Carlos Rodon got the start for Chicago, bumping up a day due to the release of Jon Danks. At first things went Chicago's way. Mr. Mookie Betts lined out but Xander Bogaerts singled. David Ortiz banged into a double play to end the inning. The White Sox wasted no time scoring off the much maligned Buchholz in the bottom of the first. Adam Eaton flied out but Jimmy Rollins singled. Jose Abreu then crushed a 400 foot 2 run blast to give the south siders a 2-0 lead. Todd Frazier whiffed and Melky Cabrera flied out to end the inning. Wonderful start by Buchholz.
The Bosox failed to respond in the top of the second inning. Dustin Pedroia lined out, Chris Young looked at strike three and Travis Shaw flied out. Buchholz ran into more trouble in the bottom of the second. Brett Lawrie walked but Jerry Sands struck out. Dioneer Navarro singled but Austin Jackson grounded into a double play to end the inning. Shockingly Navarro's hit would be Chicago's last.
The Bosox struck back in the top of the third inning. Josh Rutledge grounded out to short but Christian Vazquez reached on an infield single. Jackie Bradley Jr got a base hit and both runners advanced on a wild pitch...only for Mr. Mookie to strike out. Fear not! Bogaerts came through with a single to score Vazquez and cut the lead 2-1. Ortiz flied out to end the inning.
Buchholz somehow settled down the remainder of the game. Eaton lined out to open the bottom of the third. Rollins grounded out and Buchholz showed some balls by brushing back Abreu with an inside fastball. Shades of Pedro Martinez. Abreu flied out to right, good work by Clay.
Things got a little hairy in the top of the fourth. Pedroia grounded out but Young walked. In retaliation for the brushback, Shaw was drilled. For some reason the umpires didn't bother to warn anyone but the Bosox didn't respond anyway. Rutledge legged out an infield single to load the bases....only for Vazquez to kill the rally by grounding into a double play. Thanks a lot Vaz.
Frazier popped up to start the bottom of the fourth. Cabrera grounded out but Lawrie walked. Sands grounded into a force to end the inning.
The Sox took command in the top of the fifth. JBJ struck out and Mr.Mookie flied out but Bogaerts walked and David Ortiz swatted home run number 509 to give the Sox a 3-2 lead. Pedroia struck out to end the inning. Big Papi does it again.
Could Buchholz pitch with the lead? Shockingly, yes. Navarro grounded out, Jackson struck out and Eaton grounded out to end the inning.
Rondon was tiring but the Bosox failed to capitalize in the top of the sixth inning. Young looked at strike three and Shaw went down swinging. Rutledge walked but Vazquez flied out to end the inning. Buchholz returned for the bottom of the sixth and got Rollins to ground out. Abreu whiffed (see what happens when you brush someone back?) and Frazier flied out to end the inning.
Zach Putnam replaced Rodon in the top of the seventh and JBJ flied out. Mr. Mookie and Bogaerts hit back to back singles to chase Putnam. Zach Duke came on to face Ortiz and Big Papi singled home Mr.Mookie to make it 4-2. Pedroia banged into a double play but the Bosox now had an insurance run. Buchholz came back for one more inning in the bottom of the seventh. Cabrera grounded out but both Lawrie and Sands looked at strike three to end the inning. Buchholz gave up 3 hits and 2 runs in the first 2 innings then allowed just a walk the next 5, outstanding.
The Bosox got some more insurance in the top of the eighth. Young doubled and moved to third on the Shaw ground out. "Razor" Rutledge added to the cause with a single to center to score Young and give the Sox a 5-2 lead. Vazquez grounded out and JBJ hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
It was Koji Time in the bottom of the eighth and Uehara got some big help from his defense. Mr. Mookie made a great diving catch to rob Navarro of a hit then ran around in a circle to rob Jackson of a hit as well. Then Young made a mad dash to rob Eaton at the wall to end the inning. Koji needs to buy those two a round later.
Dan Jennings came in to pitch the top of the ninth. Mr. Mookie was so exhausted from the previous half inning that he could only muster a fly out to right. Bogaerts grounded out but Ortiz whiffed to end the inning. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth. He blew away Rollins but walked Abreu. Frazier ended the game by grounding into a double play. The Red Sox had defeated the White 5-2.
Hero of the night is David Ortiz. His 2 run blast put the Sox on top and his later hit added an insurance run.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts continued his hot streak by going 3 for 4 with a walk, run scored and an rbi. Chris Young was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. Josh Rutledge was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run batted in. Clay Buchholz was outstanding. After allowing a first inning 2 run shot by Abreu, he allowed just 1 hit the rest of the way as he tossed 7 innings, walking just 2 while striking out 6. He's now 1-3 on the season, lowering his ERA to 5.71. Koji Uehara tossed a perfect eighth. Craig Kimbrel earned his 9th save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 4 with a strikeout. Travis Shaw was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 5 with a run scored. Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 with a run scored. Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 to extend his hit streak to 10 games.
Final Thoughts:
Well this just threw a monkey wrench into the Sox starting rotation plans. With Eduardo Rodriguez set to return, someone has to go. It looked like Buchholz was on his way out but he just pitched a gem against the American League's best team. Now Sox manager John Farrell has to make a decision on who goes when Rodriguez comes back. Price and Porcello are going nowhere as they're a combined 9-0, which leaves Owens, Buchholz and Wright. If Owens stinks tomorrow, he could be the odd man out. Still, this is what we would call the "good kind of competition" where people are doing their best to keep their jobs. As long as Wright, Owens and Buchholz continue to pitch well, its only good news. The win puts the Sox at 16-11, a half game in front of the Baltimore Orioles, who lost to the New York Yankees tonight. For 24 hours the Red Sox fans can laugh as the Sox are in first and the Yankees in last. Tomorrow night is the finale of the three game set as Henry Owens (0-0, 4.82 ERA) takes on Charlotte Knights call-up Johnson.
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