As for the game, the good news is the Boston bats woke up. The bad news is the pitching is still lousy. Still, the Red Sox bounced back from back to back agonizing losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers by taking their frustrations out on the Toronto Blue Jays. Michael Chavis hit a grand slam, Andrew Benintendi drove in 3 runs, "Slick" Rick Porcello (7-7, 5.37 ERA) did just enough and the Sox survived a horrible Ryan Brasier relief appearance to outslug the Jays 10-8 at Fenway Park.
Porcello got the ball in the top of the first inning and Eric Sogard doubled down the left field line to start. Freddy Galvis popped up to left, Lourdes Gurriel Jr popped up to first and Cavan Biggio hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. The Sox clobbered Jays starter Trent Thornton in the bottom of the first as Mr. Mookie Betts doubled to left to begin. Rafael Devers popped up to second but Xander Bogaerts walked. JD Martinez walked to load the bases and Andrew Benintendi blooped a single to right to score Betts with the first run. Michael Chavis then crushed a grand slam to center to put the Sox up big. Jackie Bradley Jr walked and moved to second on the Sandy Leon ground out. Brock "The Hitman" Holt lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-0.
The Jays struck back in the top of the second as Randal Grichuk singled to left to start. Justin Smoak took strike three and Danny Jansen forced Grichuk at second. Billy McKinney hit a home run all the way to Santo Domingo to cut the lead. Brandon Drury hit a routine grounder to Devers who spiked the ball like a football and did a dance for an error. Sogard flied out to left to end the inning with the Jays down 5-2.
The Sox looked to rally in the bottom of the second when Mr. Mookie Betts blooped a single over the head of Biggio to start. Devers lined out to center but Bogaerts singled to center to chase Thornton. Sam Gaviglio came in and both runners advanced on the grounder to third by Martinez. Benintendi grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Jays struck again in the top of the third inning as Galvis singled to left to start. Gurriel Jr lined out to right but Biggio singled to right. Grichuk doubled home Galvis and Smoak scored Biggio with a groundout. Jansen lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox still ahead 5-4.
The Sox poured it on in the bottom of the third as Chavis popped up to third to start. JBJ whiffed but Leon walked. Holt singled to short but Mr. Mookie walked to load the bases. Devers dumped a base hit to left to score Leon and Holt to increase the lead. Bogaerts singled home Betts and Martinez walked to load the bases. Joe Biagini came in to pitch and Benintendi doubled home Devers and Bogaerts to increase the lead. Chavis whiffed to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 10-4.
Porcello got McKinney to pop up to third to start the top of the fourth and Drury grounded out to first. Sogard singled to center but Galvis popped up to third to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as JBJ flied out to right to start. Leon flied out to left but Holt doubled to center. Mr. Mookie struck out swinging to end the inning.
Gurriel Jr grounded out to third to start the top of the fifth and Biggio lined out to center. Grichuk was plunked but Smoak grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Edwin Jackson came in for the bottom of the fifth and Devers doubled to left to start. Bogaerts went down hacking, Maertinez grounded out to third and Benintendi popped up to first to end the inning.
Porcello returned for the top of the sixth and Jansen took strike three to start. McKinney grounded out to second but Drury singled to left. Sogard popped up to third to end the inning. That was it for Porcello who survived 6 innings while giving up 4 runs, as average as it gets.
Chavis walked to start the bottom of the sixth and JBJ doubled into the gap. Chavis came around third and slid....YER OUT! Chavis was tagged out and Leon hit one up the elevator shaft. Holt grounded out to second to end the inning.
Marcus Walden came in for the top of the seventh and Galvis flied out to center to start. Gurriel Jr flied out to right and Biggio flied out to left to end the inning. Mr. Mookie flied out to left to start the bottom of the seventh before Devers did the same. Bogaerts grounded a single to left but Martinez took strike three to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier nearly blew the game in the top of the eighth although Grichuk grounded out to short to start. Smoak hit a ground rule double to center and he scored on the Jansen hit to center. McKinney singled Jansen to third and Drury scored him with a sac fly. Sogard caught Devers asleep with a bunt and he threw the ball away to advance McKinney to third. That was it for Brasier as Matt Barnes came in to stop the bleeding. A wild pitch moved Sogard to second and Galvis singled home Sogard to cut the lead. Gurriel Jr flied out to center to end the inning but the Jays were back in it down 10-8.
Derek Law came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Benintendi whiffed to start. Chavis walked but JBJ whiffed. Leon also went down hacking to end the inning.
Brandon Workman came in to close out the top of the ninth and got the Jays to beat the ball in the dirt. Biggio grounded out to second, Grichuk grounded out to third and Smoak also grounded out to third to end the game. The Sox had held on to win 10-8.
Hero of the Night is Michael Chavis. His grand slam was instrumental in giving the Sox the lead they would not relinquish.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 4 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 5 with 3 rbis and a run scored.
Brock Holt was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Marcus Walden pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Brandon Workman earned his 4th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Ryan Brasier was charged with 4 runs in just 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked twice and scored a run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Rick Porcello got the win but allowed 4 runs in just 6 innings. He allowed 8 hits and struck out 2.
Matt Barnes allowed an inherited runner to score but got the final out of the eighth inning.
Final Thoughts:
Nice to be back in the win column but even then, the Sox almost blew this one. Porcello went 6 innings and the bullpen still managed to nearly blow a huge lead. Brasier and Barnes were shaky but Walden and Workman were outstanding. Its nice to see the bats get going early and put the other team on the ropes rather than the Sox falling on their face. The top of the lineup clicked and when they're firing on all cylinders, they're tough to beat. The problem is they haven't been able to do it consistently all year. Constantly falling behind almost every game doesn't help either. The Sox still have 2 weeks before the trade deadline to get another pitcher and they're gonna need one the way things have been going. The season isn't over yet but the Sox need to go on a hot streak to get back in the division race. The win improved the Sox to 51-43, 9 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it two in a row tomorrow against the Jays when Andrew Cashner makes his Red Sox debut against Jacob Waguespack. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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