Rick Porcello got the start for the Red Sox and cruised in the top of the first inning. Denard Span flied out to center and CJ Cron grounded out to third. Joey Wendle grounded out to second to end the inning. Matt Andriese cruised in the bottom of the first inning as well as Eduardo Nunez grounded out to third to start. Andrew Benintendi flied out to left and Hanley Ramirez whiffed in short order.
Porcello was lights out in the top of the second as Brad Miller whiffed to start. Daniel Robertson grounded out to third and Mallex Smith looked at strike three to end the inning. JD Martinez singled to open the bottom of the second but Mitch Moreland flied out to right. Rafael Devers struck out and Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Rays struck first in the top of the third inning when Adeiny Hechavarria singled to start. Porcello tried to pick Hechavarria off at first but Moreland was checking out The Great Crapini doing tricks in the first row and the throw got away, allowing Hechavarria to reach second. Jesus Sucre flied out to center and Johnny Field popped up to first, but Span smashed a 1,532 foot home run to give the Rays the lead. Cron grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 2-0 Rays.
The Sox failed to answer against Andriese in the bottom of the third inning. Sandy Leon flied out to left, Tzu-Wei Lin flied out to center and Nunez whiffed to end the inning.
The Rays struck again in the top of the fourth inning although Wendle flied out to right to start. Miller doubled to center but Robertson whiffed. Smith hit a little roller into right to score Miller with another run. Porcello threw over to first and Moreland nailed Smith with a tag. The umpire ruled safe but Sox manager Alex Cora demanded to take another look. Yankees manag....err Head of MLB Operations Joe Torre was in the can so his assistant made the call that Smith was indeed out. The assistant was immediately fired when Torre got back but the inning was over with the Rays leading 3-0.
Andriese returned for the bottom of the fourth and got Benintendi to line out to second. Ramirez was plunked and Martinez singled to chase him. The Rays had to be thrilled as Andriese gave them 3 1/3 shut-out innings. Jonny Venters came in and got Moreland to fly out to center and Devers to pop up to second to end the inning.
Porcello worked his ground ball magic in the top of the fifth inning as Hechavarria grounded out to third, Sucre grounded back to the mound and Field grounded out to short to end the inning. Venters returned just to get JBJ to ground out to start the bottom of the fifth before he departed. Andrew Kittredge came in and got Leon to fly out to left. Lin flied out to right to end the inning.
Porcello froze Span to begin the top of the sixth before whiffing Cron. Wendle singled to right but Miller grounded out to short to end the inning. Somehow the Sox exploded in the bottom of the sixth inning. Nunez beat out an infield single to third and Benintendi walked. Ramirez singled to load the bases and FINALLY the Sox got a clutch hit when Martinez singled in both Nunez and Benintendi. Moreland walked to re-load the bases and that was it for Kittredge. Sergio Romo came in and froze Devers for strike three but JBJ hit a sac fly to score Ramirez to tie the game. Moreland swiped second and Leon was hit with a pitch to re-load the bases. The rally ended as Lin flied out to right to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
Porcello came back for the top of the seventh and gave up a single to Robertson to start. Smith lined out to left before Hechavarria banged into a double play to end the inning....oh, not so fast! Alert Rays manager Kevin Cash challenged that not only did Lin's foot come off the bag at second but Moreland's at first as well. The umpires got together and concluded that Robertson was safe at second but Moreland got the toe down in time at first. Porcello got Sucre to line out to right to end the inning as it was rumored that Joe Torre wanted a word with the umpires about the out call at first after the game. The Sox failed to capitalize in the bottom of the seventh as Nunez whiffed, Benintendi flied out to right and Ramirez whiffed to end the inning.
Porcello came back for the top of the eighth and struck out Field to start. Span flied out to left but Cron singled to chase Rick. Porcello made one mistake to Cron but had given up 3 runs in 7 2/3 innings. With Joe Kelly suspended and the bullpen taxed, Craig Kimbrel was brought in to pitch. Wendle greeted him with a double but Kimbrel blew away Miller to end the inning.
The Rays went to closer Alex Colome for the 6 out save but the move backfired. Martinez got the rally started with a single but Moreland whiffed. Devers lined out to left but JBJ walked. Leon hadn't had a big hit all year but this time he singled down the left field line, Martinez motoring around to score the go-ahead run. Way to go Leon! Leon then stole second for the heck of it before Lin grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox now had the 4-3 lead.
Could Kimbrel get the final 3 outs to get the win in the top of the ninth? At first it didn't look like it as Robertson and Smith stroked back to back singles to start. Hechavarria dropped down the perfect sacrifice bunt to put both runners into scoring position with one out. Kimbrel showed some brass balls by blowing away Sucre for the second out. Carlos Gomez pinch hit for Field and Kimbrel blew him away on 3 pitches to end the game. The Sox had broken the streak and rallied for a 4-3 win. What a ballclub.
Hero of the Night is Sandy Leon. His rbi single in the bottom of the eighth inning was the difference in the game. He also was hit with a pitch and stole a base.
The Good:
Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch and a run scored.
JD Martinez was 4 for 4 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Rick Porcello tossed 7 2/3 innings of 3 run ball while striking out 6.
Craig Kimbrel tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Tzu-Wei Lin was 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 3 but walked and scored.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 but walked and stole a base.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly.
Final Thoughts:
That was a much needed, gutty win considering the circumstances. The New York Yankees have won 7 in a row so this was a very important win to keep pace ahead of them. It also left a good taste in the mouths of the fans after suffering through 4 losses in 6 games. Porcello once again pitched well but there are some concerns. The bottom of the order is a black hole and now with Betts gone, its getting harder to score runs. Luckily the worthless Kansas City Royals come to town next so hopefully they can pound them without him. The Sox move on to a 3 game set with the struggling Royals (7-20). Jimmy Hammel goes for the Royals with Eduardo Rodriguez (3-0, 3.63 ERA) taking the ball for the Red Sox at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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