Vince Velasquez took the mound in the top of the first and Andrew Benintendi whiffed to start. Brock "The Hitman" Holt singled but was thrown out on a strike em out, throw em out double play by Mitch Moreland to end the inning. Eovaldi took the mound in the bottom of the first and Cesar Hernandez lined out to short to begin. Justin Bour whiffed but Asdrubal Cabrera singled. Rhys Hoskins grounded into a force to end the inning.
JD Martinez walked to open the top of the second but Xander Bogaerts banged into a double play. Jackie Bradley Jr singled and made it to third when Velasquez threw a pickoff throw away. Rafael Devers popped up to short to end the inning. Nick Williams singled to start the bottom of the second but Wilson Ramos whiffed. Odubel Herrera flied out to center and Maikel Franco grounded into a force to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the third when Sandy Leon grounded out to third to begin. Eovaldi himself worked a walk before Benintendi was plunked. Holt singled to load the bases and Moreland cleared them with a double. Martinez and Bogaerts drew back to back walks to chase the incompetent Velasquez. Hector Neris came in and got JBJ to fly out to right and Devers to strike out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
Roman Quinn pinch hit for Neris in the bottom of the third and he lined out to Eovaldi to begin. Hernandez lined out to left but Bour singled. Cabrera whiffed to end the inning.
Austin Davis took over for the top of the fourth and Leon lined out to left to begin. Eovaldi himself looked at strike three before Benintendi grounded out to short. The Phillies rallied in the bottom of the third and it began when Rafael Devers took a ground ball by Hoskins and threw it at the third base coach rather than to first for an error. Williams singled and Ramos doubled Hoskins home. Herrera grounded out to first but Williams scored and Ramos moved to third. Franco popped up to first and Carlos Santana pinch hit for Davis. Naturally Santana singled to tie the game before Hernandez lined out to short to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
Adam Morgan came in to pitch the top of the fifth and struck out both Holt and Moreland. Martinez grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Eovaldi returned for the bottom of the fifth and Bour grounded out to first to begin. Cabrera whiffed but Hoskins singled. Williams whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox had their chance to take the lead in the top of the sixth but blew it. Bogaerts flied out to center and JBJ grounded back to the mound, but Devers singled. Leon singled and Sox manager Alex Cora pulled the trigger by pinch hitting Steve Pearce for Eovaldi. The Phillies countered by bringing in Tommy Hunter and Pearce beat out an infield single to load the bases. BUT WAIT! Phillies manager and old pal Gabe Kapler challenged the call and the call was reversed, Pearce was out and the inning was over. Right on cue the Phillies took the lead when Joe Kelly allowed a leadoff triple to Ramos to begin the bottom of the sixth. Kelly did manage to strike out Herrera then walked Franco to set up the double play. Scott Kingery pinch hit for Hunter and scored Ramos with a sac fly to give the Phillies the lead. Hernandez was frozen for strike three but the damage was done, 4-3 Phillies.
Aaron "Fruit" Loup was brought in to pitch to Benintendi in the top of the seventh and Andrew singled. Eduardo Nunez pinch hit for Holt only to bang into a double play. Moreland grounded out to third to end the inning. The much maligned Drew Pomeranz came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and naturally Bour singled. Cabrera walked and Bour moved to third on the Hoskins fly out. Williams whiffed but, who else, Ramos doubled home both runners to ice the game. Herrera and Franco stroked back to back singles to score Wilson and the pitcher Nick Pivetta pinch hit for Loup. Pivetta grounded back to the mound to end the inning but it was all over, 7-3 Phillies. 4 runs allowed by the bullpen.
The sad part was the Sox tried to rally against new pitcher Pat Neshek in the top of the eighth. Martinez and Bogaerts stroked back to back singles before Bour threw away a JBJ double play ball to load the bases. One swing of the bat would have tied it but instead Devers lined out to right and Leon popped up to third. Mr. Mookie Betts pinch hit for Pomeranz and Betts hit a liner off Neshek and hustled to first for a single that scored Martinez. Once again the bases were loaded and one swing of the bat would give the Sox the lead and Seranthony Dominguez was summoned to stop the bleeding. Benintendi grounded out to first to end the threat with the Sox down 7-4. How big were the 4 bullpen runs allowed now?
Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez came in for the bottom of the eighth and somehow got through the inning. Hernandez flied out to right befor Bour popped up to first. Cabrera popped up to short to end the inning.
Dominguez stayed in for the top of the ninth and the Sox went quietly. Nunez flied out to right, Moreland grounded out to third and Martinez grounded out to short to end the game. The Phillies had won it 7-4.
Jackass of the Night is Drew Pomeranz. He came into a 4-3 game and allowed 3 runs to put the game out of reach.
The Good:
Brock Holt was 2 for 3 with a run scored.
JD Martinez was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Mookie Betts singled and drove in a run as a pinch hitter.
Hector Velazquez pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 2 with a double play.
Steve Pearce was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Joe Kelly took the loss by giving up the go-ahead run in the 6th.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Mitch Moreland was just 1 for 5 but drove in 3 runs.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4.
Nathan Eovaldi went 5 innings and gave up 3 runs, not the worst but not the best either. He also walked and scored at the plate.
Final Thoughts:
This bullpen sucks. With Craig Kimbrel struggling there is not ONE guy that you can depend on when its crunch time. Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree, etc can't be trusted at all and that's going to be their downfall come October. If they can't beat or hold down the Phillies how the hell are they going to beat the Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians or New York Yankees? If the bullpen was lights out they may have won this game and every game counts in the era of the second wild card. The loss dropped the Sox to 86-36, 9.5 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox return to action friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays. Brian Johnson (3-3) gets the nod for the Sox going up against Ryan Stanek at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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