For five innings it looked like the Boston Red Sox were headed to their second straight loss against the last place Sacramento A's. Patrick Sandoval lasted just 5 innings for the Sox allowing a Jonah Heim home run in the bottom of the second and a Lawrence Butler home run in the bottom of the fifth. The only run scored by the Sox was a Jahmai Jones home run in the top of the fifth. Then in the top of the sixth Nick Sogard drove in a run and the Red Sox bullpen stepped up big time to pitch shutout ball the rest of the way. After Aroldis Chapman (2-3, 1.77 ERA) finished the ninth, Andruw Monasterio blasted a 2 run home run in the top of the tenth to put the Sox on top. Greg Weissert struck out two of the three guys he faced to get the save and the Sox had won this one 4-2 in 10 innings at Sutter Health Park.
Lopez got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jahmai Jones walked to start Ceddanne Rafaela struck out swinging and Wilyer Abreu popped up to third, but Willson Contreras walked. Caleb Durbin popped up to third to end the inning. Sandoval got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jacob Wilson flied out to center to start. Nick Kurtz was hit with a pitch and moved to second on the Tommy White grounder back to the mound. Tyler Soderstrom struck out swinging to end the inning.
Jeff McNeil came in for Kurtz to start the top of the second and Romy Gonzalez struck out swinging to start. Andruw Monasterio got a base hit to right and Nick Sogard struck out swinging. Connor Wong popped up to second to end the inning. The A's struck first in the bottom of the second as Jonah Heim hit a home run all the way to Washington DC to start. Colby Thomas struck out swinging but Henry Bolte walked. Bolte was thrown out at second trying to steal but Lawrence Butler walked. Alika Williams forced Butler at second to end the inning with the A's up 1-0.
Jones struck out swinging to start the top of the third but Rafaela got a base hit to center. Abreu lined out to left and Contreras struck out swinging to end the inning. Wilson grounded out to third to start the bottom of the third and McNeil lined out to center. White struck out swinging to end the inning.
Durbin got a base hit to center to start the top of the fourth but Gonzalez popped up to short. Monasterio got a base hit to left and Sogard got a base hit to right to load the bases. Wong grounded into a double play to end the inning. Soderstrom struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fourth before Heim singled to right. Thomas popped up to second and Bolte struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox fought back in the top of the fifth as Jones smashed his fourth home run of the season to start. Rafaela struck out swinging and Abreu did the same. Contreras went down hacking to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
The A's finished off Sandoval in the bottom of the fifth as Butler hit a home run all the way back to Oakland to start. Williams lined out to left but Wilson got a base hit to center. McNeil got a base hit to right but White struck out swinging. Soderstrom took strike three to end the inning with the A's up 2-1. Yeoman's effort from Sandoval to hold the A's to 2 runs in 5 innings off 5 hits and 2 walks.
The Sox fought back in the top of the sixth as Durbin got a base hit to left to start. Gonzalez flied out to right and that was it for Lopez. Hayden Juenger came in to pitch and Monasterio popped up to short. Sogard got a base hit to center to score Durbin to tie the game. Masataka Yoshida pinch hit for Wong and grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Carlos Narvaez took over behind the plate with Tyron "El Lanzallamas" Guerrero now on the mound for the bottom of the sixth. Heim popped up to third to start and Carlos Cortes pinch hit for Thomas. Cortes struck out swinging and Thomas grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Jarren Duran pinch hit for Jones to start the top of the seventh and flied out to center. Rafaela doubled to center then moved to third on the Abreu grounder to first. Contreras walked to chase Juenger. Elvis Alvarado came in to pitch and Durbin walked to load the bases. Gonzalez grounded out to first to end the inning. Justin "Incinerator" Slaten came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Butler lined out to left to start. Donovan Walton pinch hit for Williams and flied out to center. Monasterio threw a ball away by Wilson for an error and McNeil singled to right to move Wilson to third. McNeil stole second but White struck out swinging to end the inning.
Monasterio was plunked to start the top of the eighth and took second on a balk. Sogard and Narvaez both struck out swinging to chase Alvarado. Brady Basso came in to get Duran to ground out to first to end the inning. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Soderstrom flied out to left to start. Heim got a base hit to center but Cortes took strike three. Bolte forced Heim at second to end the inning.
Rafaela took strike three to start the top of the ninth and Abreu struck out swinging. Contreras singled to left and Durbin did the same. Gonzalez grounded out to second to end the inning. Aroldis Chapman came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Butler doubled to center to start. Walton dropped down a bunt to move Butler to third but Wilson struck out swinging. McNeil struck out swinging to end the inning.
Jose Suarez came in to pitch the top of the tenth with Gonzalez starting at second base. Monasterio clobbered his sixth home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Sogard popped up to second, Narvaez flied out to center and Duran lined out to short to end the inning with the Sox up 4-2.
Greg Weissert came in to close out the bottom of the tenth with McNeil starting at second base. White took strike three, Soderstrom struck out swinging and Heim flied out to right to end the game. The Sox had won it 4-2.
Hero of The Night is Andruw Monasterio. His 2 run home run put the Sox ahead for good.
The Good:
Jahmai Jones was 1 for 2 with a walk and a home run.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 5.
Willson Contreras was 1 for 3 with 2 walks.
Caleb Durbin was 3 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Nick Sogard was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
Patrick Sandoval allowed just 2 runs in 5 innings off 5 hits and 2 walks.
Tyron Guerrero pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Justin Slaten pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Garrett Whitlock tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
Aroldis Chapman got the win with a scoreless ninth inning.
Greg Weissert earned his first save of the season with a scoreless tenth inning.
The Bad:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 3.
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Connor Wong was 0 for 2.
Masataka Yoshida was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Carlos Narvaez was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Romy Gonzalez was 0 for 5 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
This has been a hell of a month and Sox fans don't want it to end. Just one month ago if other teams had the lead after 5 innings the game was over. Now they win games no matter what inning it is. Not only that, entrusting Greg Weissert with a man on base was suicide and now he gets them 1-2-3. The Sox with Weissert, Whitlock, Chapman, Slaten and Guerrero are five men deep and if Chad Tracy lets the starters go past 6 innings with a lead, the game is essentially over. Alex Cora used to burn the bullpen every single season by yanking guys after 5 and using the same 2 or 3 guys until they had nothing left. If Tracy wants to avoid a similar collapse (2021, 2023, 2024), he needs to trust his starters and rotate the bullpen. As for this game, 2 months ago everyone wanted Sox GM Craig Breslow fired for trading Kyle Harrison for Anthony Seigler, Durbin and Monasterio (and Owen Hull). Now Monasteiro is getting big hits in the later innings and Durbin went from hitting .166 on May 17 to .244 tonight. The team believes they can win and they're locked in. The bad news was the Tampa Bay Rays won but the good news is the New York Yankees lost. The Sox trimmed a 15 game lead on June 24 down to 4.5 and Yankee fans are starting to get rattled. This would be hilarious if the Sox pulled a reverse 1978. Hopefully the Sox can pull that off. The win improved the Sox to 56-51, 7 games behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to take the series tomorrow night against the A's when Sonny Gray (12-2) takes on Mason Barnett of Sacramento. The game begins at 9:40 PM at Sutter Health Field.
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