If you think last night was a fun back and forth encounter between the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros, tonight may have just topped that. The Toronto Blue Jays pounced on Boston Red Sox starter Garrett Richards for 3 runs in the first two innings. The Sox got a run on a Bobby Dalbec homer but a two run bomb off Hiro Sawamura by Vladmir Guerrero Jr seemed to have iced the game. The Sox then rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth and Christian Arroyo hit another game tying home run in the bottom of the eighth. After the Jays left a hundred million men on base all night, Alex Verdugo knocked in Kike Hernandez in the bottom of the ninth to win the game 6-5 at Fenway Park.
As usual the other team struck first in the top of the first against Richards. Marcus Semien walked but was erased on the Bo Bichette force. Vladimir Guerrero Jr effortlessly ripped a base hit to left and Teoscar Hernandez laughed as he singled home Bichette to put Toronto up 4 batters into the game. Randal Grichuk walked to load the bases for Sox killer Rowdy "Roddy" Tellez who....lined out to short. Lourdes Gurriel Jr struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 1-0.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the first against Stripling as Kike Hernandez struck out swinging to start. Alex Verdugo ripped a base hit to left and tried for second, only to take third on the throwing error by Semien. JD Martinez took strike three and Rafael Devers flied out to left to end the inning.
The Jays easily smashed Richards in the top of the second although Cavan Biggio grounded out to second to start. Reese McGuire doubled to left but Semien flied out to center. Bichette effortlessly singled to center to score McGuire and Guerrero walked on 4 straight pitches that hit the backstop. Hernandez closed his eyes, spun around 3 times and still singled to left to score Bichette. Somehow Grichuk struck out swinging to end the inning but the Jays led 3-0.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as Hunter Renfroe grounded out to short to start. Christian Vazquez struck out swinging on a pitch that bounced TO the plate and Christian Arroyo popped up weakly to center to end the inning.
Somehow Tellez grounded out to short to start the top of the third before Gurriel Jr grounded out to second. Biggio singled to right and took second on a wild pitch but McGuire struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox got one back in the bottom of the third as Marwin Gonzalez struck out swinging to start. Bobby Dalbec clobbered his seventh home run of the season to cut the lead but Hernandez flied out to center. Verdugo walked but Martinez lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox down 3-1.
Richards survived the top of the fourth as Semien grounded out to short to start. Bichette lined out to right but Guerrero Jr doubled to left. Hernandez flied out to right to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Devers grounded out to third to start. Renfroe flied out to right but Vazquez walked. Arroyo flied out to right to end the inning.
The Jays threatened in the top of the fifth as Grichuk singled to right to start. Tellez banged into a double play but Gurriel Jr doubled to left. Biggio grounded out to second to end the inning. Stripling laughed at the Sox in the bottom of the fifth as Gonzalez and Dalbec both struck out swinging to start. Hernandez popped up to first to end the inning.
The Jays knocked out Richards in the top of the sixth although McGuire grounded out to second to start. Semien singled to left and that was it for Richards. He got out of a lot of jams but left after just 5 1/3 innings. Hiro Sawamura came in and guess what happened? Bichette lined out to center but Guerrero Jr hit a home run all the way to Osaka, Japan to seemingly ice the game. Hernandez grounded out to third to end the inning with the Jays up 5-1.
Somehow the Sox rallied in the bottom of the sixth as Verdugo doubled to left to start. Martinez flied to center and Verdugo moved to third on the grounder to second by Devers. Renfroe stepped up with a base hit to center to score Verdugo and Vazquez singled to right to chase Stripling. Tyler Chatwood came in and Arroyo was plunked to load the bases before Gonzalez walked on four pitches to score Renfroe. Chatwood uncorked a wild pitch to score Vazquez and move the runners along before Dalbec was plunked to reload the bases. Tim Mayza replaced Chatwood and Hernandez grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The Sox blew a chance to take the lead and still trailed 5-4.
Naturally as soon as the Sox got close, the Jays rallied against Brandon Workman. Grichuk easily singled to left but somehow Tellez struck out swinging. Gurriel Jr doubled to left and Sox manager Alex Cora stopped the bleeding by sending in Josh Taylor to pitch to Biggio. Cavan struck out swinging and Riley Adams pinch hit for McGuire. Adams struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the seventh as Verdugo grounded out to first to start. Martinez got a base hit to left and moved to second on the Devers grounder to first. Carl Edwards Jr came in to pitch to Renfroe and Hunter struck out swinging to end the inning.
Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in for the top of the eighth and naturally Semien singled to center to start. Whitlock picked off Semien and blew away Bichette before Guerrero Jr took strike three to end the inning. The Sox tied the game in the bottom of the eighth as Vazquez struck out swinging to start. All of a sudden Arroyo clobbered his third home run of the season to tie the game. Gonzalez flied out to left and Dalbec struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 5-5.
The Lock returned for the top of the ninth and Hernandez grounded out to third to start.....but wait! The Blue Jays challenged that Devers' throw pulled Dalbec off the bag and the call was overturned. Grichuk flied out to the left field wall but Tellez singled Hernandez to third. Jonathan Davis punch ran for Tellez but Whitlock got a big out when Gurriel Jr struck out swinging. Davis stole second on the strikeout and Biggio was intentionally walked to load the bases. Dalbec dropped a pop up from Adams for an error but Riley grounded into a force to end the inning anyway. Rafael Dolis came in for the bottom of the ninth and Hernandez hit a routine grounder to short....THROWN AWAY BY BICHETTE! Hernandez made it to second and Danny Santana pinch ran for him. Verdugo lashed a base hit to left to score Santana to win the game. The Sox had walked it off 6-5.
Hero of the Night is Alex Verdugo. He got the game winning hit in the bottom of the ninth.
The Good:
Danny Santana scored the winning run as a pinch runner.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Christian Arroyo was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch including the game tying home run.
Bobby Dalbec was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch including a home run.
Josh Taylor struck out the only two men he faced.
Garrett Whitlock got the win with 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4.
Garrett Richards got his clock cleaned by allowing 4 runs in just 5 1/3 innings. He allowed ELEVEN hits.
Hiro Sawamura served up the two run bomb to Vladimir Guerrero.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Hunter Renfroe was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run and scored a run.
Marwin Gonzalez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run with a bases loaded walk.
Brandon Workman retired just 1 of the 3 men he faced.
Final Thoughts:
Talk about a game they deserved to lose. In the past two seasons, if the Sox fell behind 5-1 in the sixth inning the game was as good as over. A combination of Toronto incompetence with men on base and a new never say die attitude by the Sox led to a Boston victory. Toronto ended the game with 16 hits and 3 walks but could only put 5 runs on the board. The Sox won the game with just 8 hits. Josh Taylor and Garrett Whitlock were the unsung heroes in this one. Taylor cleaned up Workman's mess and Whitlock worked out of a 1st and 3rd and bases loaded jams. It was a good thing the Sox came back to win because, as expected, the Tampa Bay Rays easily defeated the Baltimore Orioles to maintain their lead. The Sox have to wipe out the Jays if they hope to keep pace with the Rays who have now won 21 of their last 26 games. All in all the Sox are never out of a game, have a lot of heart and are fun to watch this season. The win improved the Sox to 39-25, 1 game behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. It should be noted the eventual World Series champion 2013 Red Sox had a record of 39-25 at this point that season too. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the Jays tomorrow afternoon when Nick Pivetta (6-1, 3.78 ERA) take son Steven Matz of the Jays. The game begins at 4:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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