Sale took the mound in the top of the first and Steven Souza Jr was robbed of a hit by a big throw by 3rd baseman Deven Marrero. Daniel Robertson struck out and Sale blew away Evan Longoria to end the inning. The Sox did nothing against Blake Snell in the bottom of the first inning. Mr. Mookie lined out, Dustin Pedroia grounded out and Xander Bogaerts grounded out as well to end the inning.
The Rays struck first in the top of the second inning. Rickie Weeks Jr struck out but Logan Morrison jacked one into the Tampa bullpen to give the Rays the lead. Tim Beckham lined out and Derek Norris looked at strike three to end the inning with Tampa in front 1-0. Snell dominated the bottom of the second as Andrew Benintendi struck out, Chris Young popped up and Mitch Moreland grounded out to end the inning.
An angry Sale struck out the side in the top of the third inning. Kevin Kiermaier looked at strike three, Peter Bourjos and Souza jr whiffed to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the third inning. Sandy Leon walked but both Jackie Bradley Jr and Deven Marrero struck out. Mr. Mookie then struck a 2 run line drive home run to give the Sox the lead. Pedroia doubled but Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-1.
Sale cruised in the top of the fourth inning. Robertson struck out, Longoria grounded out and Weeks Jr flied out to end the inning. Benny The Kid walked to lead off the bottom of the fourth but ran into a double play hit by Young. Moreland grounded out to end the inning.
The Rays took the lead for good in the top of the fifth inning, Morrison whiffed and Beckham grounded out but Norris walked. Kiermaier then blasted a 2 run home run over the bullpen to give the Rays the lead. Bourjos lined out to end the inning with the Rays up 3-2. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fifth.Leon walked and JBJ doubled him to third. Marrero just missed a home run by inches but settled for a double high off the centerfield wall to give the Sox the lead back. Mr. Mookie doubled off the Monster to score Marrero. Betts moved to third on the Pedroia sacrifice bunt and scored on the Bogaerts ground out. Benny The Kid grounded back to the mound but the Sox were now up 6-3.
Could Sale hold this lead in the top of the sixth? Souza Jr flied out but Robertson walked. Longoria took a high strike for the 10th strikeout of the day for Sale. Weeks Jr whiffed to end the inning. Snell returned for the bottom of the sixth inning and Young grounded out to third to begin. Moreland whiffed but Leon singled off the Monster to chase Snell. Rays manager Kevin Cash brought in the hefty Jumbo Diaz and he gave up a single to JBJ. Marrero swung and missed on a 3-2 fastball right down the middle to end the inning.
Sale returned for one last inning in the top of the seventh inning. Morrison popped up on the first pitch, Beckham struck out and Norris flied out to end the inning. Sale had given up 3 runs but struck out 12 in seven innings, pretty good.
Diaz returned for the bottom of the seventh inning. Mr. Mookie popped up, Pedroia looked at strike three and Bogaerts flied out to end the inning.
Joe Kelly came on to pitch the top of the eighth and Kiermaier grounded to second to start. Dickerson beat out a ground ball but Kelly blew away Souza Jr. Brad Miller pinch hit for Robertson and nearly took out first base umpire Laz Diaz with a flying bat, but Laz gracefully jumped over it. Kelly blew away Miller on a 101 mph fastball to end the inning. Good work Joe. Diego Moreno came in for the bottom of the eighth and blinded the Sox. Benny The Kid whiffed, Young flied out and Moreland whiffed to end the inning. Unless the Rays rallied off Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel, Bogaerts 15 game hit streak was about to come to an end.
Kimbrel got the ball in the top of the ninth and got Longoria to ground out to start. Kimbrel blew away Weeks Jr and Morrison to end the game. The Sox had won it 6-3.
Hero of the Night is Deven Marrrero. He made great plays at third base and hit the go-ahead 2 run double in the bottom of the 5th inning.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 including 3 total rbi's, 2 total runs scored and a 2 run home run.
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3.
Sandy Leon was 1 for 1 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 3 with a run scored.
Chris Sale wasn't lights out but still tossed 7 innings of 3 run ball to earn the win, also striking out 12 men.
Joe Kelly pitched an impressive top of the eighth inning.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 11th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Chris Young was 0 for 4.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts' 15 game hitting streak was snapped but drove in a run.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Nothing like a win by your ace to bounce back from a loss. Then again had the Sox didn't waste a big chance last night, this would have been win 3 in a row. Sale was far from his best but the Sox picked him up for the second game in a row. The top half of the order has been doing well for most of the year but the bottom of the order is a black hole....until today. Leon, Marrero and JBJ got some hits and wouldn't ya know it, they won! The Sox still need a full time third basemen, David Price, Tyler Thornburg and Carson Smith to come back....and fast. The win propelled the Sox to 19-17, 4 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow is the rubber game of the series with Matt Andriese going up against Drew Pomeranz (3-2, 5.23 ERA).
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