Buchholz started the top of the first by allowing a single to the pain in the ass Jose Altuve. George Springer banged into a double play but Carlos Correa launched a fastball into the centerfield bleachers to make it 1-0 just like that. Colby Rasmus singled but Marwin Gonzalez struck out to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time getting the run back. Mr. Mookie Betts singled off Astros starter Collin McHugh to begin the frame. Jackie Bradley Jr was moved up to the 2 slot with Dustin Pedroia getting the night off and he singled. Xander Bogaerts smacked a ground rule double that scored Mr. Mookie to tie the game. David Ortiz walked to load the bases but JBJ was thrown out at home on the force by Hanley Ramirez. Travis Shaw worked a walk to give the Sox a 2-1 lead but Josh "Razor" Rutledge banged into a double play to kill the rally.
Just like that, Buchholz crapped himself in the top of the second. Luis Valbuena singled but Preston Tucker popped up. Jose Castro walked but Ryan Marisnick flied out. Altuve walked to load the bases and Buchholz left a hanging fastball that Springer was more than happy to deposit into the monster seats for a grand slam, giving the Astros a 5-1 lead. Correa grounded out to end the inning and Clay left the mound to thunderous boo's from the hostile crowd. This time the Sox could not answer. Brock "Hitman" Holt flied out and Christian Vazquez grounded out. Mr. Mookie hit a pop up that Correa lost in the sun, hitting him on the head and allowing Mookie to reach second. Unfortunately JBJ grounded out to end the inning.
Inexplicably, Buchholz found his groove in the top of the third. Rasmus singled but he struck out both Gonzalez and Valbuena. Tucker flied out to end the inning. The Sox got one back in the bottom of the third. Bogaerts popped up but David Ortiz blasted homer number 513 to right to cut the lead 5-3. Ramirez singled but once again the Sox killed the rally when Shaw grounded into a double play to end the inning.
A 1-2-3 inning continued to elude Buchholz in the top of the fourth. Castro flied out and Marisnick grounded out, but Altuve walked. Springer flied out to end the inning. The Sox tried to fight back in the bottom of the fourth. Razor doubled but Hitman lined out. Vazquez singled but Mr. Mookie could only manage to beat out a double play ball to score Razor. JBJ grounded out to end the inning but it was now 5-4.
Buchholz finally got the 1-2-3 inning by striking out Correa to begin the top of the fifth. Rasmus grounded out and Gonzalez struck out swinging. The Sox mustered nothing against McHugh in the bottom of the fifth. Bogaerts singled but Ortiz flied out. Ramirez whiffed and Shaw popped up to end the inning.
Valbuena and Tucker flied out to left to open the top of the sixth. Castro doubled but Marisnick grounded out. Another typical Buchholz start, batting practice one inning, unhittable the rest of the day. The Sox tried to rally in the bottom of the sixth. Razor struck out but Holt singled. Holt advanced to second on the ground out by Vazquez and Mr. Mookie walked. Once again with a chance to do damage, JBJ grounded out.
Carson Smith replaced Buchholz for the top of the seventh. Altuve beat out an infield single but Springer banged into a double play. Correa singled to chase Smith as Sox manager John Farrell went with Tommy Layne to pitch to Rasmus. The matchup worked as Layne struck out Rasmus to end the inning. Pat Neshek took over for McHugh and the Sox offense was done for the night. Bogaerts flied out and Ortiz struck out on a 67 mph meatball. Ramirez whiffed badly to end the inning.
Layne returned for the top of the eighth and the move backfired as Gonzalez doubled. Valbuena sacrifice bunted him over to third and Tyler White pinch hit for Tucker. White was intentionally walked to set up a force although Carlos Gomez pinch ran for White. Gomez swiped second but Gonzalez was caught in a rundown and tagged out, although Gomez reached third. Castro walked and Farrell pulled Layne for Junichi Tazawa. Marisnick struck out to end the inning. The Sox tried to rally one last time in the bottom of the eighth against Will Harris. Shaw walked and Razor sacrifice bunted him to second. Holt grounded out to move Shaw to third and Dustin Pedroia pinch hit for Vazquez. With the tying run 90 feet away....Pedroia grounded out on the first pitch.
Ryan Hanigan took over behind the plate as Tazawa stayed in to pitch the top of the ninth. Altuve and Springer flied out but Correa was plunked. Correa was foolishly thrown at second by Hanigan with Rasmus batting to end the inning. Luke Gregerson came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox were 0-13 when trailing after 8 entering the inning. Make it 0-14 as Mr. Mookie flied out but JBJ walked. Bogaerts worked the count to 3-0 but just barely beat out a double play. Ortiz somehow tied the game on an rbi triple as Fenway exploded. Then Hanley Ramirez inexplicably tried to suicide squeeze Ortiz home but was thrown out at first by a mile. What the hell was he thinking? It was on to extra innings.
Craig Kimbrel was brought in to pitch the top of the 10th. Rasmus popped up, Gonzalez flied out and Valbuena flied out to end the inning. The Sox got a chance in the bottom of the 10th against Ken Giles. Shaw doubled off the monster but Rutledge missed the bunt and struck out. Holt lined out but Shaw took third on a wild pitch. With the winning run 90 feet away.....Hanigan grounded out to end the inning. Damn.
Koji Uehara (2-1) came on to pitch the top of the 11th. Gomez and Castro struck out but Marisnick doubled and Altuve was intentionally walked. Springer popped up to end the inning. Rookie Mike Feliz got the ball in the bottom of the 11th and things looked bleak when both Mr. Mookie and JBJ grounded out. Bogaerts then lashed a single to right and in came Ortiz. Why Astros manager AJ Hinch decided to pitch to Ortiz, no one knows. It was a mistake because Ortiz turned on a 2-2 fastball and belted it into the triangle, scoring Bogaerts with the winning run. The Sox had won it 6-5.
Hero of the Night is obviously David Ortiz. He was a one man wrecking crew with a home run, triple and double to propel the Sox to victory.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 5 with a walk, rbi and run scored.Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 6 with an rbi and 3 runs scored. Travis Shaw was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and an rbi. Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3. Carson Smith got 2 of the 3 batters he faced. Tommy Layne pitched a full scoreless inning. Junichi Tazawa pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless inning. Koji Uehara got the win with a scoreless 11th inning.
The Bad:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 5 with a walk. Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 5. Josh Rutledge was 1 for 4 with a run scored. Brock Holt was 1 for 5. Ryan Hanigan was 0 for 1 at the plate but threw out Correa trying to steal. Clay Buchholz was once again the definition of inconsistent. He gave up 5 runs early but hung on to go 6 full giving up 7 hits, 3 walks while striking out 5.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox were 0-13 going into the game when trailing after 8 innings but David Ortiz said that was enough of that. This was vintage Big Papi as he carried them the whole afternoon. Also showcased was the bullpen that nobody is talking about. Everyone keeps trumpeting the New York Yankees but 4 is more than 3. Smith, Tazawa, Uehara and Kimbrel kept the Astros off the board long enough for the Sox to pull this one out. They survived another Clay Buchholz start and one has to wonder if this could be his last start with Eduardo Rodiguez and Joe Kelly ready to return. The win put the Sox at 23-14, 1 game behind the Baltimore Orioles who have now won 7 straight. Tomorrow will be a slugfest as Sean O'Sullivan gets the start for Boston against Chris Devenski at 1:35.
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