Eduardo Rodriguez got the ball to start the game and Kyle Schwarber grounded out. Kris Bryant grounded out but Anthony Rizzo walked. Ben Zobrist doubled but Addison Russell popped up to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time scoring against Chicago starter Kyle Hendricks. Xander Bogaerts grounded out but Andrew Benintendi singled. Mr. Mookie Betts flied out but Hanley Ramirez crushed a 463 foot bomb into the light tower to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. Sadly that was the last time the Sox would score for the next 7 innings. Mitch Moreland looked at strike three to end the inning.
Ramirez makes it 2-0.
Rodriguez ran into trouble in the top of the second inning. Jason Heyward singled but Wilson Contreras popped up. Albert Almora Jr struck out but Jon Jay singled. Schwarber grounded out to end the inning. Dustin Pedroia led off the bottom of the second with a single. Unfortunately Jackie Bradley Jr struck out and Christian Vazquez banged into a double play to end the inning.
Rodriguez turned up the heat in the top of the third inning. Bryant and Rizzo whiffed then Zobrist took strike three to end the inning. Marco Hernandez grounded out to start the bottom of the third but Bogaerts walked. As usual....Benny The Kid hit into a double play to end the inning.
Rodriguez ran into trouble again in the top of the fourth inning. Russell whiffed and Heyward looked at strike three but Contreras walked. Almora Jr singled but both runners advanced on a terrible throw back to the infield. Rodriguez recovered to strike out Jay to end the inning. Mr. Mookie walked to start the bottom of the fourth and there was no double play...only because Ramirez took a borderline strike 3 that ticked him off. Moreland struck out and Pedroia popped up to end the inning.
If looks could kill, Hanley would be on trial right now
Rodriguez was finally tagged in the top of the fifth inning. Schwarber struck out but Bryant blasted a solo shot into the bleachers to cut the lead in half. Rizzo grounded out and Zobrist flied out to end the inning. Could the Sox get the run back in the bottom of the fifth? NO! JBJ, Vazquez and Hernandez all grounded out in short order to begin and end the inning.
Rodriguez finished with a flurry in the top of the sixth inning. Russell grounded out, Heyward lined out and Contreras struck out to end the inning. Eduardo had tossed 6 innings of 1 run ball against the champs, he deserved the win.
Eduardo deserved a better fate.
Could the Sox get an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth? NO! Bogaerts worked a leadoff walk but Benny The Kid struck out. Mr. Mookie lined out and Ramirez whiffed to end the inning.
Joe Kelly got the call in the top of the seventh and promptly pissed himself. Almora Jr lined out but Jay and Schwarber walked. Kelly then uncorked a wild pitch that was so wild that Jay scored all the way from second to tie the game. Bryant grounded out to hold Schwarber at second and that was it for Kelly. Sox manager John Farrell brought in Robby Scott to pitch to Rizzo and got him to ground out to end the inning. Nice going Kelly, the Cubs had tied it 2-2.
Safe! Damn Kelly
Carl Edwards relieved Hendricks in the bottom of the seventh and Moreland flied out to start. Pedroia walked but both JBJ and Vazquez struck out to end the inning.
The returning Matt Barnes got the ball in the top of the eighth. Zobrist grounded out, Russell flied out and Heyward grounded out to end the inning. Last night the Sox booted the ball all over the field, tonight it was Koji Uehara and the Cubs that gave the game away in the bottom of the eighth. Hernandez outhustled the Cubs for a single on a bang bang play at first base.
Great hustle Marco.
Bogaerts and Benny The Kid both stroked back to back singles to load the bases and chase Koji from the game.
Bases juiced.
Pedro Strop came into the game and got Betts to strike out, but a wild pitch moved everyone up and allowed Hernandez to score the go-ahead run. Ramirez worked a walk to re-load the bases and Moreland drove home Bogaerts with a ground out to increase the lead. Pedroia then grounded a routine ball to Russell who proceeded to chuck it into the center-field bleachers for a 2 run error. Brian Duensing came in to pitch to JBJ and got him to ground out to end the inning. The Sox had scored 4 runs on a wild pitch, a ground-out and an error....oh well. The Sox led 6-2 and were 3 outs away from victory.
"Yeesh, watch the hair Strop!" - Hernandez
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel was brought in to close out the game. It was no sweat as Contreras flied out, Almora Jr grounded out and Jay grounded out to end the game. The Sox had beaten the champs 6-2.
Hero of the night is a tough one but I'll go with Eduardo Rodriguez. He held one of the most potent offenses in baseball to one run over 6 innings while striking out 9
Eduardo is Hero tonight
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 3 with a walk, 2 runs scored and a 2 run home run.
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Marco Hernandez was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Robby Scott retired the only man he faced.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless eighth inning
Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Joe Kelly allowed the tying run to score in the top of the seventh.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 3 but walked.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 4 but drove in the insurance run with a ground-out.
Final Thoughts:
It was nice to see the luck go the other way for once and watch the Cubs fall over themselves. The Sox can't possibly keep winning like this but its nice for a time or two. Eduardo Rodriguez pitched well and the Sox pitching staff as a whole has been doing well this year. For some reason the bats are asleep so far but the warmer weather should bring them back. Tomorrow night the Sox are in action against the Baltimore Orioles. Rick Porcello goes up against Dylan Bundy in Game 1 at 7:05 PM.
No comments:
Post a Comment