Talk about a good spot start. Johnson was called up to make today's start and he made it a memorable one. Pitching like his life depended on it, Johnson outwitted the Seattle Mariners with junk not seen since Bill Lee in a complete game, 5 hit shutout. The Sox offense picked up Brian and the Sox had won their 6th in a row, beating Seattle 6-0 at Fenway Park.
Johnson got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jean Segura grounded to Moreland who flipped to Johnson for the out although he nearly got steamrolled by Segura. Danny Valencia singled but Robinson Cano lifted a fly ball to Mookie Betts who lost it in the sun. He then took his cap off and stuck it out, luckily the ball fell in for the out. Johnson struck out Cruz on an 89 mph fastball to end the inning. Rob Whalen made his season debut in the bottom of the first inning and walked Mr. Mookie on 4 straight pitches. Mr. Mookie stole second but Dustin Pedroia got drilled. It hurt like hell and the trainer made a gold medal sprint out of the dug-out but luckily Dustin was ok. Xander Bogaerts singled to left and Mookie beat the throw home but Pedroia cannonballed into third but fell off, allowing himself to be tagged out, although Bogaerts tiptoed to second base un-noticed. Andrew Benintendi singled past the second basemen to score Bogaerts to make it 2-0. The wild Whalen then plunked Hanley Ramirez on the top of the helmet. Sox analyst Dennis Eckersley said Whalen had mediocre salad as Mitch Moreland flied out to right, but Benintendi cartwheeled over to third. Hanley then swiped second as the ball fell out of Zunino's hand and Ramirez' helmet bounced into left field. Alert secret service agents seized the helmet and wrestled it to the ground. The wild Whalen walked Jackie Bradley Jr to load the bases as Eckersley said "This is an absolutely awful appearance". Sandy Leon singled home Benintendi but Ramirez practically walked home and was thrown out for a mile to end the inning. The Sox did lead 3-0 but Ramirez' loafing cost them more runs against a struggling starter.
Johnson whiffed Kyle Seager to open the top of the second inning. Taylor Motter lined out softly to Pedroia at second. Johnson struck out Guillermo Heredia to end the inning, good work Brian. As expected Whalen settled down in the bottom of the second as Deven Marrero grounded out to third to begin. Mr. Mookie lined out and Whalen nearly cleaned out Pedroia again. Eckersley "This guy's dangerous." Pedroia lined out to right to end the inning.
Johnson's old roomate in college Mike Zunino led off the top of the third. Zunino famously knocked Brian unconscious in the SEC tournament with an errant throw. Johnson got his revenge by striking him out. Jarrod Dyson singled and Segura grounded a picture perfect double play ball to Pedroia....who decided to grab it and stare at it, just barely getting Dyson at second base when he snapped out of it. Valencia popped up to end the inning. The M's defense came up big in the bottom of the third when Bogaerts lined one just above the pitcher but snared by Cano. Segura then robbed Benny The Kid of a hit with a slick throw to first. Eckersley was not amused by Benintendi's kamikaze slide into first base. Ramirez singled up the middle but Moreland was robbed of extra bases by a diving Valencia to end the inning.
The top of the fourth was almost completely missed due to an interview by faceless goon with Billy Johnson, Brian's dad. Cano flied out to left but Mr. Mookie put his life at risk by nearly diving into the bullpen to rob Cruz of a home run. Seager whiffed to end the inning with Billy cheering on. Whalen started to dominate the bottom of the fourth by getting JBJ to ground into the shift to begin. Leon lined out to a diving Valencia and Heredia made a running catch to rob Marrero of a hit to end the inning. Its not like the offense suddenly went cold, the M's were making great plays.
Johnson returned for the top of the fifth and Bogaerts killed some earthworms with a bad throw but Moreland put life and limb at risk to scoop it to rob Motter of a hit. Heredia blooped a single to right as Sox analyst Dave O'Brien brought up how Zunino and Johnson won the national title by defeating none other than Jackie Bradley Jr, playing for the South Carolina Gamecocks. Zunino flied out to center but Dyson blooped a single to left that advanced Heredia to third. Dyson swiped second and with the walls crumbling around him, Johnson retired Segura on a pop up to end the inning.'' After the annoying Southwest commercial aired for the third time since 4 pm, Whalen returned for the bottom of the fifth to retire Mr. Mookie on a ground out. Pedroia singled to left but Bogaerts popped up. Benny The Kid nearly hit one out but it died at the wall in the right field corner to end the inning.
Johnson returned for the top of the sixth and got Valencia to ground out as Dave O'Brien revealed Johnson's mother was a former Doublemint gum twin. Heredia then crushed one to the centerfield wall and JBJ made another spectacular catch, imitating Spiderman to grab it. Johnson whiffed Cruz to end the inning and somehow he was pitching a shut-out through six innings.
The Sox iced the game in the bottom of the sixth as Whalen got Ramirez on a smoked a grounder to third. Moreland singled into the shift as the fans started doing The Wave much to Eck's chagrin. Speaking of Eck, he had been calling all game that someone was going to go deep eventually and that man was Jackie Bradley Jr. JBJ crushed a 2 run bomb over the bullpen to chase Whalen and increase the lead. Casey Lawrence came in and struck out Leon. Eck then told a story that he pitched a 1-0 shut-out against Ferguson Jenkins that his manager called "the worst shut-out I've ever seen". Marrero struck out to end the inning but the Sox were up 5-0.
Johnson came back for the top of the seventh and Seager grounded into a shift that Eck called "a beautiful thing." Motter popped up to left but Heredia singled. Brian struck out his old friend Zunino with a big sweeping curve to end the inning, 7 shut-out innings for Johnson. Lawrence came back for the bottom of the seventh and Mr. Mookie grounded out to begin. Pedroia saw a guy dressed like Slippo The Clown in the front row and was so distracted that he struck out looking. Segura flashed the leather again to rob Bogaerts of a hit to end the inning.
With 87 pitches on his arm, Johnson came out for the eighth inning. Dyson lifted a sure single but Bogaerts made a flying catch to snare the ball. Mr. Mookie made a mad dash to chase down a fly ball by Segura and on Brian's 100th pitch, he got Valencia to ground out to end the inning. 8 shut out innings by Johnson, who saw that coming?
The Sox struck again in the bottom of the eighth inning. Benny The Kid grounded out on a bang bang play at first but Ramirez singled and took second on a wild pitch. Moreland singled off the Monster to score Ramirez but JBJ popped up. Leon flied out to end the inning but the Sox were up 6-0.
With 100 pitches on his arm, Johnson went for the complete game shut-out in the top of the ninth. The crowd went wild when Cano was rung up on a 1-2 fastball at the knees. JBJ preserved the shut-out with an amazing diving catch to rob Cruz as the crowd went wild again. Not to be out-done, Jackie sprinted down a long drive by Seager to end the game. Johnson had thrown a complete game 5 hit shut-out in his 3rd major league start.
Hero of the Night is easy. Brian Johnson pitched a complete game 5 hit shutout, walking nobody and striking out 8.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with an HBP.
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 3 with an HBP, run scored and a stolen base.
Mitch Moreland was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk and a 2 run home run.
The Bad:
Deven Marrero was 0 for 3
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 3 but walked, stole a base and scored.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored.
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored.
Sandy Leon was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
This was definitely one of the best days at Fenway this season. It was a fun day from start to finish with the offense giving Johnson an early lead and he pitched his ass off. He was Portland's best pitcher in 2014 and bizarre injuries and off-field incidents held him back for so long, not today! With his parents in the crowd, he dominated the Mariners to make the Sox the winners. It gave the bullpen a rest and the running Red Sox scored early due to aggressiveness. Sox manager John Farrell figured if the long ball isn't coming then they need to run in order to score. So far its worked as the Sox have won 6 in a row. The win moved the Sox to 27-21, still 2 games back of the New York Yankees. Tomorrow afternoon the Sox go for the series sweep when "Slick" Rick Porcello (3-5, 4.35 ERA) takes on Christian Bergman in the finale at 1:05 PM.
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