It was a good day for Boston sports. The Boston Celtics defeated the Philadelphia Sixers in Game 3 of their second round NBA playoff series and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Texas Rangers. Now THAT was a gutsy win by the Red Sox tonight. Down 1-0, 4-1 and 5-3 to the Texas Rangers, they found a way to rally again and again. Things looked lost when Eduardo Rodriguez pitched badly but the gutsy pitching and timely hitting brought the Sox back into the game. In the end it was the rejuvinated Andrew Benintendi that delivered the decisive blow as the Sox took the game 6-5 at Arlington Park.
Cole Hamels took the mound in the top of the first inning and Mr. Mookie Betts led off with a fly-out to left. Andrew Benintendi grounded out to first and Hanley Ramirez whiffed to end the inning. Rodriguez got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and got Delino DeShields Jr flied out to right to start. Shin-Soo Choo was frozen for strike three and Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded back to Rodriguez to end the inning.
The Sox looked to rally in the top of the second inning. JD Martinez flied out to right but Xander Bogaerts doubled off the left field wall. Mitch Moreland walked and Eduardo Nunez hit a perfect double play ball to Hamels. Hamels overshot the second basemen with his bad throw and the bases were loaded. The rally ended as Rafael Devers whiffed on a full count and Christian Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning. Another waste. Rodriguez took 10 pitches but he struck out Nomar Mazars to begin the bottom of the second but Joey Gallo hit a 730 foot home run to give the Rangers the lead. Jurickson Profar grounded out to second but Renato Nunez walked. Robinson Chirinos struck out to end the inning but it was 1-0 Rangers.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the third as Mr. Mookie lined out to center and Benintendi flied out to left. Ramirez hit a seeing eye single to right but Martinez whiffed to end the inning. Rodriguez froze Rua for strike three to start the bottom of the third inning. DeShields flied out to right and Choo whiffed to end the inning.
Hamels dominated the Sox in the top of the fourth inning as Bogaerts whiffed to start. Moreland grounded out to first and Nunez grounded out to third to end the inning. Rodriguez returned for the bottom of the fourth and got some defensive help. Kiner flied out to right and Devers made a great stab on a liner by Mazara. Gallo watched strike three go by on the inside corner to end the inning.
The Sox tied the game with a lot of luck in the top of the fifth as Devers flied out to left, but Vazquez walked. Nunez pulled a Bill Buckner and let a ground ball by Mr. Mookie go through his legs for a two base error. Benintendi then hit a soft liner that hit the second base bag for a hit that scored Vazquez to tie the game. They needed that luck as Ramirez banged into a double play to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
As usual the Sox coughed it up after coming back. Rodriguez whiffed Profar to begin the bottom of the fifth before freezing Nunez for strike three. Chrinos singled to left, Rua walked and Deshields smashed a 50,463 foot 3 run bomb. Choo whiffed to end the inning but it was now 4-1.
The Sox actually responded in the top of the sixth inning even as Martinez singled to start. Bogaerts whiffed but Moreland snuck a two run home run just over the wall in right to cut the lead. Nunez lined out to center and Devers grounded out to second to end the inning but the Sox were back within a run 4-3.
Once again Rodriguez couldn't keep the ball in the yard as Kiner grounded out to short to start the bottom of the sixth. Mazara whiffed but Gallo smashed another 73,573 foot home run to increase the lead. Profar lined out to center to end the inning but the Rangers were up 5-3. Rodriguez let the long ball bite him as he allowed 5 runs in 6 innings. Yuck!
The Sox fought back as Jose Leclerc took over for Hamels in the top of the seventh inning and got Vazquez to pop up to first. Betts walked and that was it for Leclerc. The lefty Alex Claudio came in to face Benintendi and Betts played some heads up baseball. Benny blooped a single to left and Profar lollygagged after it, allowing Betts to come all the way around to score (and advance Benintendi to second). Benintendi moved to third as Ramirez once again hit a puny grounder to the mound. Martinez lined a single up the middle to score Benintendi to tie the game. Bogaerts whiffed badly but the Sox tied it 5-5.
Heath Hembree had the task of keeping the Rangers off the board in the bottom of the seventh and whiffed Nunez on 3 pitches. He blew away Chirinos and froze Rua to end the inning.
The Sox looked to rally in the top of the eighth when Moreland singled off Claudio into right to start. Nunez shockingly dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Moreland to second and the move backfired as Devers hit a ball back to Claudio who gunned down Moreland at third. That was it for Claudio as Kevin Jepsen got Vazquez to ground out over the mound to second to end the inning. The Rangers almost iced the game in the bottom of the eighth as DeShields singled and Choo doubled off Hembree. Hembree did manage to get Kiner to ground out to short, but Mazara was intentionally walked to load the bases. That was it for Hembree as "Machine Gun" Joe Kelly was brought in to face the red hot Gallo. Somehow Kelly blew him away on a 98 mph high fastball and after an 11 pitch at bat, he froze Profar for strike three to end the inning. HUGE squander by Texas there.
The Sox rallied in the top of the ninth against Keone Kela. Mr. Mookie popped up to first but Benintendi just missed a home run to dead center but settled for a triple. Ramirez scored Benintendi with a sac fly to put the Sox 3 outs from victory. Martinez grounded out to third to end the inning but the Sox were up 6-5.
It was up to Craig "The Buzzars" Kimbrel to save the game in the bottom of the ninth with Jackie Bradley Jr in left. On the first pitch Nunez popped up to first. Kimbrel fell behind 3-0 before whiffing Chirinos for the second out. Ronald Guzman pinch hit for Rua and Kimbrel blew him away to end the game. Kimbrel earned his 300th career save as the Sox had won a grinder 6-5.
Hero of the Night is Joe Kelly. He came in with the bases loaded and one out and struck out both men he faced to keep the game tied.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 3 for 5 with 2 rbi's and 2 runs scored.
JD Martinez was 2 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.
Heath Hembree pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 9th save of the season and 300th lifetime with a scoreless ninth.
The Bad:
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 3.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Eduardo Rodriguez got lit up for 5 runs includng 3 home runs in 6 innings.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 4 but walked and scored.
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 but walked and scored.
Honorable Mention:
Jackie Bradley Jr played left field in the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Big, BIG win for Boston considering the New York Yankees have won 13 out of 14 games including today. The Sox looked defeated three times but came back to win this game as a show of balls. Joe Kelly has been the talk of the town since his fight with the Yankees and he added to his legacy with that gutsy performance in the bottom of the eighth. Benintendi finally woke up with a big game and his triple in the 9th could be the start of a hot streak. The offense has been there lately but the pitching, especially the starters have reeked lately apart from Rick Porcello and Chris Sale. They were due a few stinkers so lets see if Rodriguez, David Price and Drew Pomeranz can turn it around. Tomorrow the Sox and the Rangers play the finale of this four game set with Chris Sale (2-1, 2.14 ERA) going against old pal Doug Fister. If Sale doesn't get a win here, he may never. The game starts at 3:05 PM at Arlington Park.
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