When the Kansas City Royals took a 5-1 lead on Garrett Richards and the Boston Red Sox, most fans were groaning thinking the Royals had their number. Turns out Richards, the Sox bullpen and the Sox bats said "not today young fella." The Sox clawed back with home runs from Bobby Dalbec and Hunter Renfroe along with and Michael Chavis rbi single. Tied 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth, Renfroe hit his second home run off the game to put the Sox on top. Richards, Hiro Sawamura (4-0, 2.56 ERA), Josh Taylor and Matt Barnes didn't allow a single run in the final 7 innings of the game as the Sox earned their 26th comeback win of the season 6-5 at Fenway Park.
The Royals ambushed Richards in the top of the first inning as Whit Merrifield singled to second to start. Jorge Soler singled to right and Carlos Santana hit a home run all the way to the Azores to put the Royals on top. Salvador Perez struck out swinging and Ryan O'Hearn grounded out to short, but Emmanuel Rivera made his MLB debut with a single to right. Hunter Dozier flied out to left to end the inning with the Royals ahead 3-0.
The Sox did manage to get to Royals starter Danny Duffy in the bottom of the first as Kike Hernandez clobbered his eighth home run of the season to begin. Rafael Devers struck out swinging but JD Martinez walked. Xander Bogaerts banged into a double play to end the inning with the Sox down 3-1.
The Royals iced the game in the top of the second as Michael A Taylor smashed a home run all the way to Moscow, Russia to increase the lead. Nicky Lopez grounded back to the mound but Merrifield hit a home run all the way to Edmonton, Alberta Canada. Soler grounded out to first and Santana flied out to center to end the inning but the Royals led 5-1.
The Sox did get a run back in the bottom of the second as Hunter Renfroe grounded out to short to start. Christian Vazquez flied out to center but Bobby Dalbec whalloped his tenth home run of the season. Marwin Gonzalez lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox down 5-2.
Richards finally settled down in the top of the third as Perez grounded out to first to start. O'Hearn lined out to center but Rivera singled to left. Dozier grounded out to second to end the inning. Michael Chavis grounded out to third to start the bottom of the third but Hernandez ripped a base hit to left. Devers flied out to center and Martinez grounded out to second to end the inning.
Taylor grounded out to short to start the top of the fourth before Chavis made a nice play to get Lopez at first. Merrifield lined a broken bat base hit to left but Soler grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox rallied in the bottom of the fourth as Bogaerts hit a ground rule double down the right field line to start. Renfroe bashed his tenth home run of the season to cut the lead but Vazquez struck out swinging to chase Duffy. Kyle Zimmer came in and Dalbec singled to center before moving to second on the grounder to third by Gonzalez. Dalbec took third on a wild pitch and scored on a Chavis base hit to left to tie the game. Chavis was thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning with the game tied 5-5.
Santana grounded out to short to start the top of the fifth and Perez struck out swinging. O'Hearn dumped a base hit to center but Rivera went down hacking to end the inning. Josh Staumont came in to pitch the bottom of the fifth and Hernandez walked to start. Devers flied out to left and Martinez grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Dozier hit a routine grounder to Bogaerts who threw wide of first to start the top of the sixth. Taylor grounded into a double play but Lopez lined a base hit to right to chase Richards. Richards looked toast after the home runs in the second inning but rebounded to toss 3 2/3 scoreless innings after that. Hiro Sawamura came in to pitch to Merrifield and got Whit to ground out to third on the first pitch to end the inning.
The Sox took command in the bottom of the sixth although Bogaerts grounded out to short to start. Renfroe smashed his second home run of the night to give the Sox the lead but Vazquez went down swinging. Dalbec lined out to center to end the inning with Boston ahead 6-5.
Sawamura returned for the top of the seventh but Soler ripped a base hit to right. Santana beat out a double play ball and.....WAIT! Sox manager Alex Cora challenged that Santana did NOT beat out the throw and sure enough, replays showed he was out for the double play. Perez struck out swinging to end the inning. Carlos Hernandez came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Gonzalez drag bunted for a single to start. Chavis hit into a double play and Hernandez popped up to third to end the inning.
Cora decided to give Adam Ottavino the night off by bringing in Josh Taylor to pitch the top of the eighth inning. Hanser Alberto pinch hit for O'Hearn and popped up to first. Rivera grounded out to third and Dozier popped up to second to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the eighth as Devers walked to start. Martinez struck out swinging but Rivera booted a grounder by Bogaerts for an error. Renfroe struck out swinging but Vazquez walked to load the bases. On a full count....Dalbec struck out swinging to end the inning.
Matt Barnes came in to close out the top of the ninth and Taylor flied out to right to start. Lopez flied out to left and Merrifield popped up to short to end the game. The Sox had come back to win it 6-5.
Hero of the Night is Hunter Renfroe. He hit two home runs and the second was the difference in the game.
The Good:
Kike Hernandez was 2 for 3 with a walk and a home run.
Bobby Dalbec was 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 total runs scored.
Marwin Gonzalez was 1 for 3.
Michael Chavis was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Hiro Sawamura tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win.
Josh Taylor pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Matt Barnes earned his 17th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Garrett Richards allowed 5 runs in 5 2/3 innings.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Final Thoughts:
If Thursday's loss to the Tampa Bay Rays was the worst of the season then this one has to be one of the best. The Royals took 2 of 3 in Kansas City last time then took 2 of 3 from the New York Yankees as well. They had a 5-1 lead and Richards was getting pounded, all signs pointed to another tough loss. The Sox showed serious balls to bop their way back into the game and also not allow a run the final 7 innings. Richards picked himself off the mat and the bullpen slammed the door after he left. Cora may be frustrating in how he pulls starters too early, but he rarely has made a move that fatally backfired. The Sox are winning in every which way this season and the Yankees are falling further behind. Its way too early to count out the Yankees but the Sox look to be for real this season. Hernandez must be hearing the radio show grumblings about how the Sox need a leadoff hitter because he's been Johnny Damon-esque the last two days. Hopefully he can keep this up or else it could be Jarren Duran time sooner than later. Renfroe is turning into this season's 2013 Johnny Gomes where every home run he hits is a big one it seems. Hopefully the Sox can ride this momentum all the way into the all-star break. The win improved the Sox to 48-31, 1 game ahead of the Rays for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox look to make it five straight wins when Nick Pivetta (6-3, 4.00 ERA) takes on Brad Keller of Kansas City. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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