Rockies starter Peter Lambert got the ball in the top of the first inning and Mr. Mookie Betts singled to left to begin. Rafael Devers grounded out to second to advance Betts before Xander Bogaerts walked. JD Martinez beat out a double play ball but Mitch Moreland whiffed to end the inning. Rodriguez got the ball in the bottom of the first and Trevor Story singled to start. Charlie Blackmon banged into a double play. Nolan Arenado grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second inning as Brock "The Hitman" Holt flied out to left to start. Christian Vazquez lined out to right but Garrett Hampson booted a grounder by Jackie Bradley Jr. Rodriguez himself grounded out to third to end the inning. Ian Desmond whiffed to open the bottom of the second before Ryan McMahon walked. McMahon was erased on the force by Yonathan Daza and Tony Wolters singled to left. Hampson grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the third inning although Mr. Mookie grounded back to the mound to start. Devers legged out a triple but Bogaerts grounded out to third. Martinez crushed a 430 foot bomb to put the Sox on top. Moreland doubled to center but Holt grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Lambert himself whiffed to start the bottom of the third but Story walked. Blackmon forced Story a second and Arenado grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox ran into an out in the top of the fourth inning when Vazquez singled to start but was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. JBJ and Rodriguez whiffed to end the inning. The Rockies started their comeback in the bottom of the fourth as Desmond walked to start. McMahon whiffed but Daza singled to center. Wolters hit a routine double play ball to Moreland but he double clutched and only got Daza at second to put runners at the corners. Hampson caught the Sox defense asleep with a safety squeeze to score Desmond to cut the lead. Lambert the pitcher singled to right to load the bases but Story lined out to Holt to end the inning with the Sox still ahead 2-1.
Boston rallied in the top of the fifth although Mr. Mookie looked at strike three to start. Devers singled but Bogaerts crushed his 29th home run of the year to increase the lead. Martinez singled to chase Lambert. Sam Howard replaced Lambert and Moreland walked. Holt took strike three as Jesus Tinoco came in to face Vazquez. Christian singled to right to score Martinez. JBJ whiffed to end the inning with the Sox up 5-1.
Rodriguez returned for the bottom of the fifth and blew away Blackmon to start. Arenado singled up the middle and took third on the double by Desmond. Rodriguez whiffed McMahon but got no help from Devers. Daza hit a routine grounder to Devers but rather than tag out Desmond he tried to go to first but Daza beat the throw to score Arenado. Naturally Wolters singled to right to score Desmond. Hampson grounded into a force to end the inning but Rodriguez lasted just 5 innings while giving up 3 runs, leaving with the Sox ahead 5-3.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the sixth inning as Marco Hernandez pinch hit for Rodriguez only to ground out to second. Mr. Mookie popped up to Hampson in shallow center before Devers grounded out to third to end the inning. Josh Taylor came on for the bottom of the sixth and Yonder Alonso pinch hit for Tinoco only to strike out swinging. Story singled but was picked off by the alert Taylor. Blackmon flied out to center to end the inning.
Carlos Estevez came in for the top of the seventh inning and Bogaerts cracked his 30th homer of the season, second of the night to increase the lead. Bogaerts became the first Boston SS to hit 30 homers since Nomar Garciaparra in 1998. Martinez flied out to right and Moreland grounded out to third before Holt popped up to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-3.
The Rockies came right back in the bottom of the seventh with Marcus Walden on the mound. Arenado doubled to left before moving to third on the Desmond grounder. Arenado scored on the grounder by McMahon to cut the lead. Daza whiffed to end the inning but the Rockies were now down 6-4.
Sam Hilliard came in for Daza with Wes Parsons coming in to pitch the top of the eighth. Vazquez whiffed to start before JBJ walked. Sam Travis pinch hit for Walden only to fly out to right. Mr. Mookie grounded out to third to end the inning. Matt Barnes came in for the bottom of the eighth and Wolters grounded out to short to start. Hampson walked to bring the tying run to the plate and he promptly stole second. Somehow Hilliard took strike three and Story flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox got a big insurance run when Devers bashed his 29th home run of the season to increase the lead in the top of the ninth. Bogaerts doubled to center before moving to third on the Martinez grounder. Moreland grounded back to the mound and Holt grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-4.
3 outs away from gaining ground, Brandon Workman came in for the save in the bottom of the ninth. Workman froze Blackmon for strike three to start on a bad call. Blackmon went berserk and started swinging his bat at home plate umpire Jerry Meals and was escorted off the field by armed security. Bud Black bolted out of the dugout tearing his clothes off and he too was thrown out of the game by Meals. Black had to be carried out in a straight jacket by Colorado police. When action resumed Arenado whiffed on a full count and Desmond whiffed to end the game. The Sox held on to win 7-4.
Hero of the Night is Xander Bogaerts. He hit two home runs to pace the offense, driving in 3 total runs.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 3 for 5 with 3 total runs scored and a home run.
JD Martinez was 2 for 5 with 2 total runs scored and a 2 run home run.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Eduardo Rodriguez got the win with 5 innings of 3 run ball.
Josh Taylor pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Brandon Workman struck out the side in the 9th to earn his 9th save.
The Bad:
Brock Holt was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Marco Hernandez was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Sam Travis was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Marcus Walden gave up a run in the 7th inning.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Mitch Moreland was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Final Thoughts:
They...won? The other night the Sox laid down to the San Diego Padres after the Cleveland Indians, Rays and A's all lost but they won tonight. The Sox are being held together with duct tape at this point with Chris Sale out for the year, Nathan Eovaldi diminished and David Price hurt. The good news is Price will be back the next series. The Sox offense continues to have a good season and its a shame its been all for naught because of the horrendous pitching. There's only 28 games left in the season and its do or die for the Sox now. The win improved the Sox to 72-62, 5 games behind the Oakland A's for the second wild card. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox travel to Anaheim to take on the Los Angeles Angels Friday night. Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 6.64 ERA) gets the start opposite Jose Suarez at 10:05 PM Eastern time at Angel Stadium.
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