Cashner began his dominance in the top of the first but got no help from his defense. Dwight Smith Jr dropped a routine pop up from Andrew Benintendi to start. Mr. Mookie Betts lined out to center, JD Martinez grounded out to third and Mitch Moreland whiffed to end the inning. Sale began his dominance in the bottom of the first as Jonathan Villar whiffed to start. Joey Rickard struck out swinging and Trey Mancini grounded out to second to end the inning.
Xander Bogaerts grounded out to third and Rafael Devers grounded out to first to begin the top of the second, but Eduardo Nunez singled to right. Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to first to end the inning. Sale cruised in the bottom of the second inning as Renato Nunez popped up to third to start. Hanser Alberto flied out to right and Smith Jr popped up to short to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the third although Sandy Leon lined out to center to begin. Benintendi grounded out to short but Mr. Mookie belted his 7th homer of the year to put Boston on top. Martinez whiffed to end the inning but it was 1-0 Sox.
Sale plunked Stevie Wilkerson to start the bottom of the third but came back to punch out Pedro Severino. Richie Martin whiffed as did Villar to end the inning.
The Sox blew their chance to break it open early when Moreland walked to open the top of the fourth. He was erased on the Bogaerts force but Devers singled Xander to third. Nunez lined out to short and JBJ whiffed to end the inning.
Sale plunked Rickard to open the bottom of the fourth but Mancini flied out to right. Nunez looked at strike three as Rickard swiped second. Alberto whiffed to end the inning.
Leon singled to start the top of the fifth but Benintendi whiffed. Mr. Mookie looked at strike three before Martinez popped up to second to end the inning. Smith kept the no-no going in the bottom of the fifth as Smith Jr grounded out to second to begin. Wilkerson and Severino both whiffed to end the inning.
Cashner cruised in the top of the sixth as Martin popped up to short to begin. Villar lined out to short but Rickard broke up the no-hitter with a base hit to center. Sale lost the shutout when Mancini doubled home Rickard to tie the game. Nunez grounded out to second to end the inning but it was tied 1-1.
Paul Fry came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Nunez popped up to short to start. JBJ whiffed but Leon singled. Benintendi grounded into a force to end the inning. Sale responded to losing the lead by tossing an immaculate inning in the bottom of the seventh. Alberto, Smith Jr and Wilkerson all whiffed on just 9 pitches.
Mychal Givens came into the game as the Sox ran themselves out of a rally. Mr. Mookie walked but Martinez flied out to right. Moreland whiffed but Bogaerts beat out an infield single...only for Betts to get thrown out at third trying to stretch to end the inning. Severino looked to start the game ending rally when he singled to left to start the bottom of the eighth. Martin tried to bunt him over to second but Sale snuffed it out and gunned down Severino at second. Villar whiffed for Sale's 13th strikeout but Martin stole second to put the go-ahead run at second. Rickard whiffed to end Sale's night after 8 masterful innings allowing just 2 hits and 1 run while striking out FOURTEEN.
Too bad the Sox couldn't generate any offense to get him the win in the top of the ninth inning even though Devers singled to start. Devers was erased on the strike em out, throw em out double play as Nunez whiffed. JBJ drew a walk but Leon grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox completely wasted one of Chris Sale's best starts EVER, embarrassing. Luckily the Baltimore offense was equally inept in the bottom of the ninth with Matt Barnes on the mound. Mancini started with a double but Nunez grounded out to third. Rio Ruiz pinch hit for Alberto and put the Sox on the brink with a base hit to put runners at the corners. Barnes got a huge out when Smith Jr grounded back to the mound to leave runners on second and third before Wilkerson struck out swinging to end the inning.
Shawn Armstrong came in for the top of the tenth and cruised. Benintendi lined out to center, Mr. Mookie looked at strike three and Martinez grounded out to third to end the inning. Brandon Workman came in for the bottom of the tenth and Severino lined out to center to start. Martin and Villar both whiffed to end the inning.
Moreland walked to open the top of the eleventh but Bogaerts whiffed. Moreland took second on a wild pitch before moving to third on a fly out by Devers. Nunez popped up to third to end the inning. Ryan Brasier came in for the bottom of the eleventh and Chris Davis pinch hit for Rickard to begin. Davis whiffed and Mancini jacked one deep to center. JBJ climbed the wall to make the catch to save the game. Nunez whiffed to end the inning.
Yefry Ramirez came in for the top of the 12th inning and the Sox broke through. JBJ grounded out to first and Leon whiffed but Benintendi broke out of his slump to put the Sox on top with a solo home run. Mr. Mookie walked and stole second but Martinez flied out to right to end the inning with Boston ahead 2-1.
Heath Hembree was summoned to close out the game and he cruised. Ruiz and Smith Jr whiffed before Wilkerson looked at strike three to end the inning. The O's as a team struck out 22 times including golden sombreros for Villar and Wilkerson as the Sox won it 2-1 in extra innings.
Hero of the Night is Andrew Benintendi. His solo home run in the top of the 12th inning was the difference in the game.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 2 for 5.
Sandy Leon was 2 for 5.
Chris Sale was masterful, tossing 8 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed 2 hit batsmen, 3 hits and no walks while striking out 14.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
Brandon Workman pitched a scoreless 10th inning.
Ryan Brasier earned the win with a scoreless 11th inning.
Heath Hembree earned his first save of the season with a scoreless 12th inning.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 6 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 but walked twice, stole a base and the one hit was a solo home run.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 but walked twice.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 5.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Final Thoughts:
That was too much like 2017 for my taste but a road win is a road win. The O's play the Sox and New York Yankees tough no matter what their record is so any win against them is a good one. The Sox showed some serious balls not to let the game slip away after Mancini tied it. It would have been nice to get the win for Sale who finally showed flashes of his ace self but it wasn't meant to be. Still if this means the prime Sale is back then its bad news for the American League if the Sox can climb back into the division race. Something has to be done about Bradley because as good as he is in center, he's an automatic out at the plate. Too bad the recent prospects they've brought up have all been infielders with Tzu-Wei Lin, Devers and Michael Chavis. Josh Ockimey is their top outfielder in the farm system but he's probably not ready yet. Still, with JBJ only hitting .140, Ockimey hitting .200 would be an improvement. All in all a win is a win and the Sox have reached .500 for the first time all year. The win improves the Sox to 19-19, 5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. After an off-day the Sox are back in action Friday night back in Boston for a three game set with the Seattle Mariners who swept the Sox out of Seattle on opening week. Erik Swanson goes for Seattle with Eduardo Rodriguez (3-2, 5.40 ERA) goes for the Sox at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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