The O's wasted no time getting to Price in the top of the first. Adam Jones struck out swinging to start but Joey Rickard dumped a single right in front of Jackie Bradley Jr in center. Manny Machado then struck a 2 run home run just inside the Pesky Pole to put the O's up for good 3 batters into the game. Chris Davis took a fastball right down the middle for strike three and Mark Trumbo dribbled one to Price for the out to end the inning with the O's up 2-0.
Tillman got the ball in the bottom of the first and Mr. Mookie Betts popped up to first to start. Dustin Pedroia lined a base hit to right-center and Bogaerts should have taken ball four but the pitch was called a strike way inside. Naturally Bogaerts banged into a double play to end the inning.
Price settled down in the top of the second as Matt Wierters grounded out to short to start. Jonathan Schoop also grounded out to short and Nolan Reimold was rung up on a check swing strike three to end the inning. David Ortiz led off the bottom of the second by having a blown ball four call, which led to him doubling down the right field line through the shift. Hanley Ramirez took ball four but Jackie Bradley Jr took strike three. Chris Young was blown away on a 93 mph fastball and Travis Shaw (5 for 38 in June) walked to load the bases. Christian Vazquez had a 3-0 count but grounded into a force to end the inning. That was a crucial misfire as the game went along.
Ryan Flaherty struck out swinging to start the top of the third before Jones also fanned. Rickard took strike three to end the inning. Mr. Mookie led off the bottom of the third by flying out to right to start. Pedroia doubled off the base of the Monster and moved to third on the Bogaerts grounder. Ortiz whiffed for strike three, leaving another runner at third.
Machado led off the top of the fourth by grounding out to third before Davis swung and missed for strike three. Trumbo waived at strike three in the dirt to end the inning, that's 8 K's for Price through four innings.
Hanley grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fourth before JBJ whiffed again. Young swung and missed at strike three to end the inning.
Wieters led off the top of the fifth by grounding back to Price to start. Schoop popped up to JBJ and Reimold flied out to right to end the inning. Price had retired 14 in a row after the Machado home run.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fifth as Shaw popped up to Tillman to start. Vazquez popped up to right and Mr. Mookie was retired on a trickler to the mound to end the inning.
Flaherty nearly cleaned out Price with a broken bat grounder to second to start the top of the sixth. Jones flied out to the centerfield wall and Rickard grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the sixth as Pedroia was frozen for strike three to start. Bogaerts grounded out to short and Ortiz whiffed badly to end the inning.
Price made it 18 in a row when he struck Machado out swinging to start the top of the seventh. Davis whiffed for the third time but Trumbo broke up the streak with a base hit just past third base. Wieters grounded out to first to end the inning. The Sox finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh although Ramirez lined out to a running Rickard to start. JBJ then pounded his 11th home run to dead center to cut the lead. Young flied out to right and Shaw beat out a little roller up the middle to put the tying run on. Vazquez grounded out to first to end the inning but the Sox were back in it 2-1.
Just as soon as the Sox got back in it, Schoop iced it with a 7,000 foot bomb to increase the lead. Reimold was frozen for strike three and Flaherty grounded out to second, but Jones singled to left. Rickard grounded into a force to end the inning with the O's ahead 3-1. Price had tossed 8 innings and gave up just the two long balls, but when you're against Chris Tillman, 2 are too many.
The Sox tried to fight back in the bottom of the eighth against Mychal Givens. Mr. Mookie chopped a double over the head of Flaherty at third into left to start. Pedroia flied out to right which moved Betts to third and Bogaerts walked to chase Givens. Zack Britton was brought in for the 5 out save with Ortiz at the plate. Britton blew away Ortiz with a 98 mph sinker but Ramirez got a base hit up the middle to score Betts and put the tying run at second. JBJ grounded back to Britton to end the inning with the Sox down 3-2.
Sox closer Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Machado was blown away on a high 98 mph fastball. Davis popped up to Bogaerts at short and Trumbo whiffed on a nasty curveball to end the inning. Britton closed out the bottom of the ninth as Young whiffed on a 97 mph fastball to start. Josh Rutledge pinch hit for Shaw and he struck out on a 98 mph fastball. Rusney Castillo pinch hit for Vazquez and whiffed to end the game. Britton struck out 4 of the 5 guys he faced and the O's had regained first place with a 3-2 win.
Jackass of the Night is a tough one but I'll go with Chris Young. He was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts including the ninth inning with the game on the line.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4.
Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Travis Shaw was 1 for 2 with a walk.
Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3.
Josh Rutledge struck out as a pinch hitter.
Rusney Castillo struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 but walked.
David Ortiz was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a home run.
David Price took the loss but tossed 8 innings of 3 run ball. The last home run to Schoop was the backbreaker although at one point Price retired 19 in a row and struck out 11 total batters.
Final Thoughts:
That loss stung because Price pitched well and the bats went silent again. It was almost the mirror image of the loss to Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants a week ago. The grumpy radio shows are already damning Price for failing to beat other team's ace pitchers. Can't even blame Sox manager John Farrell for bringing him back for the eighth inning because he had retired 20 out of 21 batters before the Schoop homer. It was a hard fought game but the Sox came up a little short. The loss dropped the Sox to 36-27, 1 game behind the Orioles for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox look to rebound against the Orioles when they send Steven Wright (7-4, 2.09 ERA) to the mound against Tyler Wilson at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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