There was some roster moves before tonight's game for the Boston Red Sox. Brandon Brennan accepted his demotion to Worcester but the Milwaukee Brewers claimed perennial punching bag Ryan Weber. Have fun with that, Milwaukee. Michael Chavis was sent down to Worcester and in his place the Sox called up Yacksel Rios and his career 6.47 ERA....god help us.
As for the game, it was almost a mirror image to last night's game but with the same result. The Red Sox outslugged the Atlanta Braves in a sloppy game marred by more errors and bad pitching. Garrett Richards was lit up for 6 runs in just 4 innings, the Sox made another 2 errors and the bullpen allowed another 2 runs. The good news was the Sox offense knocked around the Braves for 14 hits and 10 total runs. The Sox jumped out to leads of 4-1 and 6-3 but the Braves came back to tie the game. A Freddie Freeman home run off Hiro Sawamura put the Braves on top but the suddenly clutch Christian Arroyo hit a pinch hit grand slam off AJ Minter to put the Sox up. Brandon Workman, Darwinzon Hernandez, Josh Taylor and Yacksel Rios held the fort and Adam Ottavino slammed the door in the bottom of the ninth. The Sox took another step closer to first place with a 10-8 victory over the Braves at Truist Park.
The Sox wasted no time getting to Anderson in the top of the first inning as Marwin Gonzalez led off with a line out to short. Alex Verdugo singled to left and JD Martinez doubled to center. Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging but Rafael Devers walked to load the bases. Hunter Renfroe lashed a base hit to right to score Verdugo and Martinez to give the Sox the lead. Christian Vazquez grounded out to short to end the inning but it was 2-0 Red Sox.
Richards got the ball in the bottom of the first and Ronald Acuna doubled to left to start. Freddie Freeman walked but Ozzie Albies popped up to left. Abraham Almonte lined out to first and Austin Riley flied out to right to end the inning.
Anderson cruised in the top of the second as Bobby Dalbec struck out swinging to start. Richards and Gonzalez both took strike three to end the inning. The Braves threatened in the bottom of the second as Dansby Swanson struck out swinging to start. Kevan Smith struck out swinging but Guillermo Heredia singled to right. Anderson the pitcher singled to right but Acuna flied out to right to end the inning.
Verdugo flied out to left to start the top of the third before Martinez took strike three. Bogaerts doubled to left but Devers popped up to third to end the inning. The Braves got a run back in the bottom of the third as Renfroe dropped a routine fly by Freeman to start. Freeman took third on the grounder to second by Albies and scored on the Almonte sac fly. Riley flied out to left to end the inning with the Braves down 2-1.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fourth as Renfroe atoned for his error with a double to center to begin. Renfroe moved to third on the Vazquez fly ball to center and Dalbec drove in Hunter with a base hit to left. Richards aided his own cause with a double to center that scored Dalbec. Richards moved to third on the Gonzalez grounder to first but Verdugo grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-1.
The Braves came back in the bottom of the fourth as Swanson tripled to left to begin. Smith took strike three but Heredia was plunked. Ender Inciarte pinch hit for Anderson and grounded out to second, scoring Swanson and moving Heredia to second. Acuna was hit with a pitch and naturally Freeman lashed a base hit to right to score Heredia. Albies grounded out to first to end the inning but the Braves were back in it, down 4-3.
Kyle Muller replaced Anderson for the top of the fifth and Martinez slashed a base hit to left to start. Bogaerts got a base hit to left and Almonte airmailed the throw home which allowed Martinez to score, Bogaerts moving to third. Devers ripped a base hit to left to score Bogaerts but Renfroe flied out to left. Vazquez doubled to left but Devers was thrown out at home on a grounder to the mound by Dalbec. Richards struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-3.
The Braves wasted no time tying the game in the bottom of the fifth as Almonte doubled to left to start. Riley hit a routine grounder to Bogaerts who spiked the ball like a football and did a dance for an error. Swanson then smashed a home run all the way to Calgary, Alberta to tie the game. That was it for Richards and Hiro Sawamura came in to pitch to Smith. Smith flied out to right before Heredia also flied out to right. Muller struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 6-6. Richards allowed 6 runs in just 4 plus innings, yuck!
Tyler Matzek came in for the top of the sixth and Gonzalez grounded out to third to start. Verdugo beat out an infield single to short and....but wait! The Braves challenged the call and Verdugo was out at first. The Braves took command in the bottom of the sixth although Acuna flied out to left to start. Freeman than hit a home run all the way to Cleveland, Ohio to give the Braves the lead. Almonte doubled to center and Riley walked to chase the exhausted Sawamura. All of a sudden Yacksel Rios materialized out of nowhere to take the mound and Swanson lined out to him to end the inning.
The Sox pulled off a killer rally in the top of the seventh with Shane Greene now on the mound. Bogaerts started the rally with a double to left and Devers drew a walk. Renfroe popped up to first but Vazquez walked to load the bases. Thinks looked bleak when Dalbec struck out swinging and Sox manager Ales Cora sent in Danny Santana to pinch hit for Rios. The Braves countered by bringing in AJ Minter to pitch and Cora brought back Santana. Christian Arroyo was sent in to pinch hit and he only hit A GRAND SLAM TO PUT THE SOX IN THE LEAD! Gonzalez doubled to center but Verdugo struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 10-7.
Brandon Workman came in for the bottom of the seventh and committed the cardinal sin of walking Smith to start. Heredia lined out to center and Ehire Adrianza pinch hit for Minter. All of a sudden Vazquez keeled over and started throwing up his intestines. Vazquez had to be carried on a stretcher by two clowns, loaded into an ambulance and rushed to the nearest ICU. Kevin Plawecki took over behind the plate and Adrianza lined one off of Bogaerts who flipped to Devers to get Smith. Acuna singled to center to chase Workman and Darwinzon Hernandez came in...to walk Freeman to load the bases. Albies grounded into a force to end the inning.
Josh Tomlin cruised in the top of the eighth as Martinez flied out to right to start. Bogaerts popped up to second and Devers flied out to right to end the inning. Josh Taylor came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and once again walked the first guy in Almonte. Taylor recovered to punch out Riley on a nasty slider and Swanson on an even nastier slider in the dirt. Smith grounded into a force to end the inning.
Will Smith came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Renfroe popped up to first to start. Plawecki lined out to center and Dalbec struck out swinging AGAIN to end the inning. Adam Ottavino came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and he got tagged. Heredia hit a little roller to third and Pablo Sandoval pinch hit for Will Smith, flying out to right. Acuna hit a shot in the gap to right and Heredia scored easy but Acuna was thrown out at third trying to stretch a triple. Freeman struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 10-8/
Hero of the Night is Christian Arroyo. His pinch hit grand slam in the seventh was the difference in the game.
The Good:
JD Martinez was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 5 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, an rbi and a run scored.
Hunter Renfroe was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Yacksel Rios got the win by retiring the only man he faced.
Darwinzon Hernandez got the final out of the seventh inning.
Josh Taylor pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Kevin Plawecki was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Hiro Sawamura allowed a run in 1 2/3 innings.
Adam Ottavino got the "save" by allowing a run in the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
Marwin Gonzalez was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Bobby Dalbec was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but scored a run.
Garrett Richards allowed 4 earned runs in 4 innings but went 1 for 3 with an rbi double at the plate.
Brandon Workman retired only 2 of the 4 men he faced.
Honorable Mention:
Danny Santana "pinch hit" in the top of the seventh for Rios.
Final Thoughts:
Two games in a row the Sox played sloppy defense and allowed over 7 runs....but managed to win them both. After the league cracked down on "substances" used by pitchers, suddenly the New York Yankees get hot and offenses start hitting balls all over the place. The Yankees once again rallied past the same Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo after the Jays couldn't miss at Fenway over the weekend. The good news was the Tampa Bay Rays gagged to the Chicago White Sox so the Sox are gaining ground on them while maintaining their distance against New York. The Sox rotation is starting to become a problem as now Eduardo Rodriguez, Martin Perez, Nick Pivetta and Richards have all stunk this past week. This was the concern going into the season and its going to become a major problem as the season continues. The Sox are in contention for first place halfway through June and the only way they're going to keep pace with the Rays and Yankees are with good starting pitching. The offense isn't going to bop their way out of trouble every single game, although tonight was a damn good win. Arroyo is becoming this year's version of 2013 Johnny Gomes where every home run is a walkoff or game winner. Speaking of game winners, did anyone know who Yacksel Rios was before the game? If not, that's your winning pitcher tonight. Go figure. If Eduardo Rodriguez lost his velocity, Josh Taylor has found it big time. Taylor is back to where he was 2 years ago throwing gas and somehow has become a vital part of the bullpen. Hopefully he can stay healthy as he hasn't allowed a run in over a month now. Ottavino also hadn't allowed a run in over a month until tonight. All in all it was another ugly win but they all count. The win improved the Sox to 42-27, 1 game behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. The 2013 Red Sox were 41-28 at this point back then. The Sox have an off-day tomorrow and they return to action Friday night in Kansas City. Nick Pivetta (6-2, 4.28 ERA) gets the start for Boston against Captain TBD for the Royals. The game begins at 8:10 PM Eastern time at Kauffman Stadium.
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