The Sox have had a nasty habit of making the worst starting pitchers look like Cy Young lately, not today they didn't. Joe Musgrove started and got Mr. Mookie Betts to fly out to center. Dustin Pedroia lined out to left but Xander Bogaerts crushed a 425 foot bomb to dead center to give the Sox a quick lead. Mitch Moreland struck out but the Sox were up 1-0.
The much maligned David Price (2-1) took the hill in the bottom of the first inning and gave the run right back. Somehow he got George Springer to pop up but then Jose Altuve doubled off the top of the wall. Carlos Correa beat out an infield single and Brian McCann slammed a base hit to score Altuve with the tying run. Carlos Beltran and Yuli Gurriel both popped up to end the inning but the game was tied.
The Sox threatened in the top of the second inning. Hanley Ramirez grounded out but Andrew Benintendi singled. Jackie Bradley Jr struck out but Josh Rutledge singled. With a chance to do some damage, Christian Vazquez struck out to end the inning. Price almost crapped himself in the bottom of the second inning. Alex Bregman singled but was erased on the Derek Fisher force. Jake Marisnick flied out but Springer singled. Altuve walked to load the bases but Correa flied out to end the inning. Afyerwards, Price barked at the umpire for some reason.
Musgrove dominated the Sox in the top of the third inning. Mr. Mookie singled but Pedroia popped up and Bogaerts scorched a line drive...right to first and Mr. Mookie was doubled off to end the inning. Meanwhile Price almost gave it away again in the bottom of the third inning when he hit McCann to start. Beltran walked but Gurriel lined right back to Price. Bregman then grounded into a force right to third although a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Fisher grounded out to end the inning.
The Sox continued to Flounder in the top of the fourth inning. Moreland and Ramirez struck out and Benny The Kid grounded out to end the inning. Price cruised in the bottom of the fourth inning. Marisnick struck out, Springer lined to short and Altuve lined out to second to end the inning.
The Sox still couldn't crack Musgrove in the top of the fifth inning. JBJ struck out, Rutledge lined out and Vazquez flied out to end the inning. The Astros struck back in the bottom of the fifth inning as Correa led off with a solo shot to left field. McCann was frozen on strike three and Beltran grounded out, but Gurriel doubled. A wild pitch moved him to third and Bregman walked. Fisher whiffed to end the inning but it was 2-1 Astros.
The Sox showed some balls with a rally in the top of the sixth inning. Mr. Mookie flied out to left but Pedroia walked. Bogaerts stepped up and smashed a 2 run home run to left to give the Sox the lead. Moreland struck out but Ramirez singled. A wild pitch moved Hanley to second but Benny The Kid walked to chase Musgrove. James "I'm not Lamar" Hoyt came in and JBJ greeted him by doubling home both guys. Rutledge struck out to end the inning but the Sox had taken a 5-2 lead.
For some reason, Sox manager John Farrell sent Price back out for the bottom of the sixth despite looking spent in the bottom of the fifth. Marisnick quickly homered to chase Price who had gone 5 measly innings and given up 3 runs. Heath Hembree came in and poured gas on the fire, allowing a solo home run to Springer to cut the lead to 1. Altuve singled but Hembree got a key double play by Correa. McCann singled but Beltran watched strike three to go by to end the inning. Just like that a 5-2 lead turned into 5-4.
The Sox struck again in the top of the seventh inning. Vazquez flied out but Mr. Mookie was hit with a pitch. Pedroia was then hit with a pitch who collapsed in a heap, coughing up blood. Pedroia crawled his way to first and that was it for Hoyt. Chris Devenski came in an the smoking hot Bogaerts singled home Mr. Mookie. For some reason Sox manager John Farrell decided to try a double steal with Pedroia barely able to breathe, naturally he was thrown out at third. Moreland whiffed to end the inning with the Sox up 6-4.
Joe "Machine Gun" Kelly was brought in to pitch the bottom of the seventh inning. Gurriel doubled but Bregman froze on strike three. Fisher grounded out and Norichika Aoki inch hit for Marisnick. He whiffed to end the inning.
Michael Feliz pitched the top of the eighth inning and cruised. Ramirez popped to second as both Benny The Kid and JBJ grounded to second to end the inning. The Sox nearly pooped themselves in the bottom of the eighth with Matt Barnes on the mound. Springer and Altuve worked back to back walks but Benny The Kid made a great catch to rob Correa of a hit and strand the runners. That was it for Barnes and Sox manager John Farrell made the mistake of bringing in Robby Scott to pitch to McCann who actually hits lefties better. McCann walked to load the bases and all looked lost when Beltran singled to left. Springer scored but Benny nailed Altuve at home to keep the lead. Marwin Gonzalez ran for Beltran but umpire Greg Gibson rang up Gurriel on a bad pitch to end the inning. Gurriel then threw his bat in the air, spiked his helmet and called Gibson a "pendejo", leading to him getting the HEAVE-HO! The Sox were head 6-5 by the skin of their teeth.
The Sox failed to score in the top of the ninth inning. Rutledge whiffed, Vazquez grounded out to third and Mr. Mookie flied out to end the inning. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in for the save in the bottom of the ninth inning. Kimbrel blew away Springer but Fisher singled. Aoki lined out and Fisher tried to run on Vazquez....bad idea. Vaz gunned him down at second to end the game. The Sox had won it 6-5.
Hero of the Night is Xander Bogaerts. His 2 home runs sparked the Sox offense to take the game.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 1 for 3 with a walk and scored a run.
Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 20th save with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 4 with a golden sombrero of 4 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4.
Heath Hembree gave up a run in his only inning of work.
Matt Barnes got tagged for 2 walks, a hit and a run in just 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 but scored a run and was hit with a pitch.
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 2 but walked and scored a run before being wheeled out on a gurney.
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 but drove in 2 runs.
Josh Rutledge was just 1 for 4.
David Price got the win but was knocked out in the 6th after giving up 3 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks. He still doesn't look right.
Robby Scott allowed an inherited runner to score but got out of the 8th inning.
Honorable Mention:
Pablo Sandoval played 3rd base in the ninth inning.
Final Thoughts:
That was very ugly but a win is a win. Everybody had a bad game but Bogaerts and Joe Kelly yet they still found a way to win. John Farrell managed like a jackass tonight, letting Price start the 6th and not bringing in Kimbrel to take on the heart of the Astros' order in the 8th inning. That's how this season has been going, some games he manages his ass off and they lose and then he manages like crap tonight and they win. Price doesn't look right at all and he better figure it out in a hurry because apart from Sale, nobody in the rotation has looked good in a while. Who knows when Johnson and Rodriguez are coming back so its up to Pomeranz, Price and Porcello to carry the load...and so far they've crapped their pants. Still, the win improved the Sox to 39-30 which is good for a first place tie with the New York Yankees in the AL East. After taking 2 of 3 from the best team in the AL, the Sox travel to Kansas City to play a 3 game set with the struggling Royals. Their ace Jason Vargas just pitched tonight so the Sox catch a break. Tomorrow night Hector "The Insurance" Velazquez goes up against Jason Hammel in Game 1 at 8:15 PM in Kansas City.
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