The Boston Red Sox ended up needing all 3 of these guys but unfortunately they didn't have them in tonight's extra inning marathon with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Luckily new Sox ace Chris Sale and Sandy Leon were here to save the day. On a cold April night the Sox won it on a walkoff 3-0.
Chris Sale breezed in the first inning of his Red Sox career. Jordy Mercer led off the top of the first by grounding out to short. Starling Marte swung and missed for strike three and Andrew McCutchen flied out to center to end the inning. Jameson Taillon got the start for Pittsburgh and he blew away Dustin Pedroia to open the bottom of the first. Andrew Benintendi grounded out to third and Xander Bogaerts flied out to center to end the inning.
Gregory Polanco led off the top of the second with a fly out to center. David Freese stroked the first hit of the game to right center. Sale whiffed Fransisco Cervelli and Josh Harrison to end the inning. Hanley Ramirez got the Sox first hit of the season by slamming a single to left. Mitch Moreland flied out to center and Chris Young made his season debut by banging into a double play to end the inning.
Sale almost had a clean top of the third. Josh Bell popped up to right but Todd Frazier bunted for a single. Mercer lined out to center and Marte whiffed to end the inning. Jackie Bradley Jr struck out to begin the bottom of the third. Pablo Sandoval grounded out to short but Sandy Leon doubled down the right field line. Pedroia singled to right but Leon made the stupid decision to try for home despite the stop sign from third base coach Brian Butterfield. McCutchen gunned him down at home by a mile for the final out, nice going Leon.
Sale began the top of the fourth by getting McCutchen to ground out to short. Polanco whiffed and Bogaerts snared a line drive by Freese to end the inning.
Benny The Kid grounded out to open the bottom of the fourth. Bogaerts then grounded out to Freese on a bang-bang play at first. Sox manager John Farrell challenged the call but Bogaerts was still called out. Ramirez worked a walk and McCutchen robbed Moreland of a home run at the wall to end the inning. If it was June it was gone, oh well.
Sale began the top of the fifth by punching out Cervelli on 3 pitches. Harrison tagged one off the Monster for a single but was erased on the Bell double play to end the inning. Young worked a walk to open the bottom of the fifth and Farrell called for a hit and run with JBJ. It worked as JBJ singled Young over to third. Unfortunately Sandoval was up next and he whiffed on a high fastball. King Leon whiffed as well to a chorus of boos in Fenway. The very next pitch, Taillon uncorked a wild pitch to send JBJ to second. Pedroia put the exclamation point on the incompetence by grounding back to Taillon to end the inning. What a waste.
Sale was unfazed by the offensive fiasco as he whiffed Frazier to open the top of the sixth. Mercer flied out to left and Marte grounded out to end the inning. Benny The Kid singled to open the bottom of the sixth but Bogaerts whiffed and Ramirez banged into a double play to end the inning.
Sale returned for one last inning in the top of the seventh. McCutchen flied out to left and Polanco grounded out, but Freese walked. Cervelli flied out to end Sale's impressive debut. 7 shut-out inning and not a single batter reached second base. Outstanding.
Unfortunately the Red Sox offense couldn't pick him up. Moreland whiffed but Young walked. JBJ lined out and Sandoval grounded out to end the inning. That's 3 men left on base by Sandoval.
Matt Barnes took over in the top of the 8th and was much better than his opening day stinker. Harrison flied out and he punched out Bell. Frazier grounded out to end the inning. John Jaso took over at first for Bell and Daniel Hudson replaced the outstandingh Tallion in the bottom of the 8th. Leon popped up, Pedroia flied out and Benny The Kid popped up to end the inning. The Sox have been shut-out for 16 of 17 innings so far this season.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel took over in the top of the ninth, apparently John Farrell forgot Craig's 5.12 ERA in non-save situations last year. Right on cue Sandoval booted a ground ball by Mercer to allow the leadoff man to reach. Marte tried to bunt Mercer over but popped up the attempt to Sandoval. Pedroia then saved a potential hit with a diving stop to force Mercer at second on the grounder by McCutchen. Polanco grounded out to end the inning. Could the Sox walk it off in the bottom of the ninth? NO! Felipe Rivero came on to pitch and got Bogaerts to fly out to right, Ramirez to line out and Moreland to whiff in short order. Time for extra innings.
Heath Hembree replaced Kimbrel in the top of the tenth inning. Freese grounded out to begin the inning on a great play by Bogaerts but Cervelli singled off the Monster, held to first on a great throw by Benintendi. Harrison popped up and that was it for Hembree. John Farrell lifted him for lefty specialist Robbie Scott. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle countered by pinch hitting Jaso with Phil Gosselin. Scott did his job by striking out Gosselin to end the inning. Could the Sox walk it off in the bottom of the 10th? NO! Hurdle relieved Rivero with Tony Watson and Young grounded out to greet him. JBJ singled to put the winning run on but Sandoval whiffed on 3 pitches. The strikeout loomed large as Leon singled JBJ over to third to put the winning run 90 feet away. Pedroia walked to load the bases but Benny The Kid grounded out to end the threat. More lack of clutch hitting.
Joe Kelly made his season debut in the top of the 11th. Frazier and Mercer grounded out but Marte singled. McCutchen popped up to end the inning. Could the Sox walk it off in the bottom of the 11th? NO! Juan Nicasio replaced Tony Watson and got Bogaerts to look at strike 3 to begin the inning. Ramirez grounded out and Moreland whiffed again for the hat trick to send the game to the 12th inning.
JBJ made another highlight reel catch, this time on Polanco to save Kelly's bacon to open the top of the 12th. Pedroia then snared a line drive smacked by Freese and Cervelli grounded out to end the inning. Finally could the Sox walk it off? YES! Antonio Bastardo came in to pitch and Young gave one a ride but Marte snared it in center. JBJ walked to put the winning run on again to bring up the much maligned Sandoval. JBJ managed to outrace a pickoff attempt at second for his first stolen base despite being spiked by Mercer. Sandoval shocked the world by drawing a walk and King Leon sent the cold and tired fans home happy with a 3 run blast into the Monster Seats to end it 3-0.
Hero of the night is Sandy Leon. He was 3 for 5 including the walkoff 3 run bomb to end the game.
The Good:
Chris Sale was outstanding. He tossed 7 innings of shut-out ball allowing just 3 hits and a walk while striking out 7 without anybody reaching second base. A great debut.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 8th.
Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless 9th.
Heath Hembree recorded the first two outs of the 10th.
Robbie Scott struck out the only man he faced.
Joe Kelly tossed 2 scoreless innings to earn his first win of the season
The Bad:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4.
Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez were both 1 for 4 with a walk.
Chris Young was 0 for 3 but walked twice.
Pablo Sandoval 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and would have been Jackass but worked a walk in the 12th that set up the Leon homer.
Final Thoughts:
If this was a sample of what Chris Sale brings to the table, the Red Sox are going to be in pretty good shape. He was amazing tonight and its a shame he got literally no run support. The Sox are missing David Ortiz already because apart from the walkoff in the 12th inning and the 5th inning of Monday's game, they've been shut out in every other inning. Hopefully Betts, Benintendi, Bogaerts and Pedroia can carry the load. It was great to see the bullpen step up with 5 scoreless innings after Sale left. Tomorrow's game looks to be rained out so no sense hyping it up, the Sox probably resume Friday in Detroit at 1 PM.
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