Before the game the Boston Red Sox made roster moves. Zack Kelly was sent down to Worcester and in his place the Sox signed 28 year old free agent relief pitcher Brad Keller. Keller was batting practice for the Chicago White Sox until he was released on Monday. If he posted a 4.86 ERA for the worst team in baseball, why would he suddenly turn it around in Boston? Oh well.
As for the game, for the third day in a row the Milwaukee Brewers held the Sox to three runs or less. Tobias Myers and the Milwaukee Brewers held the Sox to just 1 run through seven innings while Tanner Houck (1.90 ERA) kept pace by holding Milwaukee to one measly run through six innings. Justin Slaten (3-2, 3.00) pitched a scoreless eighth inning but the Sox suddenly rallied in the bottom of the frame. Ceddanne Rafaela doubled and Jarren Duran drove him in with a base hit to give the Sox the lead. Kenley Jansen shut the door in the ninth and the Sox had beaten the Brewers 2-1 at Fenway Park.
Houck got the ball in the top of the first inning and Brice Turang grounded out to second to start. William Contreras grounded out to short but Christian Yelich singled to center. Willy Adames blooped a base hit to right but Jake Bauers took strike three to end the inning. Myers got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jarren Duran struck out swinging to start. Wilyer Abreu blooped a base hit to right but Garrett Cooper struck out swinging. Abreu got thrown at second trying to steal to end the inning.
Gary Sanchez struck out swinging to start the top of the second before Sal Frelick grounded out to second. Oliver Dunn grounded out to first to end the inning. Rafael Devers flied out to center to start the bottom of the second before Dominic Smith flied out to right. Reese McGuire struck out swinging to end the inning.
Blake Perkins struck out swinging to start the top of the third before Turang singled to center. Contreras struck out swinging and Yelich grounded out to second to end the inning. Vaughn Grissom flied out to right to start the bottom of the third but David Hamilton singled to right. Hamilton stole second then took third when Ceddanne Rafaela struck out swinging. Duran grounded out to second to end the inning.
Adames struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth before Bauers flied out to right. Smith lost a ball by Sanchez in the sun for a double but Frelick lined out to short to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the fourth as Abreu tripled into the centerfield triangle to start. Cooper popped up to first but Devers hit a sac fly to right to score Abreu. Smith got a base hit to center but McGuire grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
As usual once the Sox scored, the other team answered as the Brewers struck back in the top of the fifth. Dunn singled to left to start before he stole second base. Perkins struck out swinging but Turang walked. Contreras singled to center to score Dunn but Turang was thrown out at home on a grounder to first by Yelich. Adames struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Grissom got a base hit to left to start the bottom of the fifth but Hamilton popped up his bunt attempt to Sanchez. A wild pitch moved Grissom to second but Rafaela grounded out to short....but wait! Sox manager Alex Cora challenged that Ceddanne was safe and sure enough, he was. Joel Payamps came in to pitch and Rafaela promptly stole second. Duran struck out swinging and Frelick made a great catch to rob Abreu of a hit to end the inning.
Bauers grounded out to second to start the top of the sixth but Sanchez got a base hit to center. Frelick flied out to left and Dunn grounded out to second to end the inning. That was it for Houck who once again did well, allowing just a single run in 6 innings. He allowed 7 hits and struck out 7 batters.
Good work Houck
Cooper flied out to right to start the bottom of the sixth before Devers struck out swinging. Smith flied out to center to end the inning.
Chris Martin came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Perkins caught Devers asleep with a bunt single. Turang dropped down a bunt to move Perkins to second and Contreras moved him to third with a grounder to first. Yelich grounded out to first to end the inning. McGuire struck out swinging to start the bottom of the seventh before Grissom took strike three. Hamilton struck out swinging to end the inning.
Justin Slaten came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Adames struck out swinging to start. Bauers struck out swinging and Sanchez went down hacking to end the inning. Elvis Peguero came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and suddenly Rafaela doubled to left. Duran got a base hit to left to score Rafaela to put the Sox in the lead. Abreu got a base hit to left but Cooper grounded into a double play. Devers was intentionally walked but Smith grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-1.
Kenley Jansen came in to close out the top of the ninth and Frelick took strike three to start. Dunn struck out swinging and Perkins' bunt attempt was snuffed out by Jansen to end the game. The Sox had won it 2-1.
Sox win
Duran The Hero
Hero of The Night is Jarren Duran. His rbi single in the 8th put the Sox up for good.
The Good:
Wilyer Abreu was 3 for 4 with a run scored.
Vaughn Grissom was 1 for 3.
David Hamilton was 1 for 3 with 2 stolen bases.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 3 with a stolen base and a run scored.
Tanner Houck tossed 6 innings of 1 run ball allowing 7 hits while striking out 7.
Chris Martin pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Justin Slaten got the win by striking out the side in the eighth inning.
Kenley Jansen got his ninth save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Garrett Cooper was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Reese McGuire was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 2 but walked and scored a run.
Dominic Smith was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Three games, three times the Brewers pitching staff held the Sox to almost no runs. Only this time, the Sox pitching held up. Houck held the Brewers to just a single run and the bullpen slammed the door after that. The Sox were pretty much sleeepwalking the whole game and still found a way to pull it out. Still, the problems that have been plaguing the Sox all season continued as they couldn't generate much offense. The losses of Trevor Story and Triston Casas have been killers but the bottom of the order being a black hole just makes things worse. Get ready for a .500 season if things keep up, and that's being generous. The win improved the Sox to 27-26, 9 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox now travel to Baltimore for one of the most important series of the season against the Orioles. Cooper Criswell (2-1) gets the start for Boston against Cole Irvin of Baltimore tomorrow afternoon. The game begins at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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