Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Martin Perez was removed from the Covid List and Kaleb Ort was sent back to Worcester. The Sox need some quality starts from Perez if the Sox hope to make it to the playoffs.
OUT
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As mentioned in the past, this series against the Seattle Mariners is very important because they're right in the thick of things for the AL wild card. For five innings it looked like the Mariners were going to win their second straight when they took a 2-1 lead against Nathan Eovaldi. Bobby Dalbec tied the game up with a home run in the sixth and the Sox had a furious rally in the eighth. Kyle Schwarber hit a pinch hit bases loaded double and Alex Verdugo followed with a two run home run. JD Martinez drove in another run but the Mariners rallied in the ninth off Hiro Sawamura and Austin Davis. Davis struck out Kyle Seager to preserve the 8-4 win for the Sox at T-Mobile Park.
Tyler Anderson got the ball in the top of the first inning and Kike Hernandez struck out swinging to start. Hunter Renfroe flied out to right and Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning. Eovaldi got the ball in the bottom of the first and JP Crawford got a base hit to right. Mitch Haniger, Kyle Seager and Ty France all struck out swinging in order to end the inning.
Rafael Devers got a base hit to center to start the top of the second before JD Martinez went down hacking. Bobby Dalbec flied out to left and Kevin Plawecki grounded out to short to end the inning. Abraham Toro hit one up the elevator shaft to start the bottom of the second before Jarred Kelenic flied out to left. Jake Fraley struck out swinging to end the inning.
Alex Verdugo grounded back to the mound to start the top of the third before Jose Iglesias popped up to short. Jake Bauers flied out to center to start the bottom of the third before Cal Raleigh struck out swinging. Crawford went down hacking to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the fourth as Devers went down hacking to start but Martinez clobbered his 26th home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Dalbec and Plawecki both grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
The Mariners answered in the bottom of the fourth as Haniger got a base hit to left to start. Seager beat out a roller to third and France got a base hit to center to score Haniger. Toro hit a routine fly to Renfroe who dropped it for an error to load the bases. Kelenic struck out swinging but Fraley hit a sac fly to center to score Seager. Bauers watched strike three go by to end the inning but the Mariners were up 2-1.
Mariners take the lead
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the fifth as Verdugo singled to right to start. Iglesias singled to left but Hernandez lined out to right to chase Anderson. Casey Sadler came in to pitch and Renfroe took strike three. Bogaerts forced Iglesias at second to end the inning. The Mariners threatened in the bottom of the fifth as Raleigh doubled to right to start. Crawford flied out to center and Haniger struck out swinging, but Seager was intentionally walked. A wild pitch moved both runners over but France grounded out to first to end the inning. Once again Sox manager Alex Cora pulled a starter early as Eovaldi was done after just five innings, allowing 2 runs off 5 hits and a walk.
Eovaldi didn't last long
Anthony Misiewicz came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Devers grounded out to first to start. Martinez struck out swinging but Dalbec cracked his 22nd home run of the season to tie the game. Plawecki lined one off the pitcher for a single but Verdugo flied out to right to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Dalbec ties it
Darwinzon Hernandez came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Toro grounded out to third to start. Kelenic took strike three and Fraley grounded out to short to end the inning.
Joe Smith came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Iglesias struck out swinging to start. Hernandez grounded out to short and Renfroe took strike three to end the inning. Luis Torrens pinch hit for Bauers to start the bottom of the seventh and popped up to right. Raleigh was frozen for strike three but Crawford walked. Hernandez was finished and Adam Ottavino came in to face Haniger. Mitch grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox broke through in the top of the eighth as Bogaerts tripled into the right field corner to start. Drew Steckenrider came in to pitch to Devers and walked him. Martinez grounded out to third but Devers moved up to second. Travis Shaw pinch hit for Dalbec and walked to load the bases. Kyle Schwarber pinch hit for Plawecki and hit a gap shot into right field. Bogaerts and Devers scored easily but Shaw tried for home as well. Toro fired home but Raleigh couldn't field it for an error. Shaw was safe and Schwarber ended up on third. Christian Vazquez ran for Schwarber and Yohan Ramirez was brought in to face Verdugo. Alex stepped up by belting his 13th home run of the season to ice the game. Iglesias was hit with a pitch but Hernandez flied out to center. Iglesias moved to second on a wild pitch but Renfroe struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 7-2.
Michael Feliz came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Seager walked to start. France flied out to left and Toro banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the ninth with old pal Matt Andriese now on the mound. Bogaerts singled to right and Devers was hit with a pitch. Martinez got a base hit to center to score Bogaerts. Shaw hit one up the elevator shaft and Vazquez grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox up 8-2.
Martinez adds to the lead
Suddenly the Mariners woke up against Hiro Sawamura in the bottom of the ninth. Kelenc struck out swinging and Fraley hit a routine grounder to Bogaerts. He threw to first.....and Shaw dropped it for an error. Torrens and Raleigh hit back to back base hits to load the bases and Sox manager Alex Cora yanked Sawamura. Austin Davis came in and Crawford hit a sac fly to left to score Fraley, but now there were two outs. Haniger got a base hit to left to score Torrens and cut the lead in half. Seager struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 8-4.
Sox win
Hero Schwarber
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a walk, a hit by pitch and a run scored.
Jose Iglesias was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch.
Austin Davis allowed 2 inherited runners to score but got the final two outs of the game.
Hero of The Night is Kyle Schwarber. His pinch hit bases clearing double put the Sox up for good.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a walk, a hit by pitch and a run scored.
JD Martinez was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Bobby Dalbec was 1 for 3 with a home run.
Kevin Plawecki was 1 for 3.
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 4 with a 2 run home run.
Jose Iglesias was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch.
Nathan Eovaldi allowed 2 runs in 5 innings of work allowing 5 hits and a walk, he also struck out nine.
Darwinzon Hernandez tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Adam Ottavino got the win by getting the final out of the seventh inning.
Michael Feliz pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Hiro Sawamura allowed 2 runs in 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked.
Hunter Renfroe was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked.
Travis Shaw walked and scored as a pinch hitter but committed an error.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 1 but scored a run as a pinch runner.
Austin Davis allowed 2 inherited runners to score but got the final two outs of the game.
Final Thoughts:
That was the most clutch pinch hit of the season so far by Schwarber. The Sox were in a tie game with the season hanging in the balance with every game remaining and Schwarber got the job done. Hats off to Verdugo too for the insurance home run and to both JD Martinez and Bobby Dalbec for driving in runs. Once again Cora pulled a starter early and if the Sox don't make the playoffs, the bullpen wearing down is the biggest reason why. Sawamura looked awful but he was out for weeks with Covid so maybe he just wasn't feeling well. If Cora let his starters pitch longer, maybe they wouldn't have to rely on the bullpen EVERY SINGLE GAME. Still, the bats got it done in this one and they needed the victory to keep pace with the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. The win improved the Sox to 82-65, 9 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East and tied with Toronto for the wild card. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the Mariners tomorrow afternoon when Tanner Houck takes on Marco Gonzales of Seattle. The game begins at 4:05 PM Eastern time at T-Mobile Park.
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