Estrada took the mound in the top of the first and Mr. Mookie Betts greeted him with a fly out to center. Andrew Benintendi blooped a single over the head of Gio Ushela but Hanley Ramirez struck out and JD Martinez grounded out to end the inning. Price got the ball in the bottom of the first and got Teoscar Hernandez to ground out to first. Josh Donaldson walked but Yangervis Solarte lined out to center. Justin Smoak grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second inning as Xander Bogaert flied out to center to begin. Rafael Devers whiffed but Eduardo Nunez took advantage of Hernandez lollygagging after a fly ball and reached second. As usual Jackie Bradley Jr popped up to second to end the inning. That's 10 consecutive scoreless inning thrown by Toronto's pitching staff. Price tried to counter by punching out Kevin Pillar to open the bottom of the second inning. Russell Martin froze for strike three and Anthony Alford whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox finally broke the scoreless streak in the top of the third inning. Christian Vazquez flied out to left but Mr. Mookie doubled. Benintendi hit a ground rule double to score Betts to put the Sox on top. Ramirez got so excited he blasted a two run bomb to left. Martinez walked but Bogaerts flied out to left. Devers whiffed again to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
Price began the bottom of the third by striking out Luke Maile but Urshela singled up the middle. Hernandez singled but the alert Bogaerts doubled off Urshela at second on a liner by Donaldson to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth inning as the black hole reared its ugly head. Nunez flied out to center, JBJ whiffed and Vazquez flied out to center to end the inning. The Jays struck back in the bottom of the fourth although Solarte lined out to left to start. Smoak walked but Pillar erased Smoak at second with a force out. Martin walked and Alford singled in Pillar to put the Jays on the board. Price whiffed Maile to end the inning but the Jays were back in it 3-1.
More incompetence in the top of the fifth inning as Mr. Mookie grounded out to third, Benintendi grounded out to second and Ramirez flied out to right to end the inning. Price came out for the bottom of the fifth and Urshela whiffed to start. Hernandez doubled and advanced to third on the Donaldson ground out. Solarte popped up to short to end the inning.
The Sox offense finally woke up in the top of the sixth although Martinez whiffed to start. Bogaerts doubled and Devers singled in Xander for a big insurance run. Nunez popped up to first and JBJ flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-1.
Price wasted no time giving that run right back as Smoak crushed a 593,993 foot home run to start the bottom of the sixth. Pillar popped up to first as Ramirez nearly kamikazed himself making the catch. Some yahoo ran out on the field as alert Mounties seized the intruder and wrestled him to the ground.
That violence was too much for Price who was done after just 5 1/3 innings. He gave up 2 runs and barely lasted 5 innings.
Carson Smith came in and got Martin to ground out to third, Alford hit a routine ground ball to Devers who picked the ball up and spiked it like a football before breakdancing for an error. Maile struck out to end the inning.
Jake Petricka replaced Estrada for the top of the seventh and somehow Vazquez singled up the middle to start. Betts singled to chase Petricka. Aaron "Fruit" Loup was brought in but the Sox foolishly tried a double steal that ended with Vazquez getting thrown out at third. Benintendi whiffed and Jays manager John Gibbons waddled to the mound again to have Seunghwan Oh pitch to Ramirez. Hanley popped up to short to end the inning. What a waste. Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez came on to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Richard Urena pinch hit for Urshela. Urena singled to start but Hernandez banged into a double play. Donaldson grounded out to first to end the inning.
Oh returned for the top of the eighth and Marinez whiffed to start. Bogaerts flied out to left but Devers singled. Nunez whiffed to end the inning. "Machine Gun" Joe Kelly took the mound for the bottom of the eighth inning. Kelly blew away Solarte and Smoak but Pillar singled. Pillar swiped second but Kelly blew away Martin to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the ninth with Ryan Tepera on the mound. JBJ and Vazquez whiffed but Mr. Mookie doubled. Benintendi singled home Betts for an insurance run but Ramirez watched strike three to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-2.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in for the save in the bottom of the ninth inning. Curtis Granderson pinch hit for Alford and Kimbrel threw him nothing but curveballs, getting him to ground back to the mound. Maile earned the hat trick with another strikeout. Kimbrel blew away Urena to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-2.
Hero of the Night is Andrew Benintendi. He had 3 hits in 5 at bats including driving in two key runs.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
David Price got the win with 5 1/3 innings pitched and 2 runs allowed. He walked 3 and struck out 6.
Carson Smith got the final 2 outs of the sixth.
Hector Velazquez pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 11th save with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts
The Ugly:
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 5 but made the hit count as it was a 2 run home run.
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 4.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
That was a much needed win considering the way the rest of the AL East is playing. We all know about the Yankees but the Tampa Bay Rays are streaking back to respectability. The Sox are battling for first and they have a long battle ahead, winning games in May means as much as winning games in September. Every win counts and the Sox NEED Price to step up or else they have no chance to take down the Yankees. Chris Sale and Rick Porcello can't do it alone the way Drew Pomeranz and Eduardo Rodriguez have struggled. The offense will be there even if the bottom of the order is a mess right now but its imperative Price gets his act together. The win improved the Sox to 27-12, tied for first place with the Yankees who rallied down 6-2 to beat the A's in 11. Tomorrow afternoon is the finale of the roadtrip and with Toronto. Drew Pomeranz (1-1, 5.23 ERA) goes for the Sox against absolutely no idea from Toronto at 1:05 PM at Skydome.
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