It was a good night for Boston sports as the Boston Celtics sent the retiring Mike Gorman home happy by eliminating the Miami Heat in Game 5 of their first round NBA playoff series and the Boston Red Sox defeated the San Francisco Giants. Kutter Crawford (2-1, 1.56 ERA) once again pitched a quality game as he shut down the Giants with 7 strong innings, holding the Giants to 2 runs. The offense was a balanced attack with six different guys driving in runs. New first baseman Dominic Smith made a good hard catch and drove in a run as well. Chris Martin shook off his recent ineptitude with a scoreless inning and Greg Weissert slammed the door in the ninth inning. It was Boston's fourth win in a row and second straight over the Giants as the Sox won 6-2 at Fenway Park.
Crawford got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jung Hoo Lee singled to right to start. Jorge Soler popped up to short and LaMonte Wade Jr took strike three. Matt Chapman also took strike three to end the inning. Miller got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Jarren Duran walked to start. Rafael Devers walked but Rob Refsnyder watched strike three go by. Tyler O'Neill grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Michael Conforto grounded out to second to start the top of the second and Thairo Estrada popped up to first. Mike Yastrzemski grounded out to second to end the inning. Dalton Jefferies came in to pitch the bottom of the second and Wilyer Abreu walked to begin. Connor Wong took strike three but Abreu swiped second. Dominic Smith made his Sox debut by flying out to right and Enmanuel Valdez watched strike three go by to end the inning.
The Giants struck first in the top of the third as Tom Murphy hit a home run all the way to Zanzibar to put SF up already. Nick Ahmed struck out swinging, Lee lined out to left and Soler lined out to center to end the inning but the Giants were up 1-0
The Sox answered in the bottom of the third as Ceddanne Rafaela singled in the hole at second to start. Duran walked and Devers doubled off the Monster to score Rafaela. Refsnyder grounded out to short but Duran scored to out Boston on top. O'Neill struck out swinging and Abreu grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-1.
The Giants struck again in the top of the fourth as Wade Jr flied out to left. Chapman struck out swinging but Conforto walked. Estrada doubled off the Monster and Yaz caught the Sox asleep with a bunt down the third base line to score Conforto. Murphy struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Wong doubled off the Monster to start the bottom of the fourth and moved to third on the Smith grounder to second. Valdez smacked a double to left to score Wong to put the Sox back on top. Rafaela lined out to short but Duran tripled into the right field corner to score Valdez. That was it for Jefferies as Taylor Rogers came in to pitch to Devers. Rafael grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox up 4-2.
Ahmed grounded out to third to start the top of the fifth and Lee flied out to right. Soler lined out to third to end the inning. Refsnyder got a base hit to right to start the bottom of the fifth but O'Neill flied out to right. Abreu flied out to center and that was it for Rogers. Luke Jackason came in to face Wong and Connor got a base hit to left. Smith drove in his first run with a base hit to center to score Refsnyder. Valdez grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-2.
Wade Jr walked to start the top of the sixth before moving to second on the Chapman squibber in front of the plate. Conforto struck out swinging and Estrada grounded out to first to end the inning. Rafaela took strike three to start the bottom of the sixth before Duran went down hacking. Devers grounded out to short to end the inning.
Crawford returned for the top of the seventh inning and Yaz hit one up the elevator shaft to start. Murphy grounded out to first and Ahmed popped up to third to end the inning. Crawford pitched well, going 7 strong innings and allowed 2 runs off 4 hits and 2 walks.
The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the bottom of the seventh with Mitch White now on the mound. Refsnyder grounded out to third and O'Neill took strike three, but Abreu singled to left. Wong doubled to center to score Wilyer but Smith grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-2.
Wong drives in a run
Chris Martin came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Lee grounded out to short to start. Soler lined out to center and Wade Jr struck out swinging to end the inning. Valdez popped up to third to start the bottom of the eighth and Rafaela grounded out to short. Duran lined out to center to end the inning.
Greg Weissert came in to close out the top of the ninth and Chapman singled to center to start. Conforto struck out swinging and Estrada grounded into a double play to end the game. The Sox had won it 6-2.
Hero of The Night is Kutter Crawford. He got the win with 7 innings of 2 run ball while allowing 4 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 6 batters.
Hero Crawford
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, an rbi and a run scored.
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Wilyer Abreu was 1 for 3 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored.
Connor Wong was 3 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Chris Martin pitched a scoreless eighth.
Greg Weissert closed out the top of the ninth.
The Bad:
Tyler O'Neill was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Dominic Smith was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Rob Refsnyder was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run and scored a run.
Enmanuel Valdez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run and scored a run.
Ceddanne Rafaela was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
No matter who gets hurt, the Sox just keep on winning. Kutter Crawford had another good start and the rotation that's left is holding up so far remarkably. With all the injuries going on, the guys that are left are stepping it up. Wilyer Abreu is hitting .316 and looks to be finding his niche in right field and Connor Wong has gone God mode lately. With Nathan Hickey, Johanfran Garcia and Kyle Teel all performing well in the minors, Wong clearly doesn't want to be just a stopgap. That's going to create a good kind of competition when the time comes. Its a shame that Yoshida has joined the ever growing injured list but Sox manager Alex Cora didn't like him anyway. Duran, O'Neill and Abreu have locked up the outfield and Yoshida doesn't have enough power to be a regular DH in Cora's eyes. Vaughn Grissom is due back soon so there's going to be a lot of people coming and going. As long as they keep winning games, they could have Dave Penzer out there as long as they get the victory. The win improved the Sox to 18-13, 1.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Sox look for their fifth straight win and series sweep of the Giants tomorrow afternoon when Josh Winckowski (1-1, 3.50 ERA) takes on Kyle Harrison of San Francisco. The game begins at 1:35 PM at Fenway Park.
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