As for the game, welcome back Rafael Devers! The second year third basemen made an immediate impact in tonight's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. He sparked a 3rd inning rally, hit a two run homer of his own and sparked the Red Sox to put another ten spot on the Jays, taking game two of this series by a score of 10-5 at the Skydome. The Sox have now won 6 in a row and 81 games total.
Mike Hauschild took the mound in the top of the first inning for the Jays and Mr. Mookie Betts flied out to center to start. Andrew Benintendi walked but Mitch Moreland banged into a double play to end the inning. Johnson got the ball in the bottom of the first and Randal Grichuk grounded back to the mound to begin. Devon Travis lined out to center and Justin Smoak whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second as JD Martinez grounded out to short to start. Xander Bogaerts flied out to left but Jackie Bradley Jr walked. Eduardo Nunez grounded into a force to end the inning. Johnson cruised in the bottom of the second as Teoscar Hernandez looked at strike three to start. Kendrys Morales flied out to right and Yangervis Solarte popped up to first to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the third inning when the returning Rafael Devers doubled to start. Sandy Leon walked and Mr. Mookie was hit with a pitch to load the bases. Benintendi hit a sac fly to score Devers and Benintendi made a mad dash to third. Mr. Mookie swiped second and Moreland cleared the bases with a double. Martinez singled Moreland to third to chase Hauschild from the game. Luis Santos came in and Bogaerts scored Moreland with a sac fly. JBJ grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 4-0.
Could Johnson pitch with the lead in the bottom of the third? Well Russell Martin singled to start but Aledmys Diaz flied out to right. Kevin Pillar whiffed and Grichuk struck out as well to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as Nunez lined out to short to start. Devers walked but was thrown out trying to steal. Leon whiffed to end the inning. Johnson kept up the pace in the bottom of the fourth as Travis flied out to center to start. Smoak doubled but Hernandez struck out. Morales grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fifth as Mr. Mookie led off with a base hit before Benintendi doubled him to third. Moreland flied out to right but Martinez was intentionally walked to load the bases. Bogaerts walked to score Betts and chase Santos. Jake Petricka came in and got JBJ to bang into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-0.
Johnson got Solarte to ground out to third to begin the bottom of the fifth but Martin walked. Martin was erased on the force by Diaz and Pillar grounded out to end the inning,
The Sox wasted no time scoring in the top of the sixth as Nunez singled and Devers smashed his 16th homer of the year to increase the lead. Welcome back Devers! Leon lined out to second and Mr. Mookie flied out to center before Benintendi doubled. Moreland lined out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-0.
The Jays finally struck in the bottom of the sixth as Grichuk flied out to right to start. Travis popped up to short but Smoak singled and Hernandez launched a 500,000 foot bomb to put the Jays on the board. Morales grounded back to the mound to end the inning but it was 7-2.
The Sox wasted no time scoring against new pitcher Danny Barnes in the top of the seventh as Martinez doubled and Bogaerts doubled him home. JBJ whiffed and Nunes grounded out to short before Devers whiffed to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-2.
The Jays refused to go quietly in the bottom of the seventh although Solarte lined out to center to start. Martin walked but Diaz whiffed. One out away from a commanding lead, Johnson gave up a single to Pillar and a 3 run bomb to Grichuk to make it a game. Travis grounded out to third to end the inning but it was 8-5 Red Sox. Johnson gave up 5 runs for the second straight start but this time went 7 innings and struck out 6.
The Sox got the runs right back in the top of the eighth as Leon singled to start. Mr. Mookie whiffed on a 3-2 curveball but Benintendi walked. Moreland flied out to center but Martinez singled home Leon. Bogaerts walked to load the bases and a wild pitch scored Benintendi. JBJ whiffed to end the inning but it was 10-5 Sox.
Ryan Brasier came in for the bottom of the eighth and Smoak immediately singled. Hernandez and Morales whiffed but Bogaerts dropped an elbow on a ground ball hit by Solarte for an error. Martin grounded out to first to end the inning.
Jaime Garcia came in to pitch the top of the ninth inning and the Sox went quietly. Nunez popped up to third, Devers grounded out to first and Leon whiffed to end the inning. Joe Kelly had mop up duty in the bottom of the ninth and still struggled. Diaz singled to right but Pillar whiffed. Grichuk singled but Travis banged into a double play to end the game. The Sox had won it 10-5.
Hero of the Night is Rafael Devers. He sparked the third inning rally and hit a 2 run bomb that helped put the game away early.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 2 with 2 walks, an rbi and a run scored.
JD Martinez was 3 for 4 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and 3 rbi's.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 but scored 2 runs.
Mitch Moreland was just 1 for 5 but made the hit count as it was a 2 run double, he also scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 but walked.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Sandy Leon was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored 2 runs.
Brian Johnson got the win but gave up 5 runs in his 7 innings including two home runs.
Final Thoughts:
Too bad Johnson fell apart at the end, had he not allowed the bomb in the bottom of the seventh he would have locked up the 5th starter slot moving forward with Eduardo Rodriguez coming back and Drew Pomeranz struggling. This is the second straight start Johnson allowed a bunch of runs and that may mean Pomeranz gets another shot. With the New York Yankees playing a cream puff schedule of bad teams until the end of the MONTH, the Sox need to win as many games as possible to keep pace and Pomeranz isn't giving them the best chance to win. Still, something is in the air in Toronto right now because both teams have been hitting the ball all over the park and its a good thing the Sox offense woke up after being average during the Yankees series and below average before that. The win improved the Sox to 81-34, 9 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The 1985 Red Sox finished with 81 total wins and this year's team reached that on August 8th. Tomorrow night the Sox go for the sweep when Rick Porcello (14-4, 3.84 ERA) takes on Ryan Borucki at 7:07 PM at the Skydome.
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