As for the the game, the Sox responded from one of their worst losses of the seasons with one of their best wins. Luis Severino and the New York Yankees had the Sox number all year but this time the Sox offense led by Andrew Benintendi blasted him into submission. After a great start by Drew Pomeranz (12-4, 3.39 ERA) the Red Sox walked away with a 10-5 victory.
Severino started his dominance in the top of the first inning by getting Eduardo Nunez to ground out to second to begin. Mookie Betts lined out to center and Andrew Benintendi did as well to end the inning. Meanwhile the Yankees smacked around Pomeranz in the bottom of the first inning. Brett Gardner got it started with a single to left although Pomeranz got a lucky strikeout of Aaron Hicks. Sox analyst Dennis Eckersley got excited when Pomerand froze Aaron Judge on a knucklecurve. Too bad Gary Sanchez wrapped a 2 run home run around the right field pole to put the Yankees up early. Didi Gregorious followed with a single but Todd Frazier popped up to first to end the inning. Pomeranz had thrown 28 pitches and trailed 2-0....yuck!
Severino laughed as he struck out the hapless Hanley Ramirez in the top of the second. Mitch Moreland grounded out weakly to short, as did Xander Bogaerts to end the inning. Pomeranz came back for the bottom of the second and somehow got Chase Headley to ground out. Jacoby Ellsbury miraculously flied out to left but Ronald Torreyes got things back to normal with a base hit. Gardner struck out but Pomeranz was up to 43 pitches.
The Sox roared back in the top of the third inning. Rafael Devers lined out to left but somehow Christian Vazquez and Jackie Bradley Jr worked back to back walks. Nunez hit a picture perfect double play ball to Headley at third...AND HE BOOTED IT. The bases were loaded and Betts took advantage with a 2 run single to tie the game. Benintendi stepped up and blasted a 3 run home run to stun the crowd and give the Sox a 5-2 lead. Dennis Eckersley said it was a "crime" for Severino to walk two guys after getting the first two out. Ramirez poked a single right past the second basemen then Moreland singled off Severino into center. The rally ended stone cold dead as Gardner dove to rob Bogaerts of a hit and doubled off the idiot Ramirez at second to end the inning. Still, the Sox went from lifeless to up 5-2.
Could Pomeranz pitch with the lead? At first he did by getting Hicks to ground to third. Pomeranz froze Judge on a strike 3 curveball and Sanchez grounded out to end the inning.
Severino recovered to turn up the heat in the top of the fourth. He blew away Devers, Vazquez and JBJ in short order. The Yankees struck back in the bottom of the fourth as Gregorious led off with a single to center. Frazier drew a four pitch walk and Headley singled to load the bases with nobody out. Ellsbury grounded out but Gregorious scored and the runners moved up. Pomeranz caught a break when Torreyes hit one up the elevator shaft and Gardner popped up to end the inning. What looked to be a disaster ended with the Sox still up 5-3.
The Sox exploded in the top of the fifth and it started with a Nunez single. Betts hit a bullet that ticked off the glove of Frazier at third, Nunez going to third with Betts sliding into second safe. Benintendi then said to Aaron Judge "TAKE THAT" with his second 3 run bomb of the game. Ramirez tried to hit one out but was robbed at the centerfield wall. Moreland then hit a piece of crap ground ball double down the third base line since everyone shifted to the right. Bogaerts hit a routine grounder to Gregorious but he threw low to Headley who couldn't pick it, putting runners at the corners. That was it for Severino as Yankees manager Joe Girardi pulled him for Geovanny Gallegos. Devers poured it on with a double to the center-field wall to score both runners. Vazquez grounded out but Devers moved to third. JBJ struck out to end the inning but the Sox now led 10-3.
Could Pomeranz not poop his pants in the bottom of the fifth? Well he almost did as Hicks walked to open the inning, but Drew recovered to get Judge to ground into a double play. Sanchez doubled into the gap but Gregorious flied out to right to end the inning.
Gallegos returned for the top of the sixth inning and struck out Nunez to start. Betts flied out to center and Benintendi struck out to end the inning. Pomeranz returned for the bottom of the sixth inning and looked to cruise when Frazier grounded to first, but Headley hit a swinging bunt that Pomeranz threw 300 feet into the stands for an error. Pomeranz recovered to get Ellsbury to fly out and Torreyes to hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
Gallagos stayed strong in the top of the seventh inning by getting Ramirez to pop up to right, Moreland to strike out and Bogaerts to fly out to right to end the inning. Pomeranz trudged out to the mound in the bottom of the seventh and struck out Gardner to start. Hicks nearly hit one out to left but it was just foul, Drew recovering to get Aaron to ground out. That was it for Pomeranz as Sox manager John Farrell was once again allergic to Drew going 7, pulling him from the game. Still, Drew put the Sox in position to win with 6 2/3 innings of 3 run ball. Brandon Workman got the call and got Judge to pop up to end the inning.
Bryan Mitchell took over for the top of the eighth inning and the Sox ran into yet another out as Devers singled but was thrown out at second trying to stretch. Vazquez and JBJ stroked back to back singles then moved over on the squibber by Nunez. Betts popped up to end the inning. Workman returned for the bottom of the eighth with Brock Holt now playing second base. Sanchez began the inning with a routine ground ball that Devers picked up and dove to make a tag at third base....and nobody was there. Sanchez was awarded first on the error but Gregorious flied out to center. Frazier then banged into a double play to end the inning.
Tyler Wade took over for Gregorious to begin the top of the ninth with Mitchell back on the mound. Benintendi flied out to left to begin before Ramirez grounded out to second. Moreland also grounded out to second to end the inning. Robby Scott came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth to close the game out and promptly crapped his pants as Headley greeted him with a solo home run to left. Ellsbury then launched a solo home run of his own to bring the boo-birds out for Scott. Torreyes grounded out to third and Gardner lined out. Hicks grounded out to end the game. The Sox had won it 10-5.
Hero of the Night is Andrew Benintendi. He hit not one, but TWO 3 run homers to propel the Sox to victory.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 5 with 2 rbi's and 2 runs scored.
Mitch Moreland was 2 for 5 with a run scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with 2 rbi's.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Drew Pomeranz earned the win by pitching 6 2/3 innings of 3 run ball while striking out 5.
Brandon Workman pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Robby Scott gave up two solo home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 5 but scored 2 runs.
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 5.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 but scored a run.
Honorable Mention:
Brock Holt played second base in the final 2 innings.
Final Thoughts:
Now that was the way to bounce back after a crushing loss. The Sox sent a statement to not only the Yankees but to Severino as well who previously had the Sox' number. It also was great to win a blowout because it took the pressure off the pitchers after last night's disaster. This keeps Craig Kimbrel fresh for the finale. With Aaron Judge in a hideous slump, now would be a good time for Benintendi to get hot to get back into the AL Rookie of The Year race. He's only behind by 9 points in the batting race. Its nice to see Drew Pomeranz have the year he's having after people wanting to run Drew out of town last October. The only bit of bad news is the injury to Pedroia couild be season ending. If they lose him then they can kiss any kind of success in October...if there is one, goodbye. The win improved the Sox to 66-50, 4.5 ahead of the Yankees in the AL East race. Tomorrow night at 8 PM Chris Sale (14-4, 2.57 ERA) looks to improve on his Cy Young resume up against Jordan Montgomery (7-6, 4.05 ERA) who got in the head while signing autographs before today's game.
No comments:
Post a Comment