Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Eduardo Rodriguez left the team to witness the birth of his first child and was placed on paternity leave. Ben Taylor was called up in his place for today's game and it looks like Brian Johnson will take his spot tomorrow. Congratulations to Eduardo.
OUT
IN
Corey Dickerson added to Wright's misery by smashing a flat knuckleball to left to begin the top of the first. Marco Herandez dropped a routine pop up by Kevin Kiermaier and Kevin made him pay by lashing a single to right. Evan Longoria singled down the left field line to load the bases. Brad Miller grounded to the right of the mound and Wright tagged him out, but Dickerson scored and the runners advanced. Steven Souza Jr grounded out to third but Kiermaier scored. Logan Morrison walked. Rickie Weeks Jr struck out to end the inning but Wright tossed over 30 pitches and the Sox were trailing in the first again, 2-0.
The Sox fought back in the bottom of the first. Dustin Pedroia greeted Tampa starter Blake Snell with a single up the middle and Andrew Benintendi lashed a single in the hole at short. Mr. Mookie Betts banged into a double play, but Hanley Ramirez singled to right to score Pedroia. Xander Bogaerts popped up to end the inning but the Sox had cut the deficit in half, 2-1.
Wright somewhat redeemed himself in the top of the second. Derek Norris doubled off the wall but Tim Beckham grounded to short, failing to advance the runner. Norris made a boo-boo when Dickerson flied out to deep right but didn't tag up. Kiermaier flied out to the wall to end the inning. A scoreless inning for Wright but several loud outs. The Sox roared back in the bottom of the second although Snell struck out Mitch Moreland and Chris Young back to back. Sandy Leon singled and the Sox caught a break when Miller dropped a routine ground out off the bat of Hernandez. Pedroia walked to load the bases and Benny The Kid made the Rays pay for the error with a 2 run bloop sngle to center to give the Sox a 3-2 lead. Mr. Mookie singled to center to score Pedroia, advance Benintendi to third and advance to second on the throw home. Ramirez walked to load the bases but Bogaerts looked at strike 3 to end the inning but the Sox were now ahead 4-2.
Wright ran into more trouble in the top of the third. Longoria grounded out to third but Miller doubled off the Monster and Dickerson singled him to third. Wright caught a break when Morrison popped up to third. Weeks struck out to end the inning. Snell decided to pitch out of the stretch in the bottom of the third and it worked to get Moreland to ground out. Young popped up and Leon grounded out to end the inning.
Wright settled down in the top of the fourth. Norris flied out and Beckham grounded out. Dickerson also grounded out to end the inning. Snell was also locked in by striking out Hernandez in the bottom of the fourth. Pedroia grounded out but Benny The Kid slid into first on a slow roller safely. Mr. Mookie grounded out to end the inning.
Wright came out for the top of the fifth and Kiermaier stroked a leadoff single, but was erased on the Longoria double play. Miller looked at strike three to end the inning and wasn't happy about it. Snell returned for the bottom of the fifth and Ramirez grounded out to start. Bogaerts grounded out and Moreland waived at a pitch in the dirt to end the inning. Snell had thrown 100 pitches so if the Sox wanted anymore runs, they'd have to crack the Tampa bullpen.
Wright returned for the 6th and Souza Jr whiffed to start. Hernandez made a great play to rob Morrison of a hit but Mr. Mookie lost a ball in the sun, allowing Weeks to reach on a double. Norris lined one to Bogaerts to end the inning. Great bounce back effort by Wright to go 6 innings and not allow another run after his rocky first inning.
Young rocketed a single to open the bottom of the sixth off new pitcher Tommy Hunter but was foolishly picked off. Leon flied out and Hernandez whiffed to end the inning.
Wright came back for the top of the seventh inning and Beckham chased him with a leadoff single. Robbie Ross Jr came in and got a routine fly ball but Hernandez, Bogaerts and Young all missed it and it bounced into the stands for a ground rule double. Suddenly the Rays had the tying runs in scoring position. Ross recovered to strike out Kiermaier and Sox manager John Farrell had Longoria intentionally walked to set up the double play with the bases loaded. The move worked initially as Ross whiffed Miller on a full count. Rookie Ben Taylor was brought in to face Souza and Souza singled to score Beckham and cut the lead to a run. Taylor recovered to get Morrison to pop up to end the inning. It was shaky but the Sox still had a 4-3 lead.
The Sox mustered nothing in the bottom of the seventh inning against Chase Whitley. Pedroia popped up and Benny The Kid was robbed of a hit in left. Mr. Mookie doubled into the gap but Ramirez grounded out to end the inning.
Heath Hembree got the call in the top of the eighth inning with Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel all overworked. He blew away Weeks and got Norris to pop up. Beckham looked at strike three to end the inning, doing a little dance in the process. The Sox were just 3 outs away from hanging on. Whitley returned for the bottom of the eighth and Bogaerts popped up. Moreland walked but Young popped up. Leon popped up to end the inning.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel was brought in for the third day in a row to nail down the save. Kimbrel blew away Dickerson and caught Kiermaier looking to start the top of the ninth. Longoria watched strike three to go by to end the game. The Sox had held on to win 4-3 and earn their first 3 game winning streak of the season.
Hero of the Night is Ben Taylor. The rookie just called up today who hadn't pitched in a week was brought into a bases loaded situation with the game on the line and got out of it with the lead.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored
Andrew Benintendi was 3 for 4 with the big 2 run single.
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi
Steven Wright got the win by tossing 6 innings of 3 run ball, only 1 of them earned. He struck out 4.
Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 6th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 but walked.
Chris Young was just 1 for 4 but walked...before getting picked off.
Sandy Leon was just 1 for 4 with a run scored
Marco Hernandez was 0 for 3 with an error but scored a run.
Robbie Ross Jr retired only 2 of the four men he faced.
Final Thoughts:
Nothing like a sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays to get the Sox back on track after a shaky first two weeks of the season. Then again, when guys aren't sick, grieving or hurt, they can produce a lot of runs. They're having trouble hitting the long ball but a run is a run. Being 8-5 and last in home runs is better than 5-8 and first in home runs. Betts and Benintendi are swinging the bat better which is key for the Sox to score some runs. Tomorrow night the Sox head to Toronto for a 3 game set with the struggling Blue Jays. Marcus Stroman goes for the Jays and Brian Johnson makes his season debut for the Sox at 7:07 PM.
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