As for the game, the Sox appeared to be headed toward a frustrating loss when they exploded for a dramatic 2 out victory in the bottom of the ninth over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Sox shocked the Cards in a 5-4 victory at Fenway Park.
Eduardo Rodriguez got the ball to start the top of the first inning and Matt Carpenter led off by striking out swinging. Tommy Pham almost gave the Red Sox fans a heart attack when he lined a ball off the elbow of Rafael Devers at third, the ball flying into the dugout for a technical ground rule double. Luckily Devers laughed off the injury and play resumed. Rodriguez recovered to strike out Paul Dejong. Dexter Fowler grounded out to end the inning. Lynn got the ball to start the bottom of the first and Eduardo Nunez grounded out to short to start. Mookie Betts singled off the glove of Jedd Gyorko at third but Andrew Benintendi banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Cardinals crushed Rodriguez in the top of the second when Yadier Molina doubled off the top of the centerfield wall to start. Gyorko walked and Kolten Wong singled home Molina. Luke Voit doubled in Gyorko but Randal Grichuk popped up to short. A passed ball scored Wong and advanced Voit to third. Carpenter hit a little bloop to center but Voit was late going home so JBJ fired home but Vazquez whiffed on the throw home, allowing Voit to score and Carpenter to move to third. Vaz and JBJ redeemd himself when Pham singled but Carpenter was gunned down at home. Somehow Rodriguez struck out Dejong but it was 4-0 Cards...YUCK!
The Sox rolled over and died in the bottom of the second inning as Hanley Ramirez looked at strike three to begin. Rafael Devers drew a walk but Xander Bogaerts swung at air and Mitch Moreland grounded out to end the inning.
Rodriguez came back for more punishment in the top of the third inning as Fowler greeted him with a base hit to center. Somehow Molina popped up to first and Gyorko popped up to short. Wong smacked a ground rule double into the left field seats....but Voit looked at strike three to end the inning. The Sox finally rallied in the bottom of the third inning. Christian Vazquez singled and JBJ walked. Nunez hit a little roller to Lynn WHO THREW it away! Vazquez scored and JBJ moved to third. Unfortunately all Betts could do was hit a sac fly to score JBJ. Benintendi grounded into a force and Ramirez lined to center to end the inning but the lead was cut in half 4-2.
Rodriguez settled down in the top of the fourth inning as Grichuk flied out to right to begin. Carpenter lined out to center and Pham grounded out to short to end the inning. Lynn settled down too in the bottom of the fourth as Devers struck out. Bogaerts flied out to right but Moreland singled. Vazquez lined out to right to end the inning.
Rodriguez turned up the heat in the top of the fifth inning. Dejong and Fowler both struck out before Molina popped up to first to end the inning. The Sox mustered nothing in the bottom of the fifth as JBJ grounded out to second to start. Nunez grounded out to third and Betts grounded out to short to end the.....wait, what? Sox manager John Farrell challenged the call at first and Betts was discovered to be safe. Benintendi singled up the middle but Ramirez popped up to end the inning.
The top of the sixth began ominously when Gyorko hit a ground ball to Nunez who threw it home to an unexpecting, puzzled Vazquez. Gyorko took first on the error although Wong lined out to JBJ. Farrell then bounded out of the dugout to take Rodriguez out. After the garbage start he had, he battled to last as long as he did. 5 1/3 innings and 4 runs isn't the worst but not the worst either.
Matt Barnes strutted from the bullpen in a Ric Flair robe then proceeded to strike out both Voit and Grichuk to end the inning.....WOOOOO! Too bad the Sox couldn't capitalized when Devers led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a double to left. Bogaerts grounded out but Devers moved to third. Moreland walked but Vazquez killed the rally by banging into a double play.
Barnes returned for the top of the seventh inning and got Carpenter to pop up. Pham grounded out to third but Dejong doubled. Fowler popped up to end the inning. After Lyndsay McCaffery lit up the crowd with God Bless America, Seung Hwan Oh replaced Lynn for the bottom of the seventh inning. JBJ to fly out to start, Nunez struck out and Betts popped up to end the inning.
Addison Reed got the call in the top of the eighth and he got Molina to pop up to begin. Gyorko struck out but Wong doubled. Reed recovered to get Voit to ground out to end the inning. Tyler Lyons took over for the bottom of the 8th and Benintendi walked to put the tying run to the plate. Ramirez proceeded to end the rally early by grounding into a double play. If Fenway wasn't in a festive mood from the Jimmy Fund Telethon, they would have booed Hanley off the field. Devers struck out to end the inning.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel took the mound in the top of the ninth inning and got Grichuk to ground out to first to start. Carpenter and Pham were both caught looking to end the inning. The Sox staged one of the more dramatic ninth innings this season in the bottom of the ninth. Cardinals flamethrowing closer Trevor Rosenthal tried to sneak a fastball by Bogaerts....it failed and Bogaerts blasted the pitch into the Monster Seats for his 7th homer of the year, cutting the lead to one.
Moreland walked and John Farrell made one of the worst decisions by pinch hitting lefty Brock Holt for Vazquez and pinch running Young for Moreland. Cards manager Mike Matheny countered by bringing in Zach Duke to make it a lefty-lefty matchup. As expected, Holt whiffed badly. JBJ worked a walk to put the tying run at second as MA native John Brebbia came in to replace Duke. Brebbia then held the ball FOREVER in between pitches, pissing off not only Eduardo Nunez at the plate but home plate umpire Chris Segal. Finally Segal had enough and called time just as Brebbia was releasing a pitch. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny shot out of the dugout with a bat and tried to take a swing at Segal, but luckily he missed. He swung again and missed before security tackled him and escorted him out of the ballpark.
After all that, Nunez popped up anyway. One strike away from defeat, Betts got his bat on the ball and deposited it off the Monster. Young scored easily and JBJ made a break for home. The throw beat him by a mile.....BUT MOLINA DROPPED IT! JBJ SCORED! THE RED SOX WIN! The Sox had stolen the game 5-4.
Hero of The Night is Mookie Betts. His 2 run double in the bottom of the ninth won the game.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Mitch Moreland was 1 for 2 with 2 walks.
Chris Young scored a run as a pinch runner.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr walked twice in four plate appearances and scored 2 runs.
Matt Barnes pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Addison Reed pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 5th win of the year with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Hanley Ramirez would have been jackass of the night had the Sox not won. He was 0 for 4 while leaving men on base all night.
Brock Holt struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 5 with an error.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a home run in the 9th inning.
Eduardo Rodriguez got shelled for 4 runs in the first inning but didnt allow anymore in 5 1/3 total innings.
Final Thoughts:
What looked to be a bitter loss turned imto a momentum saving win. They were one out away from losing ground to the New York Yankees who defeated the hapless New York Mets tonight. The stunning victory is the type you can look back on if they win the division and say "Oh yeah, needed that one." Rodriguez sucked in the first but pulled together to keep the team in it. The bullpen was lights out as well so kudos to them. Betts and Bogaerts had been stinking up the plate so it was nice to see them produce. Still have a problem with Ramirez in the cleanup spot though. Also what was Farrell thinking pinch hitting Holt for Vazquez? That almost backfired big time. Still, a win is a win. The 69-51 Red Sox remain 4.5 games in front of the Yankees in first place in the AL East. Tomorrow is an off day but Friday night the Yankees come to town. Drew Pomeranz (12-4, 3.39 ERA) will be there to greet them. Nobody knows who's going for New York yet at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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