Don't look now but the Boston Red Sox are climbing up the ranks in the American League standings. Tonight they survived a late rally by the Detroit Tigers to win their 15th game this month. Rich Hill (3-4, 4.50 ERA) allowed 3 runs to the Tigers but lasted 5 innings to earn the win. The Sox got a big lift from a Trevor Story 3 run home run and a Christian Vazquez solo shot. Ryan Brasier tossed two much needed scoreless innings but the Tigers rallied in the ninth. With the tying run on first, John Schreiber got Miguel Cabrera to ground out to short to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-4 at Fenway Park.
The Tigers wasted no time getting to Hill in the top of the first inning as Robbie Grossman grounded out to short to start. Javier Baez tripled into the centerfield triangle and Miguel Cabrera ripped a base hit to center to score Baez. Eric Haase struck out swinging and Riley Greene lined out to second to end the inning with the Tigers up 1-0.
The Sox tied the game in the bottom of the first against Brieske as Jarren Duran beat out a roller to third to start. Rafael Devers hit a seeing eye single to move Duran to third and Jarren scored on the sac fly to center by Martinez. Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging and Alex Verdugo forced Devers at second to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Spencer Torkelson walked to start the top of the second but Jeimer Candelario struck out swinging. Jonathan Schoop grounded into a double play to end the inning. Trevor Story flied out to right to start the bottom of the second and Franchy Cordero took strike three. Christian Vazquez grounded out to second to end the inning.
Will Castro flied out to right to start the top of the third and Grossman struck out swinging. Baez put the Tigers back on top with a home run all the way to Wyoming and Cabrera followed with a base hit to center. Haase popped up to third to end the inning but the Tigers were up 2-1.
Jackie Bradley Jr grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the third before Duran grounded out to short. Devers lined out to center to end the inning.
Greene got a base hit in the hole at second to start the top of the fourth but Torkelson lined out to right. Candelario forced Greene at second and Schoop struck out swinging to end the inning. Martinez flied out to center to start the bottom of the fourth but Bogaerts got a base hit off the glove of Baez. Verdugo got a base hit to left and Story stepped up with a 3 run blast to put the Sox back on top. Cordero struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 4-2.
Castro struck out swinging to start the top of the fifth but Grossman walked. Baez lined out to right but Cabrera got a base hit to right to move Robbie to third. Haase got a base hit to left to score Grossman but Greene struck out swinging to end the inning with the Tigers down 4-3. That was it for Hill who couldn't put away Cabrera or Baez to save his life but was still in line for the win after 5 innings.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the fifth as Duran flied out to center to start. Devers was robbed of a double by Greene and Martinez struck out swinging to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Torkelson grounded back to the mound to start. Candelario got a base hit to left but Schoop banged into a double play to end the inning. Jason Foley came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Bogaerts got a base hit to center to start. Verdugo forced Xander at second, Story struck out swinging and Cordero earned the hat trick by striking it swinging to end the inning.
Castro lined out to center to start the top of the seventh and Grossman flied out to left. Story made a great catch to rob Baez of a hit to end the inning. Good work by Brasier to get the Sox to the eighth inning with the lead. Andrew Chafin came in to pitch the bottom I'd the seventh and Vazquez aided the cause with his fourth home run of the season to give the Sox an insurance run. JBJ lined out to right, Duran grounded out to second and Devers grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-3.
Bobby Dalbec came in to play first with Tyler Danish taking over on the mound to start the top of the eighth. Naturally Cabrera was plunked but Haase flied out to center. Greene singled to right to put the tying run on but Torkelson popped up to first. Candelario flied out to center to end the inning. Alex Lang came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Martinez grounded out to second to start. Bogaerts grounded out to third and Verdugo struck out swinging to end the inning.
Tanner Houck worked two days in a row so Matt Strahm was tasked with closing out the top of the ninth. Naturally Schoop hit a home run all the way to the jungles of Peru to start. Castro popped up to first and Grossman took strike three to bring out Sox manager Alex Cora. He wanted John Schreiber to pitch to Baez and naturally Javier singled to right to bring up Cabrera and somehow Miguel grounded out to short to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-4.
Hero of the Night is Trevor Story. His 3 run homer put the Sox up for good and he also made a great diving catch.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 3 with a home run.
Ryan Brasier pitched two scoreless innings.
Tyler Danish pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
John Schreiber got the save by getting the final out of the ninth inning.
The Bad:
Franchy Cordero was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3.
Matt Strahm allowed a run in the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4.
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Honorable Mention:
Bobby Dalbec played first base in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
This was a much needed win for the Sox because not only did they remain a half game ahead of the Rays, but they gained a game on the New York Yankees (who the Rays beat) and the Toronto Blue Jays who gagged to the Chicago White Sox. The Sox are just 1/2 game behind Toronto for not only second place in the division but for the first wild card spot. It seems unlikely that the Sox can catch the Yankees but they're gonna get their chance in a few weeks when the Sox play 20 straight games against the AL East beginning on July 4th. The Sox are going to have a bit of a dilemma because Tanner Houck won't be allowed to go to Toronto next week so the Sox are going to need a closer by then. Its imperative the Sox sweep the Tigers in this series because the Sox are going to travel to Cleveland for a big series with the newly renamed Guardians (formerly Indians) who are neck and neck with the White Sox for the AL Central lead. The Sox have gone 27-11 since their horrible start and now that they're out of the hole, they need to make a statement against the good teams if they hope to march toward the playoffs. Chris Sale has begun his rehab and Josh Taylor is finally ready to begin his. Taylor was one of their most consistent bullpen pitchers last year and if he can recover his form, there's your power lefty to go with John Schreiber in the late innings. All in all it was a good win tonight and hopefully the Sox can keep the momentum going in their final homestand game. The win improved the Sox to 38-31, good for third place in the AL East. The Sox look to sweep the Tigers out of Fenway and win their fourth game in a row tomorrow night when Michael Wacha (5-1, 2.28 ERA) takes on Tarik Skrubal of Detroit. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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