Sale got the ball in the top of the first and Freddy Galvis struck out swinging to start. Randal Grichuk took strike three and Lourdes Gurriel Jr went down hacking to end the inning. Jays starter Thomas Pannone got the ball in the bottom of the first and Mr. Mookie Betts greeted him with a base hit to center to start. Rafael Devers struck out swinging but Xander Bogaerts singled to left. JD Martinez flied out to center and Christian Vazquez lined out to right to end the inning.
Justin Smoak lined a base hit to center to begin the top of the second but was forced at second by Danny Jansen. Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Teoscar Hernandez both went down hacking to end the inning. Michael Chavis struck out swinging to open the bottom of the second but Andrew Benintendi walked. Sam Travis flied out to right and Sandy Leon flied out to left to end the inning.
Cavan Biggio walked to begin the top of the third but Brandon Drury struck out swinging. Galvis lined out to left and Grichuk went down hacking to end the inning. Mr. Mookie flied out to center to open the bottom of the third before Devers lined out to center. Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning.
Sale cruised in the top of the fourth as Gurriel Jr grounded out to second to start. Both Smoak and Jansen went down hacking to end the inning. Pannone matched Sale in the bottom of the fourth as Martinez flied out to center to start. Vazquez grounded out to third and Chavis took strike three to end the inning.
Guerrero Jr walked to start the top of the fifth but Sale responded by freezing Hernandez and Biggio for called strike three. Drury singled to right but Galvis whiffed to end the inning. The Sox exploded in the bottom of the fifth although Benintendi popped up to third to start. Travis started the rally with a double to left and Leon singled him home to put Boston on top. Mr. Mookie walked and Rafael Devers smashed his 19th home run of the season to put the Sox up big. That was it for Pannone as Justin Shafer came in to give up a base hit to left by Bogaerts. Martinez hit one up the elevator shaft and Vazquez whiffed to end the inning with the Sox up 4-0.
Sale returned for one last inning in the top of the sixth and got the Jays to beat the ball in the dirt. Grichuk grounded back to the mound, Gurriel Jr grounded out to first and Smoak grounded out to short to end the inning. Sale was outstanding, going 6 innings while allowing just 2 hits while striking out 12.
Chavis grounded out to short to start the bottom of the sixth and Benintendi went down hacking. Travis walked but Leon whiffed to end the inning.
Marcus Walden came in for the top of the seventh and he hit Jansen to start. Guerrero Jr lined out to left and Hernandez banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the bottom of the seventh as Mr. Mookie clubbed his 14th home run of the season to increase the lead. Devers grounded back to the mound, Bogaerts whiffed and Martinez lined out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 5-0.
Walden returned for the top of the eighth and Biggio lined out to center to start. Drury grounded back to the mound and Galvis whiffed to end the inning. Vazquez walked to start the bottom of the eighth but Chavis took strike three. Benintendi walked to chase Law. Joe Biagini came in to pitch to Marco Hernandez who pinch hit for Travis. A wild pitch moved both runners over but Hernandez lined out to right. Leon whiffed to end the inning.
Darwinzon Hernandez came in to close out the top of the ninth and he blew away Grichuk to start. Gurriel Jr went down hacking and Smoak grounded out to third to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-0.
Sox win
Hero of the Night is Chris Sale. He allowed just 2 hits while striking out 12 in 6 shut out innings.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 3 with a walk, a home run and 2 total runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4.
Andrew Benintendi walked twice in four plate appearances.
Sam Travis was 1 for 2 with a walk and a run scored.
Marcus Walden tossed 2 scoreless innings.
Darwinzon Hernandez tossed a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 4.
Michael Chavis was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Marco Hernandez was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but the one hit was a 3 run home run.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Not much has gone right this season for the Red Sox but this could be the start if Sale has found himself. He was outstanding and that's the kind of outing the Sox needed from him. The way Rick Porcello, David Price and Andrew Cashner have struggled this week, Sale gave them the tonic they needed. Hopefully he can keep this momentum going the rest of the season. The Sox scored the bulk of their runs in just one inning but with Sale on the mound, it was all they needed. Devers remains hot and it was nice to see Mr. Mookie go yard. The Sox are the biggest frontrunners there is but at least they were in front in this one. The Sox desperately need to string some wins together if they have any hope of catching the New York Yankees. The win improved the Sox to 53-44, 10 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox now travel to Baltimore to face the pathetic Orioles in a three game set. David Price (7-2) goes for the Sox up against John Means of the Orioles tomorrow night at 7:05 PM at Camden Yards.
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