Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a much needed roster move. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock was activated from the Injured List and Eduard Bazardo was sent back to Worcester to make room for him. The Sox are going to need Whitlock if they somehow make it to the playoffs.
Joan Adon was brought up from Double A to make his major league debut in the top of the first inning. Kike Hernandez struck out swinging but Kyle Schwarber walked. Xander Bogaerts banged into a double play to end the inning. Sale got the ball in the bottom of the first and Lane Thomas struck out swinging to start. Alcides Escobar took strike three and Juan Soto went down hacking to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the second inning as Rafael Devers ripped a base hit to left to begin. JD Martinez was hit with a pitch but Alex Verdugo went down hacking. Hunter Renfroe took strike three and Christian Vazquez grounded into a force to end the inning. The Nationals struck first in the bottom of the second as Josh Bell doubled to right to begin. Ryan Zimmerman struck out swinging but Jordy Mercer doubled home Bell to give the Nationals the lead. Alex Avilla struck out swinging and Sale intentionally walked Carter Kieboom to get to the pitcher. Adon struck out swinging to end the inning but the Nationals led 1-0.
"Gimmie that ball....and...AND GET OUTTA HERE!" - Cora
Devers hits one out
Mercer puts the Nats on top
Sale himself struck out swinging to begin the top of the third before Hernandez took strike three. Schwarber walked but Bogaerts went down hacking to end the inning. The Nationals struck again in the bottom of the third as Thomas walked to start. Escobar singled to center but Soto took strike three. Bell singled to left to load the bases and Zimmerman walked to score Thomas with another run. That was it for Sale as Sox manager Alex Cora couldn't afford to wait around anymore with the season on the line. Sale lasted just 2 1/3 innings and Hiro Sawamura was brought in to put the fire out. Sawamura did just that as Mercer banged into a double play to end the inning with the Nationals ahead 2-0.
The Sox got on the board in the top of the fourth when Devers crushed his 37th home run of the season to put the Sox back in the game. Martinez struck out swinging but Verdugo was foolishly caught in a rundown on a base hit to center. Renfroe struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 2-1.
Sawamura returned for the bottom of the fourth and Avila grounded out to short to start. Kieboom doubled to left but Adon took strike three. Thomas grounded out to second to end the inning.
Vazquez lined out to right to start the top of the fifth and Christian Arroyo pinch hit for Sawamura, drawing a walk. Hernandez singled to left and a wild pitch moved both runners over. Schwarber grounded out to first and Bogaerts grounded out to third to end the inning. The rookie in his major league debut held the Sox to just 1 run in 5 innings, that's pathetic by the Sox bats.
Things looked bleak in the bottom of the fifth after the Nationals rallied off Garrett Richards. Escobar doubled to left and Soto was intentionally walked. A passed ball moved the runners along but Bell walked to load the bases with nobody out. Somehow Zimmerman struck out swinging but Mercer scored Escobar with a grounder back to the mound. The retiring Avila doubled home both runners to seemingly ice the game. Kieboom grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Nationals ahead 5-1.
Avila's final rbi of his career
Needing to rally the Sox did manage to get a run back in the top of the sixth although Devers struck out swinging to start. Jose Iglesias pinch hit for Martinez and got a base hit to center before Verdugo singled to right to chase Adon. Patrick Murphy came in to pitch and Renfroe flied out to right, moving Iglesias to third. Vazquez beat out an infield single to second to score Iglesias to inch the Sox closer. Travis Shaw pinch hit for Richards and struck out swinging to end the inning but the Sox were down 5-2.
Martin Perez came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Gerardo Parra pinch hit for Murphy to start. Parra lined out to center and Thomas flied out to right, but Escobar walked. Soto lined out to center to end the inning.
The Sox rallied in the top of the seventh against Erick Fedde as Hernandez struck out swinging to start. Schwarber and Bogaerts stroked back to back singles and Devers drove in Schwarber with a base hit to center. Iglesias popped up to first but Verdugo doubled to center to score both runners to tie the game. Andres Machado took over for Fedde and Renfroe flied out to right to end the inning with the game tied 5-5.
Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Bell struck out swinging to start. Zimmerman grounded out to second and Mercer went down hacking to end the inning.
Andrew Stevenson took over for Zimmerman to begin the top of the eighth and Vazquez grounded out to third to start. Bobby Dalbec pinch hit for Whitlock and grounded out to short before Hernandez flied out to left to end the inning. Eduardo Rodriguez himself came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Avila flied out to left to start. Kieboom flied out to right and Riley Adams pinch hit for Machado. Adams took strike three to end the inning.
Kiebert Ruiz took over behind the plate and Avila got a standing ovation for his ML career with Kyle Finnegan now on the mound. Mercer booted a grounder by Schwarber to start but Bogaerts went down hacking. All of a sudden Devers clobbered his 38th and final regular season home run to put the Red Sox on top. Jhon Romero came in to pitch and Iglesias singled to right, but Verdugo struck out swinging. Renfroe grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-5.
Nick Pivetta was chosen to close out the bottom of the ninth and Thomas popped up to second to start. Escobar grounded out to third and Soto took strike three to end the game. The Sox had rallied to win the game and clinch home field for the wild card game this Tuesday night at Fenway with a 7-5 win.
The final regular season Hero of the Night is Rafael Devers. His two run home run won the game and sent the Sox to Tuesday night's showdown.
The Good:
Kyle Schwarber was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored.
Jose Iglesias was 2 for 3 with a run scored.
Alex Verdugo was 3 for 5 with 2 rbis.
Christian Arroyo walked as a pinch hitter.
Hiro Sawamura tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Martin Perez pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Garrett Whitlock pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Eduardo Rodriguez got the win with a scoreless eighth inning.
Nick Pivetta got the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
JD Martinez struck out in his only plate appearance.
Hunter Renfroe was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Travis Shaw struck out as a pinch hitter.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Chris Sale allowed 2 runs in just 2 1/3 innings of work.
Garrett Richards allowed 3 runs in an inning of work.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Just when it looked like the Sox had a date with the Toronto Blue Jays tomorrow night, the Sox rallied to win the Wild Card and host the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. The Sox have had a remarkable bounce back season that looked like it was going to be one for the ages until the All-Star break only to fall flat in the second half. The Sox finished 30-31 to finish the season and needed a season series sweep of the Nationals to get to October. Its been a hell of a run this year and many fans believe its about to come to an end. Not many are picking the Sox with their terrible starting pitching and inconsistent offense to beat Gerrit Cole and the Yankees. The Yankees were victorious over the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 this afternoon to eliminate the Blue Jays and their scary offense. As bad as the Sox played in the second half, just one good game against the Yankees will be enough to catapault them into the American League Division Series against the Rays. The only sad note is Jose Iglesias won't be joining the Sox in October as he is ineligible due to joining the team too late in the year. The trade deadline pickups paid dividends after the A-Team crumbled and the good part about that is the Sox only parted with one top 20 prospect (Aldo Ramirez). No matter what happens Tuesday the Sox are headed into next year in great shape. As for the regular season, 90 wins before the season was "pushing it" according to some fans and they finished with 92. This game was a microcosm of the season with the starter being lifted early but the Sox finding a way to win. Still, its one thing to beat the crappy Nationals, now the Sox have to beat teams that are actually good if they want to make it to the World Series. Just the fact the Sox are in this position is a miracle in itself but here we are. As said earlier, this Tuesday night the Sox face the Yankees with Gerrit Cole going for the Yankees against probably Nathan Eovaldi. The game begins at 8:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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