Steven Wright took the mound in the top of the first and Kyle Schwarber struck out to begin the game. Kris Bryant lofted a routine ground ball to Wright who jumped up in the air and threw the ball over his own head, allowing Bryant to reach second. Anthony Rizzo moved Bryant to third on the groundout to first. Wright caught Ben Zobrist looking at strike three much to Ben's displeasure to end the inning. Old pal John Lackey took the mound in the bottom of the first and got both Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi to ground out to begin. Mr. Mookie Betts grounded out to end the inning.
Wright cruised in the top of the second inning. Jason Heyward popped up, Addison Russell lined out and Miguel Montero whiffed to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Hanley Ramirez grounded out but Mitch Moreland walked and Dustin Pedroia singled. Jackie Bradley Jr singled home Moreland to give the Sox the lead. Pedroia moved to third on the Christian Vazquez fly out but Marco Hernandez grounded out to end the inning.
Albert Almora Jr singled to start the top of the third inning but Jon Jay grounded into a double play. Schwarber flied out to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the third as Bogaerts legged out a triple and scored on the Benny The Kid sacrifice fly. Mr. Mookie lined out but Ramirez absolutely crushed a 469 foot home run to give the Sox a 3-0 lead. Moreland lined out to end the inning.
The Cubs began their comeback in the top of the fourth inning when Bryant doubled and Rizzo smashed a 2 run home run to cut the lead to 1. Zobrist grounded out but Heyward walked. Russell flied out then Montero flied out to end the inning.
The Sox couldn't respond against Lackey in the bottom of the fourth inning. Pedroia grounded out and JBJ struck out although Vazquez singled and Hernandez doubled him to third. Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning.
Wright pitched a clean top of the fifth as Almora Jr grounded out, Jay lined out and Schwarber looked at strike three to end the inning. The Sox tagged Lackey in the bottom of the fifth when Benny The Kid belted a solo home run into the Red Sox bullpen to give the Sox a two run lead. Mr. Mookie and Ramirez struck out then Moreland grounded out to end the inning.
The Cubs wasted no time getting the run back in the top of the sixth, Bryant doubled and moved to third on the passed ball by Vazquez. Rizzo failed to bring him home with a fly out but Zobrist brought him home with a ground out. Heyward singled but Russell grounded out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-3. The Sox blew their chance to get the run back when Pedroia hit one off the Monster but was thrown out at second trying to stretch into a double. JBJ and Vazquez grounded out to end the bottom of the sixth inning.
The wheels fell off in one of the worst innings of the year, the top of the seventh. For some reason Sox manager John Farrell brought Wright back out and he immediately gave up the game tying home run to Montero. Almora Jr popped up but Jay doubled to chase him. Wright pitched well for 6 innings but ran out of gas in the seventh. Robby Scott came in and poured gas on the fire by giving up a single to Schwarber that scored Jay with the go-ahead run. That was it for Scott as it was up to rookie Ben Taylor to stop the bleeding. Bryant walked and then Rizzo hit a picture perfect double play ball to Moreland who flipped it to Bogaerts for the out at second only for Bogaerts to air mail Moreland on the relay throw. To make matters worse Moreland tried to throw out Rizzo at second only for the throw to airmail everyone. Schwarber scored, Rizzo was on third and the Cubs led 6-4. Zobrist flied out to end the inning but the game was all but over. Old friend Koji Uehara took the mound for the bottom of the seventh and did what he did for four years in Boston, get guys out quickly. Hernandez and Bogaerts lined out before Benny The Kid struck out to end the inning.
Taylor ran out of gas in the top of the eighth but battled through it. Heyward popped up and Russell flied out but Montero singled. Almora Jr hit a ball to Hernandez at third and he tried to kick it over to first like a soccer player...it failed and Almora as aboard on the error. Jay walked to load the bases but Taylor recoverd to get Schwarber to fly out to end the inning. Hector Rondon came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Mr. Mookie singled only for Ramirez to ground out and Morleland to bang into a double play to end the inning.
For some reason Taylor returned briefly for the top of the ninth and struck out Bryant before Farrell brought in last night's hero Fernando Abad to get the final two outs. Abad got Rizzo but Zobrist blasted a solo home run to a chorus of boo's from Red Sox fans and thunderous cheers from Cubs fans. Not one move Farrell made worked tonight. Left Wright in too long, Robby Scott failed, the defense failed and now Abad failed. Heyward struck out to end the inning but the game was over 7-4. Cubs closer Wade Davis came in to end the misery. Somehow Pedroia singled but naturally when the money's on the table, JBJ struck out although Pedroia took second on defensive indifference. Vazquez and Hernandez whiffed to end the game. The Cubs had won 7-4.
Jackass of the Night should be John Farrell for every single move he made backfiring but I have to go with Steven Wright. Once again he failed to last 7 innings and gave up 5 earned runs.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 1 for 3 with a solo home run and an additional rbi.
Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 4.
Ben Taylor pitched 2 scoreless innings
The Bad:
Robby Scott gave up a hit that came around to score.
Fernando Abad gave up a solo home run in the ninth.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a run scored
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4.
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 4 but made the hit count as it was a long home run
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 with a comedy of errors but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4.
Marco Hernandez was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Dave Dombrowski is looking worse every day for letting Uehara walk and trading Travis Shaw for Tyler Thornburg as Shaw is having a hell of a season in Milwaukee and Uehara is still getting guys out for Chicago. Meanwhile Thornburg hasn't pitched in a game yet and who knows if he ever will. Not having Matt Barnes hurt big time as the Sox tried to go with Scott and Taylor to pitch the crucial innings, It didn't help the Sox kicked and threw the ball all over the field but they still needed to get the outs asked of them. Tomorrow the Sox play the rubber game of the series, Kyle Hendricks takes the mound opposite Eduardo Rodriguez at 7:05 PM.
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