For the second straight night the Boston Red Sox were trailing going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Bo Bichette and the Toronto Blue Jays took a 4-3 lead on Nick Pivetta and the Red Sox with a 2 run homer in the top of the fifth inning. With one out and Hunter Renfroe on first, Alex Verdugo smashed a home run over the Red Sox bullpen to give Boston the lead. Matt Barnes slammed the door in the top of the ninth and the Sox pulled their second game in a row out of their collective behinds. Phillips Valdez and Adam Ottavino did good jobs keeping the Sox in the game long enough for them to pull the game out 5-4 at Fenway Park.
Pivetta got the ball in the top of the first and George Springer led off with a walk. Vladimir Guerrero Jr flied out to a running Jarren Duran and Marcus Semien popped up to left but Springer took second on a wild pitch. Bo Bichette grounded out to second to end the inning. Hatch got the ball in the bottom of the first and Kike Hernandez flied out to right to start. Duran took strike three as Sox radio analyst Joe Castiglione told a story of how Hatch was out pitched in the college world series semi-finals by none other than Bobby Dalbec who pitched for Arizona. JD Martinez doubled odd the Monster and took third on a wild pitch but Rafael Devers took a full count fastball down the middle for strike three to end the inning.
Pivetta struck out Teoscar Hernandez swinging to start the top of the second before Lourdes Gurriel Jr lined out to a running Hunter Renfroe. Randal Grichuk got a base hit up the middle but Cavan Biggio popped up to Devers to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second as Hunter Renfroe doubled to center to start. Alex Verdugo ripped a base hit to center to score Renfroe and Christian Vazquez drew a walk. Franchy Cordero lined a base hit to left to load the bases and Michael Chavis scored Verdugo by grounding out to short. Hernandez struck out swinging and Duran popped up to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
The Jays struck back in the top of the third as Reese McGuire led off with a bloop single to left before Springer walked. Guerrero Jr hit a seeing eye single to left to score McGuire to cut the lead. Semien blooped a single to center to score Springer and tie the game before Bichette went down swinging. Hernandez flied out to shallow center and Gurriel Jr grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
The Sox answered in the bottom of the third although Martinez hit a bullet to third to start. Devers then pounded his 27th home run of the season down the right field line to give the Sox the lead. Renfroe got a base hit to the Monster and Semien threw a double play ball away on a Verdugo grounder for an error. Verdugo took second on the error but Vazquez grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-2.
Pivetta cruised in the top of the fourth as Grichuk grounded out to short to start. Biggio grounded out to short and McGuire took strike three to end the inning.
Cordero tried to start a rally with a base hit off the Monster to start. Chavis forced Cordero at second and Hernandez struck out swinging to chase Hatch. Tayler Saucedo came in to pitch and Duran grounded out to second to end the inning. Thats 5 men left on base so far.
The Jays struck back in the top of the fifth as Springer pounded a ground rule double off of Devers into the stands to start. Guerrero Jr popped up to center and Sox manager Alex Cora bounded to dugout. Cora told Pivetta that Rick & Morty was on in the dugout and Semien flied out to right once Alex left. Bichette hit a home run all the way to Maine to put the Jays on top. That was it for Pivetta after getting just 11 outs and Phillips Valdez came in to pitch. Hernandez struck out swinging on 3 pitches to end the inning with the Jays up 4-3.
Martinez struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fifth before Devers ate up Springer on a grounDer for a single. That was it for Saucedo as Adam Cimber came in to face Renfroe. Devers moved to second on the Renfroe grounder to third but Verdugo lined out to right to end the inning with 6 men left on.
Valdez got Gurriel Jr to ground out to second to open the top of the sixth before Grichuk grounded out to third. Biggio struck out swinging on a change up down and in to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the sixth as Vazquez flied out to center to start. Cordero flied out to left and Chavis missed a home run off the Pesky Pole by 6 feet before popping up to first to end the inning.
Valdez came back for the top of the seventh and McGuire dropped a bass hit to left to start. Springer forced McGuire at second and Guerrero ripped a base hit to left. Semien hit a bullet to Hernandez who doubled off Springer to end the inning. Trevor Richards came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Hernandez grounded out to second to start. Duran grounded out to first and Martinez lined out to Guerrero to end the inning.
Adam Ottavino came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Bichette flied out to right to start. Hernandez doubled to center and took third on the fly ball to left by Gurriel Jr. Grichuk popped up to short to end the inning. Devers struck out swinging to start the bottom of the eighth but Renfroe walked. Verdugo pounded his tenth home run of the season over the Sox bullpen to give the Sox the lead. Vazquez walked to chase Richards and Jordan Romano came in to face Cordero. Franchy took strike three and Vazquez was thrown out trying to steal to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-4.
Matt Barnes came in to close out the top of the ninth and Biggio popped up to third to start. McGuire grounded out to second and Springer popped up to second to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-4.
Hero of the Night is Alex Verdugo. His two run home run put the Sox up for good in the bottom of the eighth.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with a home run.
Hunter Renfroe was 2 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Christian Vazquez walked twice in four plate appearances.
Franchy Cordero was 2 for 4.
Phillips Valdez tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
Adam Ottavino got the win with a scoreless eighth inning.
Matt Barnes earned his 22nd save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Nick Pivetta allowed 4 runs in just 4 2/3 innings of work. He allowed 6 hits and 2 walks.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Michael Chavis was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Coming back late every night isn't a good thing but at least the Sox are showing some balls to win these games. The last two seasons, 2019 in particular, the Sox were as good as dead when trailing after 6 innings and this year its like they don't even get warmed up until the seventh. The Sox are finding ways to win and that's what you need to have a successful season. The Sox have essentially 4 days until the trade deadline and they still need their Steve Pearce/Doug Mientkiewicz type veteran and another starter. Sox GM Chaim Bloom can't afford to roll the dice by expecting Chris Sale and Tanner Houck to be dominant. So far the Sox have been extremely lucky injury wise this season to the rotation but you never know when someone may go down. The Rays went into a tailspin when Tyler Glasnow went down and only managed to pull themselves out in the last few weeks when the Sox sputtered offensively. If Tanner Houck can pitch like he did at the end of last season and Chris Sale comes back healthy, someone has to leave the rotation. Pivetta, Martin Perez and Garrett Richards are essentially pitching for their jobs from here on in but that creates the good kind of competition. Sox manager Alex Cora went mad scientist in the 2018 postseason by bringing in starters randomly in games for relief purposes so those three (and Houck if he falters) better get used to coming on in relief. Still, the Sox are 101 games into the season and are in first place, who saw that coming the first week of the season? The win improved the Sox to 62-39, 1.5 games ahead of the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to take game 2 of this four game set tomorrow night when Garrett Richards (6-5, 4.99 ERA) takes on Robbie Ray of the Jays. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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