As for the game, the red hot Red Sox continued to steamroll any and all opponents put in front of them by any means necessary. Tonight's victims were the Phillies and it took a hell of an effort by "Slick" Rick Porcello (15-5, 4.04 ERA) and a clutch pinch hit home run by Brock "The Hitman" Holt to defeat the pesky Phillies 2-1 for their 86th win of the season at Citizens Bank Park.
Nick Pivetta got the start for the Phillies after blinding them last year and cruised in the top of the first inning. Mr. Mookie Betts popped up to first before Andrew Benintendi whiffed. Mitch Moreland grounded out to second to end the inning. Porcello began his dominating outing by freezing Cesar Hernandez to start the bottom of the first. Nick Williams grounded out to first before Asdrubal Cabrera whiffed to end the inning.
JD Martinez tried to get a rally started with a base hit to open the top of the second but Xander Bogaerts banged into a double play. Rafael Devers whiffed to end the inning. Porcello got Rhys Hoskins to fly out to left to begin the bottom of the second before Carlos Santana watched strike three go by. Maikel Franco flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the third although Eduardo Nunez whiffed to start. Sandy Leon gave the Sox the lead by launching his 5th homer of the year to right. Porcello himself doubled to right and Mr. Mookie walked....only for Benintendi to ground into a double play to end the inning. Still, Leon's blast made it 1-0 Boston.
Porcello responded with a shut down inning in the bottom of the third. Odubel Herrera grounded out to second before Jorge Alfaro whiffed. Porcello whiffed his counterpart Pivetta to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as Moreland popped up to third to begin. Martinez whiffed but Franco booted a ground ball by Bogaerts. Devers whiffed to end the inning. Porcello turned up the heat in the bottom of the fourth although Hernandez grounded out to first to start. Williams whiffed and Cabrera watched strike three go by to end the inning.
Pivetta shut the Sox down in the top of the fifth as Nunez flied out to left to start. Leon grounded out to second and Porcello whiffed to end the inning. The Phillies tied it up immediately in the bottom of the fifth as Hoskins crushed a 50,000 foot home run. Porcello recovered to get Santana to ground out to second and Franco to ground out to first but Herrera singled. Alfaro grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Phillies tying it up 1-1.
Nothing doing for the Sox in the top of the sixth as Mr. Mookie lined out to right, Benintendi lined out to first and Moreland flied out to center to end the inning. Porcello matched Pivetta in the bottom of the sixth as pinch hitter Roman Quinn flied out to left to start. Hernandez and Williams whiffed to end the inning.
Pat Neshek took over for Pivetta in the top of the seventh and Martinez whiffed again to begin. Bogaerts lined out to right but Devers walked. Nunez lined out to right to end the inning. Porcello returned for one final inning in the bottom of the seventh and got Cabrera to fly out to left to begin. Hoskins flied out to right and Santana whiffed to end the inning. Porcello rebounded from his last start to toss 7 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 10, amazing.
Tommy Hunter got the call to pitch the top of the eighth and Leon watched strike three go by to start. Brock "The Hitman" Holt pinch hit for Porcello and hit the first pinch hit home run of the year by ANY Sox batter to give the Sox the lead. Mr. Mookie doubled but Benintendi flied out to left. Betts swiped third but Moreland flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-1.
The much maligned bullpen was tasked to record the final six outs and Heath Hembree got the job done in the bottom of the eighth. Franco grounded back to the mound to start before Herrera was rung up for strike three. Alfaro froze on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.
Victor Arano took over for the top of the ninth and Martinez grounded out to third to start. Bogaerts singled but Devers lined out to left. Nunez grounded into a force to end the inning. The struggling Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel was called upon for the save in the bottom of the ninth....and promptly walked pinch hitter Justin bour. Scott Kingery pinch ran for Bour but Kimbrel recovered to get Hernandez to fly out to left. Williams lined out to short but Kingery swiped second to put the tying run at second. Kimbrel punched out Cabrera to end the game with the Sox taking the victory 2-1.
Hero of the Night is Brock Holt. The Hitman hit the Sox first pinch hit homer of the year for any Sox batter and it turned out to be the decisive blow.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base.
Sandy Leon was 1 for 3 with his hit being a solo home run.
Rick Porcello was outstanding. He earned his 15th win by tossing 7 innings of 1 run ball, allowing just 2 hits while striking out 10.
Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel got his 36th save with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 4.
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Final Thoughts:
That was a big win considering the Phillies always give them trouble and the top of the order couldn't get anything done. Porcello stepped up big after his stinker against Toronto and looked more like the pitcher he was against the Yankees. It was great to see Holt and Leon step up and they ended up being the difference makers. A huge improvement was Hembree and Kimbrel getting the job done when the Sox bullpen had been smacked around the past few weeks. Every win counts on their relentless march for their third straight division title and they are now 14 away from 100. The win propelled the Sox to 86-35, 10 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The 1984 and 2006 Red Sox finished with 86 wins and this year's team has 86 on August 14th. Tomorrow night the Sox throw out Nathan Eovaldi (5-4, 3.74 ERA) up against Vince Velasquez looking to sweep this brief two game series tomorrow night at 7:05 PM at Citizens Bank Park.
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