At first the game seemed like a pitcher's duel with RA Dickey going for Toronto. Mr. Mookie Betts walked to lead off the top of the first, but both Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts flied out. Sox starter David Price was up to the task in the bottom of the first inning. Jose Bautista flied out and Josh Donaldson grounded out but Edwin Encarnarcion walked. Justin Smoak walked and both runners advanced on a wild pitch...but Devon Travis grounded out to third to end the inning.
Dickey remained stingy in the top of the second. Hanley Ramirez and Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out but Josh "Razor" Rutledge walked. Christian Vazquez grounded into a force to end the inning. Price matched Dickey in the bottom of the second. Darwin Barney flied out and Kevin Pillar popped up, but Ezequiel Carrera singled. Josh Thole flied out to end the inning.
Dickey continued to dominate in the top of the third. Blake Swihart grounded out, Mr. Mookie flied out and Dickey snared a liner to rob Pedroia of a hit to end the inning. Price put up zero's of his own in the bottom of the third. Bautista popped up and Donaldson lined out, then Encarnarcion grounded out to end the inning.
Dickey kept the shut out going in the top of the fourth. Bogaerts lined out, Shaw flied out and Ramirez lined out to end the inning. The Jay threatened in the bottom of the fourth. Smoak flied out but Travis singled. Barney lined out and Pillar struck out to end the inning.
JBJ walked to begin the top of the fifth but Rutledge banged into a double play. Vazquez lined out to end the inning. The Jays struck first in the bottom of the fifth. Carrera singled but Thole struck out. Bautista put the Jays on top with a 2 run home run to make Sox fans groan. Donaldson walked but Encarnarcion flied out. Smoak struck out to end the inning.
Could the Sox answer in the top of the sixth? YES! Swihart struck out but Mr. Mookie tripled. Pedroia singled to put the Sox on the board. Bogaerts singled and Shaw walked to load the bases. Ramirez was hit with a pitch to force in another run and chase Dickey. The Sox tied the game and was looking for more against Chad Girodo. JBJ walked to make it 3-2 and that was it for Chad, in came Jesse Chavez. Rutledge killed another rally with a strikeout then Vazquez flied out to end the inning. Aother run would have been huge but the Sox still led. Price held the Jays scoreless in the bottom of the sixth. Travis and Barney grounded out and Pillar flied out to end the inning.
The Sox missed a big chance in the top of the seventh to ice the game. Swihart led off with a single and moved to second on the Mr. Mookie ground out. Pedroia popped up and Bogaerts hit a dribbler that he barely beat out...only Swihart was thrown at home to end the inning.
Price returned for the bottom of the seventh but Carrera beat out an infield hit then was sacrificed to second by Thole. That was it for Price after 6 1/3 innings, replaced by Heath Hembree. Heath got the job done by striking out Bautista and getting Donaldson to fly out to right to end the inning. Price had given up just 2 runs in his start, not bad at all.
Joe Biagini relived Chavez in the top of the eighth.Shaw and Ramirez grounded out and JBJ struck out to end the inning. Hembree returned for the bottom of the eighth but immediately coughed up the lead when Encarnarcion belted a solo home run 423 feet to left to tie the game. Smoak singled but Travis popped up. Barney singled and Jimmy Parades pinch ran for Smoak. Pillar flied out and that was it for Hembree. Robbie Ross Jr was brought in and Russell Martin pinch hit for Carrera. Martin grounded out to end the inning but the game was tied.
Bautista moved to first base, Martin took over behind the plate and Parades moved to right, Saunders to left in the top of the ninth. Rutledge whiffed but Vazquez beat out an infield single. Swihart flied out but Mr. Mookie singled. Marco Hernandez pinch ran for Vazquez but Pedroia flied out to end the inning. Ryan "Hot Hands" Hanigan took over behind the plate while Ross returned for the bottom of the ninth. Saunders and Bautista grounded out but Donaldson singled and Encarnarcion walked. Parades struck out to end the inning...off to extras we go.
Jays closer Roberto Osuna came in to pitch the top of the 10th. Bogaerts grounded out but Shaw singled. Ramirez struck out but Shaw moved all the way to third on a wild pitch. With the go-ahead run in scoring position, JBJ walked and stole second. Rutledge flied out to end the inning. The much maligned Clay Buchholz (3-5, 6.24 ERA) was summoned to pitch the bottom of the 10th. Travis popped up but Barney singled. Pillar popped up and Martin struck out to end the inning.
The Sox finally broke through in the top of the 11th inning off Gavin Floyd. Hanigan grounded out but Swihart walked. Mr. Mookie walked and Jays manager Jay Gibbons went with Drew Storen against Pedroia. It was a bad move as Pedroia hit a ground rule double to score Swihart to make it 4-3. Bogaerts knocked in the insurance run with a ground out, scoring Betts. Shaw lined out but the Sox had a 5-3 lead. Koji Uehara turned back the clock 3 years to close out the game. Saunders flied out as both Bautista and Donaldson struck out to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-3.
Hero of the Night is Koji Uehara. Facing Toronto's two best hitters in extra innings, Koji whiffed them both to earn his first save of the year.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored. Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 6 with a run scored and 2 rbi's. Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 6 with a run scored and an rbi. Jackie Bradley Jr walked 3 times, stole a base and drove in a run. David Price pitched well, tossing 6 1/3 innings of 2 run ball by allowing 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 3. Robbie Ross Jr tossed 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Clay Buchholz got the win with a scoreless 10th inning.
The Bad:
Ryan Hanigan was 0 for 1 at the plate.
The Ugly:
Travis Shaw was just 1 for 5 but walked. Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4 but drove in a run. Josh Rutledge was 0 for 4 but drove in a run. Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4. Heath Hembree gave up the tying home run but tossed 1 1/3 innings of relief.
Honorable Mention:
Marco Hernandez pinch ran for Vazquez in the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Let's get outta here! The Sox have had trouble with Toronto all year and thankfully the only good thing about most of their games with them is that they're mostly over. The Sox can't get into slugfests with Toronto, the only way they can beat them is to shut down their bats....which is easier said then done. Price and Rick Porcello weren't their sharpest but did what they could to hang in there. The win moved the Sox to 30-20, still good for first place in the AL East. The Sox head to Baltimore where Steven Wright (4-4) takes on Tyler Wilson at 1:35 PM.
No comments:
Post a Comment