As for the game, the Toronto Blue Jays had the Sox dead to rights going into the bottom of the ninth inning. However back to back doubles from Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr tied the game. One inning later it was Bogaerts who crushed a walkoff grand slam to help the Sox defeat the Jays for their 11th victory in 12 games. The Sox got some bad news when Eduardo Rodriguez re-injured his bad knee and had to leave the game. Still, the Sox have one game left before the All-Star break but they will go into it winners after their 6-2 victory in 10 innings at Fenway Park.
Eduardo Rodriguez got the start for for the Sox in the top of the first and Lourdes Gurriel Jr singled to start. Yangervis Solarte took strike three before Teoscar Hernandez whiffed. Justin Smoak grounded out to second to end the inning. Jays starter Sam Gaviglio gave up a leadoff single to Mr. Mookie Betts but Brock "The Hitman" Holt banged into a double play. JD Martinez grounded out to second to end the inning.
Kendrys Morales led off the top of the second with a base hit left but was erased on the Kevin Pillar force. Randal Grichuk singled but was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. Aledmys Diaz whiffed to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as Xander Bogaerts looked at strike three to start. Jackie Bradley Jr whiffed but Eduardo Nunez singled. Blake Swihart popped up to third to end the inning.
Rodriguez cruised in the top of the third as Luke Maile flied out to right to start. Gurriel Jr looked at strike three before Solarte grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the third as Sandy Leon flied out to right to start. Tzu-Wei Lin walked and Mr. Mookie singled, but Lin was doubled off second on a line drive to Pillar by Holt to end the inning.
Rodriguez was dominant in the top of the fourth as Hernandez flied out to center to begin. Smoak grounded out to first before Morales grounded out to short to end the inning. Dwight Smith took over for Pillar in the batting order but in right with Grichuk moving to center to start the bottom of the fourth. Martinez got the Sox on the board with a solo home run to left. Bogaerts flied out to right and that was it for Gaviglio. Tim Mayza came in and whiffed JBJ before Nunez popped up to second to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Rodriguez mowed them down in the top of the fifth as Smith's bunt attempt was snuffed out by Eduardo to start. Grichuk popped up to first and Diaz grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox threatened in the bottom of the fifth as Swihart lined out to right to begin. Leon whiffed but Lin singled and Mr. Mookie was intentionally walked. Holt whiffed on a full count to end the inning.
Tragedy struck in the top of the sixth although Maile looked at strike three to begin. Swihart lollygagged after a ground ball hit by Gurriel Jr and Rodriguez had to run over to cover the bag. Gurriel came in like a fright train causing Eduardo to have to barrell roll over him, blowing out his bad knee in the process. Rodriguez had to be carried out on a stretcher, loaded into an ambulance and headed to Brigham & Women's ICU after 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball.
Heath Hembree came in to pitch and he got Solarte to ground out to first, moving Gurriel Jr to second. Hernandez walked and Smoak flied out to center to end the inning. Luis Santos came in to pitch the bottom of the 6th and Martinez whiffed to start. Bogaerts grounded out to third before JBJ grounded out to second to end the inning.
Joe Kelly came in for the top of the seventh and he pissed down his leg. Morales singled and Smith doubled him to third but Grichuk failed to advance anyone by grounding out to third. Diaz grounded out to short but that scored Morales with the tying run. Maile walked and that was it for the incompetent Kelly. Matt Barnes came in and Gurriel Jr singled to score Smith with the go-ahead run. Solarte whiffed to end the inning but the Jays now led 2-1.
The Sox failed to answer in the bottom of the seventh as Nunez flied out to left to begin. Swihart singled to right but Swihart was foolishly doubled off first on a liner to left off the bat of Leon to end the inning.
Barnes returned for the top of the eighth and got Hernandez to fly out to left to begin. Smoak whiffed but Morales and Smith drew back to back walks. Curtis Granderson pinch ran for Morales but Grichuk was rung up for strike three to end the inning. Joe Biagini came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Lin whiffed to start. Mr. Mookie beat out an infield single and a bad throw by Solarte moved him to second. Betts swiped third but Holt grounded out to second, failing to advance Mookie. Martinez whiffed to end the inning.
Brandon Workman came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Diaz grounded out to third to start. Maile whiffed and Gurriel Jr struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox had one last chance to rally in the bottom of the ninth against closer Tyler Clippard and they wasted no time doing it. Bogaerts started with a double and JBJ doubled him home to tie the game. Nunez whiffed, Swihart flied out to center and Leon grounded out to third to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to pitch the top of the tenth and he blew away Solarte to start. Hernandez whiffed but Smoak walked. Devon Travis ran for Smoak but Granderson lined out to right to end the inning. Chris Rowley was the victim of the 10th inning rally by the Sox although Lin grounded out to first to start. Gurriel Jr had moved to short in a defensive switch and he booted a ground ball by Mr. Mookie to start. Holt singled and Martinez was intentionally walked to get to Bogaerts. The X-Man made the Jays pay by crushing a 400 foot bomb to dead center to win the game with a walkoff grand slam. The Sox had won 11 out of 12 games and this one 6-2.
Hero of the Night is Xander Bogaerts. He scored the tying run in the 9th and delivered the walkoff grand slam in the 10th.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 3 for 4 with a walk, run scored and a stolen base.
Tzu-Wei Lin was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Eduardo Rodriguez tossed 5 1/3 shutout innings, allowing 4 hits while striking out 5.
Heath Hembree got the final two outs of the 6th inning.
Brandon Workman pitched a scoreless 9th.
Craig Kimbrel got the win with a scoreless 10th.
The Bad:
Sandy Leon was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Joe Kelly allowed 2 runs in just 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Brock Holt was just 1 for 5 with a run scored.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 but the hit was a solo home run and he scored 2 total runs
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a game tying double in the ninth.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 4.
Blake Swihart was just 1 for 4.
Matt Barnes allowed an inherited runner to score but none of his own in 1 1/3 innings.
Final Thoughts:
What a gutsy win by the Red Sox. The Jays pitching staff held them to one measly run for 8 innings but they rallied against Clippard and Bogaerts delivered the goods in the 10th. The Sox are winning every which way so a walkoff grand slam in extra innings just adds to the fun this season has been. This was the Sox 11th win in 12 games with one game left before the break. Something's wrong with Joe Kelly as he's been absolute garbage the past month. His fastball is 100 mph but its straight as an arrow. Maybe he needs time on the DL to get movement in his pitches back. With the New York Yankees creeping down their necks they need every win possible and they earned this one big time. The win improved the Sox to 67-30, 3.5 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow afternoon the Sox look to end the first half on a high note as Brian Johnson gets the start for the Sox up against Marcus Stroman. The game begins at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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