 33-23, one game in front of the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow Eduardo Rodriguez (1-0, 3.00 ERA) takes on Marco Estrada in the rubber game of this series. The fun begins at 1:30 PM tomorrow afternoon at Fenway Park.
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