As for the game, that was the definition of a grinder. While the pitching of the Sox that won them 13 out of 14 heading into the break returned, the offense certainly did not. The Tigers held the Sox to just 6 hits and one run during the course of the game. Thanks to the lights out pitching of David Price (11-6, 4.17 ERA) and the bullpen, the Sox held the Tigers to just 5 hits and zero runs. The bad news was Brock "The Hitman" Holt had to leave the game with a gruesome injury. Looking rusty in their first game back, the Sox still managed to defeat the Tigers 1-0 at Comerica Park.
The Sox scored the only run of the entire game against Tigers starter Logan Boyd in the top of the first inning. Mr. Mookie Betts grounded out to second to begin but the returning Andrew Benintendi singled. JD Martinez walked and Steve Pearce singled home Benintendi to put the Sox on top. Xander Bogaerts grounded to third but Jeimer Candelario fired home to get Martinez for the second out. Mitch Moreland grounded into a force to end the inning but it was 1-0 Sox.
Price began his domination in the bottom of the first inning as Niko Goodrum grounded out to third to begin Candelario lined out to short and Nicholas Castellanos lined out to right to end the inning.
Boyd settled down in the top of the second as Eduardo Nunez grounded out to second to begin. Holt whiffed but Sandy Leon walked. Mr. Mookie whiffed to end the inning. Price cruised in the bottom of the second as John Hicks grounded out to short to start. James McCann looked at strike three before old pal Victor Martinez grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the third as Benintendi flied out to right to begin. Martinez grounded out to third and Pearce struck out swinging to end the inning. Price matched Boyd in the bottom of the third as Leonys Martin flied out to right to start. Old friend Jose Iglesias flied out to left and Jacoby Jones flied out to right to end the inning.
Nothing happened in the top of the fourth as Bogaerts lined out to center to start. Moreland looked at strike three before Nunez flied out to left to end the inning. Things got scary in the bottom of the fourth as Goodwin and Candelario stroked back to back singles to start. Castellanos singled but Hicks lined out to Benintendi who gunned to second where Holt got cleaned out by Candelario getting back to the back. Holt had to be hauled off on a gurney with seven IV's sticking out of his arms as Tzu-Wei Lin came in to replace him. Price got a huge out by striking out McCann before Martinez lined out to right to end the inning. The Tigers wasted a bases loaded with nobody out situation.
Lin began the top of the fifth by watching strike three go by. Leon grounded out to third and Mr. Mookie whiffed to end the inning. Price blew away Martin to start the bottom of the fifth but Iglesias singled. Jones walked but Goodrum beat out a double play ball. Candelario whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox blew a big chance for insurance in the top of the sixth as Benintendi singled to right to start. Martinez hit a squibber to Boyd who threw the ball away for an error. That was it for Boyd as Louis Coleman came in and froze Pearce for strike three. Bogaerts beat out an infield single to load the bases and Coleman was lifted. Daniel Stumpf got Moreland to pop up to third and it was one and done for him too. Buck Farmer got Nunez to fly out to right to end the inning. Price cruised in the bottom of the sixth as Castellanos looked at strike three to begin. Hicks flied out to center and McCann flied out to right to end the inning.
Lin singled to open the top of the seventh but was thrown out trying to steal. Leon whiffed but Mr. Mookie and Benintendi drew back to back walks.Victor Alcantara relieved Farmer and got Martinez to ground out to first to end the inning. Price returned briefly in the bottom of the seventh as Martinez flied out to center to begin. Martin was plunked on a full count and Sox manager Alex Cora said that was enough from Price. He went 6 1/3 innings allowing just 4 hits and a walk while striking out 5. Heath Hembree came in and blew away both Iglesias and Jones to end the inning.
Pearce singled to open the top of the eighth but the Sox then beat the ball in the dirt. Bogaerts grounded out to third, Moreland grounded out to first and Nuinez grounded out to third to end the inning. Matt Barnes was summoned for the bottom of the eighth and he struck out Goodrum...only the ball got away allowing Niko to reach first. The same thing happened with Candelario to move Goodrum to third only Leon got Jeimer at first. Castellanos hit a grounder to Nunez and they caught Goodrum in a rundown only for Castellanos to make it to second. Hicks walked but McCann whiffed to end the inning.
Joe Jimenez came in for the top of the ninth and Lin whiffed to start. Leon struck out swinging and Mr. Mookie flied out to left to end the inning. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in for the bottom of the ninth and got Martinez to fly out to center to begin. Martin singled and Victor Reyes pinch ran for him. Reyes was erased on the force by Iglesias as Jim Adduci pinch hit for Jones. Kimbrel blew away Adduci to end the game. The Sox had grinded out a 1-0 win.
Hero of the Night is David Price. He pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings on a day where offense was nonexistent to earn the win.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Steve Pearce was 2 for 4 with the only rbi of the game.
Tzu-Wei Lin was 1 for 3.
Heath Hembree got the final 2 outs of the 7th inning.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 31st save with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 4.
Brock Holt struck out in his only plate appearance.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked.
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 3 with a walk.
Final Thoughts:
It wasn't pretty but every win counts. David Price pitched very well and it seems like as long as he stays away from the Yankees, he's very effective. The offense was atrocious but there are days where they just won't it. Luckily this was one of their worst offensive displays of the season and they still won the game. Once again the bullpen locked it down and now they're one win away from 70 wins and the second half of the season has just begun. Currently the Sox are down a few starters including Eduardo Rodriguez so if the Sox can steal some wins in games started by Johnson or Hector Velazquez, that will only add to their march toward their third straight division title. The potential loss of Holt hurts because he was just starting to break out of his slump. The win propelled the Sox to 69-30, 5.5 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. It should be noted the 2012 Red Sox won 69 total games while this year's team has 69 wins on July 20th. The Sox look for win number 70 tomorrow evening when Brian Johnson (1-2) takes the mound for the Sox opposite Mike Fiers at 6:05 PM at Comerica Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment