As for the game, better late than never for the Boston Red Sox. Once again the vaunted offense was shut completely down, this time by Ariel Miranda and the Seattle bullpen....for the most part. Miranda held the Sox to just 2 runs in 6 innings courtesy of a Travis Shaw home run and Mookie Betts rbi double. Sad part was Drew Pomeranz pitched his best game for Boston so far by holding Seattle to 2 runs in 6 innings himself. The battle of the bullpens lasted all the way into the 11th inning. Brock "The Hitman" Holt got the big rbi hit to drive in Shaw against Cody Martin. In the bottom of the frame, Brad Ziegler had the tying run at third but struck out Seth Smith to end the game. The Sox had prevailed 3-2 in 11 innings at Safeco Field.
Miranda got the ball in the top of the first for his ML debut and Mr. Mookie Betts led off by hitting one up the elevator shaft. Xander Bogaerts got a seeing eye single into left and David Ortiz dumped a base hit to left as well. Dustin Pedroia walked to load the bases but Jackie Bradley Jr struck out swinging. Aaron Hill flied out to right to end the inning. Pomeranz got the ball in the bottom of the first and Guillermo Heredia walked to start. Franklin Gutierrez struck out swinging and Robinson Cano took strike three. Nelson Cruz grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second as Travis Shaw smoked his 13th home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Ryan Hanigan and Bryce Brentz both watched strike three go by and Mr. Mookie struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Dae-ho Lee lined out to second to start the bottom of the second but Kyle Seager walked. Mike Zunino struck out swinging and Leonys Martin grounded out to second to end the inning.
Bogaerts got a base hit to left to start the top of the third but Ortiz grounded into a double play. Pedroia flied out to left to end the inning. Shawn O'Malley caught Pedroia asleep with a bunt single to start the bottom of the third and Heredia forced him at second. Heredia was thrown out at second trying to steal and Gutierrez struck out swinging to end the inning.
JBJ grounded out to second to start the top of the fourth but Hill got a base hit to right. Shaw took strike three and Hanigan flied out to center to end the inning. Cano flied out to left to start the bottom of the fourth but Cruz and Lee drew back to back walks. Seager flied out to center but Zunino walked to load the bases. Martin grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fifth as Brentz doubled to right to start. Mr. Mookie also doubled to right to score Brentz. Bogaerts lined out to the left field wall and Ortiz lined out to center. Pedroia flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.
The lead lasted 8 seconds in the bottom of the fifth as O'Malley pulverized a home run into the Pacific Ocean to start. Heredia dropped down a bunt to catch Pedroia asleep and moved to second on a grounder to third by Heredia. Cano grounded out to second to move Heredia to third and Cruz was intentionally walked. The slumping Lee broke a 3 for 36 skid with a base hit to center to score Heredia. Seager grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
JBJ got a base hit to right to start the top of the sixth but Hill flied out to right. Shaw hit a bullet...right to Lee who doubled off Bradley to end the inning. Zunino was retired on a swinging bunt in front of the plate to start the bottom of the sixth before Martin struck out swinging. O'Malley struck out swinging to end the inning. That was it for Pomeranz who allowed just 2 runs in 6 innings of work off 4 hits and 6 walks.
Drew Storen came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Hanigan lined out to short to start. Brock "The Hitman" Holt pinch hit for Brentz and grounded out to first. Mr. Mookie singled in the hole at short but Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning. Robbie Ross Jr came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Heredia grounded out to second to start. Gutierrez walked but Cano grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Vidal Nuno came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Ortiz popped up to second to start. Pedroia blooped a base hit to center but JBJ struck out swinging. Tom Wilhelmson came in to face Hill and Aaron walked. Shaw grounded out to short to end the inning. Junichi Tazawa came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Cruz struck out swinging to start. Lee struck out swinging but Seager got a base hit to left. Zunino struck out swinging to end the inning.
Sandy Leon pinch hit for the 0 for 20 Hanigan to start the top of the ninth and grounded out to second. Holt walked but Mr. Mookie banged into a double play to end the inning. Fernando Abad came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Leon just barely got Martin at first on a swinging bunt in front of the plate. O'Malley got a base hit to center and Gutierrez walked to put the winning run at second. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to face Cano with Nori Aoki running for Gutierrez. Cano grounded out to second to end the inning.
Blake Parker came in to pitch the top of the tenth and Bogaerts flied out to right to start. Ortiz grounded out to first but Pedroia singled to center. JBJ walked but Hill grounded out to third to end the inning. Cruz struck out swinging to start the bottom of the tenth and Adam Lind pinch hit for Lee. Lind struck out swinging and Seager went down hacking to end the inning.
The Sox broke through in the top of the 11th with Cody Martin now on the mound. Shaw drilled a base hit to left and Leon dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move him to second. Holt hit a chopper up the middle for a base hit off the glove of O'Malley to score Shaw to put Boston ahead. Mr. Mookie struck out swinging and Holt was caught in a rundown to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-2.
Brad Ziegler came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Zunino walked to start. Luis Sardenas ran for Zunino and Martin dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Luis to second. O'Malley grounded out to first to move Sardenas to third and Seth Smith pinch hit for Heredia. Smith struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 3-2 in 11 innings.
Sox win
Brock "The Hero" Holt
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 5.
Hero of The Night is Brock Holt. His rbi single in the 11th put the Sox up for good
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 6 with an rbi.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 5.
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4 with a walk.
Travis Shaw was 2 for 5 with a home run and 2 runs scored.
Bryce Brentz was 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Drew Pomeranz tossed 6 innings of 2 runs scored. He allowed 4 hits and 6 walks.
Robbie Ross Jr tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Fernando Abad tossed 2/3 of a scoreless inning.
Craig Kimbrel got the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Brad Ziegler earned his 21st save with a scoreless 11th inning.
The Bad:
Ryan Hanigan was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 1.
The Ugly:
David Ortiz was just 1 for 5.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked and scored a run.
Aaron Hill was just 1 for 4 with a walk.
Final Thoughts:
Big, big win by the Sox considering their offensive woes lately and being on the road in extra innings. Pomeranz pitched his best game with the Sox and the bullpen was lights out. With a quartet of Tazawa, Koji Uehara, Kimbrel and Ziegler....this team could be very tough to beat if the starters can go 6 innings at a time. The Sox are going to need all hands on deck because they have a good a shot as anyone to make the playoffs as they're only 2 games out of first place in a very competitive AL East. The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays are in their sights and two good months of baseball, especially against an AL East gauntlet in September, could get them over the hump. The win improved the Sox to 59-48, 2 games behind the Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Sox now have to travel to Los Angeles for a three game deathmatch with the Dodgers. Steven Wright (12-5) takes on Scott Kazmir of LA. The game begins tomorrow night at 10:10 PM eastern time at Dodger Stadium.
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