At first, Darvish thrived to open the top of the 1st inning. Mr. Mookie Betts struck out, Dustin Pedroia flied out and Xander Bogaerts popped up to end the inning. Price began his great outing by getting in trouble in the bottom of the first. Delino Deshields Jr lined out and Shin-Soo Choo grounded out, but Elvis Andrus singled. Adrian Beltre doubled but Carlos Gomez struck out to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second inning. Mitch Moreland watched strike 3 go by but Hanley Ramirez doubled and Andrew Benintendi singled him to third. Jackie Bradley Jr struck out but Christian Vazquez singled home Ramirez. Tzu-Wei Lin singled in Benny The Kid to increase the lead. Vazquez and Lin then pulled off a double steal but Mr. Mookie flied out to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.
Price had no problem in the bottom of the second inning. Rougned Odor whiffed and Mike Napoli watched strike three go by before Robinson Chirinos flied out to right to end the inning.
Darvish cruised in the top of the third inning as Pedroia flied out to center to start. Bogaerts whiffed and Moreland grounded out to end the inning. Price got Peter Kozma to strike out to open the bottom of the third but DeShields Jr singled to center. Choo grounded to first and Andrus whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fourth inning. Ramirez lined out to left but Benny The Kid doubled. JBJ singled Benny to third and Vazquez singled him home, advancing JBJ to third. Lin singled home JBJ but Mr. Mookie popped up. Pedroia flied out to left but it was now 4-0.
Beltre singled up the middle to open the bottom of the fourth but Price recovered to strike out both Gomez and Odor. Napoli flied out to left to end the inning.
The Sox iced the game in the top of the fifth inning. Bogaerts flied out to open the frame but Moreland and Ramirez hit back to back singles. Benny The Kid cleared the bases with a 3 run bomb to right to chase Darvish. Nick Martinez came in to pitch and JBJ greeted him with a single. Vazquez flied out but Lin walked. Mr. Mookie popped up to end the inning but the Sox had a 7-0 lead.
Price was on a roll in the bottom of the fifth as Chirinos was caught looking to begin the inning. Kozma singled but DeShields Jr flied out. Choo grounded out to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the sixth inning after Pedroia reached on an error by Andrus. Bogaerts whiffed but Moreland singled. Pedroia was out at third on a force by Ramirez but Benny The Kid ke[t up the hot streak by scoring Moreland with a base hit. JBJ grounded out to end the inning with the Sox up 8-0.
Price ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning. Andrus popped up to short but Beltre singled AGAIN. Gomez walked but Price got a big out by striking out Odor again. Napoli popped up to end the inning.
Boston tacked on another run in the top of the seventh as Vazquez singled to center. Lin singled but was erased on the Mr. Mookie double play. Pedroia singled home Vaz as Andrus threw the ball away trying to get Pedroia, allowing Dustin to reach second. Pedroia pulled up lame and had to leave the game being carried out on a stretcher. Deven Marrero pinch ran for Pedroia as Bogaerts drew a walk. Moreland walked to load the bases but Ramirez whiffed to end the inning with the Sox up 9-0.
Marrero remained in the game at third while Lin moved to second to open the bottom of the seventh. Price walked Chirinos and then motioned toward the dug-out for the trainer. After talking with the trainer, he was wheeled out on a gurney, leaving the game. Price had gone 6 innings and tossed shut-out ball, which was good enough to win the game.
Blaine Boyer got the call to replace Price and he struck out both Kozma and DeShields Jr. Choo walked as Joey Gallo pinch hit for Andrus only to watch strike three go by to end the inning. Good job by Boyer to strike out the side.
The offensive explosion continued as Benny The Kid and JBJ smashed back to back home runs to open the top of the eighth inning. Number 12 for Andrew and number 11 for JBJ. Vazquez flied out to right and Lin whiffed before Mr. Mookie grounded out to end the inning with the Sox up 11-0.
Sam Travis came in to play first for Moreland as Boyer returned for the bottom of the eighth. Beltre was finally retired by watching strike three go by but Gomez singled. Odor also singled and Napoli cleared the bases with a 3 run home run. Blaine recovered to strike out both Chirinos and Kozma to end the inning, but it was now 11-3.
Tony Barnette was called upon to pitch the top of the ninth and Marrero popped up to second to start. Bogaerts and Travis both whiffed to end the inning. Robby Scott had mop up duty in the bottom of the ninth and DeShields immediately greeted him with a solo home run. Scott recovered to get Choo to ground out but Gallo walked. Beltre flied out to right and Gomez popped up to first to end the game. The Sox had their own July 4th fireworks show to win the game 11-4.
Hero of the Night is Andrew Benintendi. He went 5 for 5 with 2 home runs, 6 total rbi's and 4 runs scored.
The Good:
Mitch Moreland was 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a home run.
Christian Vazquez was 3 for 5 with a run scored and an rbi.
Tzu-Wei Lin was 3 for 4 with a walk and 2 rbi's.
David Price earned the win with 6 innings of shut-out ball while striking out 9.
The Bad:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 6 with a strikeout.
Deven Marrero was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Sam Travis was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Robby Scott allowed a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 5 but drove in a run before leaving.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked.
Blaine Boyer struck out 5 men but gave up a 3 run homer in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
Could it be possible the Sox turned the corner on offense? With the subtraction of Pablo Sandoval, could Deven Marrero and Tzu-Wei Lin hold the fort for the remainder of the season? Its not ideal but its better than Sandoval that's for sure. If the offense clicks the rest of the American League is in big trouble with the way Chris Sale has been pitching along with Price coming back healthy. The win improved the Sox to 49-35, 4 games in front of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox go for the sweep as Doug Fister (0-1) looks for his first win opposite Amdrew Cashner at 8:30 PM in Texas.
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