Gausman took the mound in the top of the first and Mr. Mookie Betts greeted him by flying out to center. Andrew Benintendi grounded back to the mound before JD Martinez grounded out to first to end the inning. Porcello got the ball in the bottom of the first and Tim Beckham started off with a base hit to short deflected off the glove of Brock "The Hitman" Holt at second. Porcello recovered to get Jonathan Schoop to pop up to second and Adam Jones to line out to left. Beckham got picked off on a pitch out by the alert Sandy Leon to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second inning when Mitch Moreland launched his 12th home run of the year to dead center to put the Sox on top. Xander Bogaerts grounded out to short, Holt grounded out to second and Rafael Devers whiffed to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Porcello got Mark Trumbo to fly out to center to start the top of the second before Chris Davis grounded out to second. Trey Mancini doubled to left but Renato Nunez whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the third as Leon lined out to left to begin. Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to center and Mr. Mookie also flied out to center to end the inning. Porcello froze Caleb Joseph for strike three to begin the bottom of the third but Jace Peterson walked. Beckham flied out to center but Jonathan Schoop belted a double to to left. Benintendi fired to Bogaerts who fired home with Peterson on the way....OUT! The throw was in time and Peterson was out to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as Benintendi grounded out to second to start. Martinez flied out to right and Moreland also flied out to right to end the inning. Jones looked to rally with a single to start the bottom of the fourth before moving to second on the force by Trumbo. Porcello balked Jones to third but managed to strike out Davis. Mancini whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox exploded in the top of the fifth inning as Bogaerts doubled to right to begin. Xander moved to third on the Holt grounder but Devers walked to put runners at the corners. Leon walked to load the bases and JBJ walked with the bases loaded to score Bogaerts and increase the lead. Mr. Mookie whiffed but Benintendi smacked a ground rule double to left to score Devers and Leon. That was it for Gausman as Miguel Castro replaced him. Martinez beat out an infield single to score JBJ and advance Benintendi to third. Martinez swiped second but Moreland grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox up 5-0.
Porcello whiffed Nunez to begin the bottom of the fifth before Joseph grounded out to short. Peterson singled to right but Beckham flied out to right to end the inning.
Bogaerts whiffed to begin the top of the sixth inning but Holt grounded out to second. Devers grounded out to short to end the inning. Porcello came back for one more inning in the bottom of the sixth and got Schoop to fly out to left. Trumbo singled but Davis flied out to center to end the inning. Porcello had thrown 6 innings of shut-out ball. He was great.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the seventh as Leon grounded back to the mound to begin. JBJ grounded out to short but Mr. Mookie singled. Betts took off for second but was thrown out trying to steal to end the inning. Ryan Brasier took over in the bottom of the seventh and got Mancini to line out to center to begin. Nunez whiffed but Joseph singled to center. Peterson whiffed to end the inning.
Benintendi singled to open the top of the eighth but Martinez banged into a double play. Moreland walked and that was it for Castro. Jhan Martinez got Bogaerts to ground into a force to end the inning. Somehow the O's struck back in the bottom of the eighth against Brandon Workman. Beckham beat out an infield single and Schoop crushed a 300,000 foot blast halfway to Alexandria to cut into the lead. Jones flied out to right, Trumbo whiffed and Davis flied out to left to end the inning with the O's down 5-2.
The Sox threatened in the top of the ninth as Holt walked and Devers singled. Leon dropped down a bunt to advance both runners before JBJ walked to load the bases. Mr. Mookie banged into a double play to end the inning. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in for the save in the bottom of the ninth and got tagged. Mancini lined out to right but Nunez doubled and Joseph singled him home to bring the tying run to the plate. Peterson banged into a double play to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-3.
Hero of the Night is Rick Porcello. Despite pitching in a downpour, Porcello rose to the occasion with 6 shut-out innings scattering 6 hits and a walk while striking out 6.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 4 with 3 rbis.
Mitch Moreland was 1 for 3 with a walk including a solo home run.
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr walked twice in four plate appearances while driving in a run and scoring another.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
The Bad:
Brandon Workman allowed 2 runs in the 8th inning.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and stole a base.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Brock Holt was 0 for 3 but walked.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 2 but walked and scored.
Craig Kimbrel allowed a run in the 9th but earned his 32nd save of the season.
Final Thoughts:
Not even the rain could derail the Red Sox from going to 40 games over .500 for the first time in years. The Sox have 60 games left and even if they go 30-30 they will end up with 101 wins. That may be enough to win the division the way the New York Yankees have stumbled and fell this month. We are 10 days away from the next showdown with the Yankees and since they have fallen further behind, this could be Boston's chance to bury them just like the Yankees did to them in 2006. Tonight it was the Rick Porcello show and he's on pace to win 20 games at this rate. Every win counts and the Sox are rolling with 2 games left in Baltimore against the hapless O's. The win improved the Sox to 71-31, 6 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. It should be noted that the 2014 Red Sox that traded 4/5th's of their rotation plummeting to dead last won 71 total games. The 2018 Red Sox have 71 wins...on July 23rd. Tomorrow night Drew Pomeranz (1-3) gets the start against the Orioles opposite Yefry Ramirez at 7:05 PM at Camden Yards.
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