Sometimes extra baseball isn't always a good thing, The Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox played an action packed, exciting baseball game for 6 innings until the rains came in Boston. The Rays jumped on Sox starter "The Undefeated" Nick Pivetta (6-0, 3.86 ERA) for 3 runs early. Hunter Renfroe and Rafael Devers both hit home runs off of Atlanta starter Drew Smyly to tie the game but Pivetta allowed a home run to Austin Riley in the top of the fifth. The Sox then pulled off a killer rally for 4 runs in the bottom of the sixth and the game was delayed THREE hours because of rain. By the time the game resumed at midnight, The Sox rallied for two runs in the eighth and the Braves rallied in the ninth. Matt Barnes got Freddie Freeman to bang into a double play at 1 AM to end the game and give the Sox a 9-5 victory at Fenway Park.
The Braves bushwhacked Pivetta in the top of the first inning as Ronald Acuna struck out swinging to start. Freddie Freeman walked and Ozzie Albies tripled into the right field corner. Austin Riley struck out swinging but Dansby Swanson doubled home Albies to increase the lead. Pablo Sandoval popped up to third to end the inning with the Braves ahead 2-0.
Smyly got the ball in the bottom of the first and Kike Hernandez grounded out to third to start. Alex Verdugo grounded out to short and JD Martinez flied out to left to end the inning.
The Braves struck again in the top of the second as Guillermo Heredia doubled to left to start. Heredia moved to third on the Ender Inciarte grounder to first and scored on the Wilson Contreras sac fly. Acuna singled to short and Freeman doubled to left, but Albies struck out swinging to end the inning with the Braves ahead 3-0.
The Sox did get a run back in the bottom of the second although Xander Bogaerts flied out to center to start. Rafael Devers grounded out to second but Hunter Renfroe crushed his sixth home run of the season to cut the lead. Bobby Dalbec struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 3-1.
Riley walked to start the top of the third but Swanson flied out to right. Sandoval struck out swinging and Heredia popped up to third to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the third as Christian Vazquez grounded out to short to start. Christian Arroyo made his return off the Injured List and naturally struck out swinging. Hernandez lined back to Smyly to end the inning.
Inciarte grounded out to first to start the top of the fourth but Contreras singled to center. Acuna took strike three and Freeman flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox rallied in the bottom of the fourth although Verdugo grounded out to third to start. Martinez flied out to right but Bogaerts walked. Devers clobbered his 14th home run of the season to tie the game. Renfroe flied out to right to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
Just as the soon as the Sox tied it, the Braves instantly got the lead back in the top of the fifth. Albies flied out to left but Riley hit a home run to the lost city of Zinjj to put Atlanta back on top. Swanson took strike three and Sandoval popped up to third to end the inning but the Braves were up 4-3.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fifth as Dalbec struck out swinging again to start. Vazquez struck out swinging and Arroyo flied out to center to end the inning.
Pivetta finished with a flurry in the top of the sixth inning as he struck out Heredia looking to begin. Inciarte struck out swinging and Contreras took strike three to end the inning. It didn't look good for Pivetta who had allowed 4 runs in 6 innings of work.
The Sox picked up Pivetta in the bottom of the sixth as Hernandez grounded out to second to start. Verdugo and Martinez stroked back to back singles before moving into scoring position on a wild pitch. Bogaerts hit a grounder to third and Verdugo beat the throw home to tie the game. Devers stepped up with a double to left to score JD and chase Smyly. Luke Jackson came in and got a big out by punching Renfroe out swinging. Sox manager Alex Cora had enough of Dalbec and sent in Danny Santana to pinch hit. Santana walked to load the bases and Vazquez got a base hit to score Bogaerts & Devers. Vazquez swiped second but Arroyo struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-4.
Pivetta looked to be coming back out for the top of the seventh at 102 pitches but the game was delayed by rain for THREE HOURS. When play resumed at midnight, Josh Taylor came in to pitch and promptly hit Acuna. Freeman flied out to left on a full count and Albies forced Acuna at second before Sox manager Alex Cora bounded out of the dugout. Apparently all he wanted Taylor to do was pitch to three batters and Adam Ottavino was brought in. Albies stole second but Riley popped up to first to end the inning.
Sean Newcomb came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Hernandez popped up to first to start. Verdugo grounded out to second and Martinez lined out to right to end the inning.
Ottavino returned for the top of the eighth and Swanson grounded out to short to start. Sandoval flied out to right and Heredia grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Grant Dayton came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Bogaerts walked to start. Devers struck out swinging but Renfroe hit a ground rule double to right. Santana hit a routine grounder to short but Swanson booted it for an error to score Bogaerts, moving Renfroe to third. Vazquez scored Renfroe with a sac fly but Arroyo flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-4.
Matt Andriese came in to close out the top of the ninth and Inciarte popped up to second to start. All of a sudden Contreras hit a home run to Jupiter and Acuna singled to right to chase Andriese. Sox closer Matt Barnes had to be summoned at 12:57 AM and Freeman banged into a double play to end the game. The Sox had finally won it 9-5.
Hero of the Night is Rafael Devers. His 2 run homer tied the game and he hit the go-ahead rbi double in the sixth to put the Sox up for good.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts walked twice, drove in a run and scored 3 times.
Hunter Renfroe was 2 for 4 with a home run and two total runs scored.
Danny Santana walked and drove in a run as a pinch hitter.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 with 3 rbis and a stolen base.
Josh Taylor got the first two outs of the seventh inning.
Adam Ottavino tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Matt Barnes got the final two outs of the top of the ninth.
The Bad:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Matt Andriese allowed a run in the top of the ninth.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Nick Pivetta got the win but allowed 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9 in six innings.
Final Thoughts:
That took way too long but at least the Sox came out on top. They showed some serious balls to rally in the bottom of the sixth to pick up Pivetta. Pivetta didn't have his best stuff but still remains undefeated with his sixth win of the year. Devers really stepped it up to first tie the game then give the Sox the lead. The Sox made the move to send Michael Chavis down because he somehow was getting progressively worse. Also both Triston Casas and Jarred Duran are trying out for the US Olympic baseball team so neither one can be called up right now. The Braves aren't where they were last year but they're still a good team, knocking them off the way they did was impressive. If the umpires called the game at 9 PM Pivetta would have had a complete game, oh well. The win improved the Sox to 30-20, 0.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow, the Sox are back in action Friday night with a three game set with the Miami Marlins. Martin Perez (2-2, 3.55 ERA) takes on Cody "Little" Poteet of the Marlins this Friday night at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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