Bumgarner got the ball to start the top of the first and Mr. Mookie Betts greeted him with a bloop single to center to begin. Dustin Pedroia whiffed but Betts swiped second on the throw. He was stranded as Xander Bogaerts popped up to short and Hanley Ramirez was retired on a check swing grounder back to the mound to end the inning. Price hung tough in the bottom of the first as Denard Span popped up to left to start. Kelby Tomlinson hit a bullet but Ramirez snared it and Brandon Belt flied out to a running Betts to end the inning.
Jackie Bradley Jr lined out to left to begin the top of the second before Chris Young flied out to right. Josh "Razor" Rutledge whiffed on a pitch that bounced in the dirt to end the inning. Matt Duffy led off the bottom of the second with a base hit up the middle but Brandon Crawford lined out to JBJ. Trevor Brown flied out to right and Jarrett Parker almost cleaned out Duffy on a broken bat grounder to second to end the inning.
The Sox blew a chance to get to Bumgarner in the top of the third inning as Christian Vazquez lined out to right to start. Price took strike three on the outside corner but Mr. Mookie blooped a single to left. Betts swiped second again although Pedroia walked this time. The rally ended as Bogaerts grounded out to third to end the inning. Price kept pace in the bottom of the third as Williamson went down swinging to start. Bumgarner lined out to a running Betts before Span grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the fourth inning although Ramirez lined out to left to start. JBJ was rung up for strike three but Young bashed his 5th home run of the season just over the left field wall to put the Sox on top. Rutledge popped up to first in foul territory to end the inning but the Sox were up 1-0.
The Giants wasted no time answering in the bottom of the fourth although Tomlinson was frozen for strike three to start. Belt then crushed a solo shot into McCovey Cove to tie the game. Duffy grounded out to second and Crawford grounded out to first to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Bumgarner cruised in the top of the fifth inning as Vazquez popped up to center to begin. Price looked at a 74 mph curve right down the middle for strike three before Mr. Mookie grounded out to second to end the inning. Price matched Bumgarner in the bottom of the fifth as Brown popped up to Bogaerts in foul territory to start. Pedroia made a great play to rob Parker of a hit before Williamson took an 89 mph slider on the corner to end the inning.
Pedroia led off the top of the sixth inning by extending his hitting streak to 15 games with a base hit to left. Pedroia was erased on the Bogaerts grounder as Hanley lined out to a running Span in deep center. JBJ popped up to short to end the inning. Price did what he could in the bottom of the sixth by getting Bumgarner to waive at strike three to start. Pedroia made a great throw to get Span on a hard grounder to second but Tomlinson drew a walk. Belt grounded out to Rutledge in the shift to end the inning.
That was it for Bumgarner as Derek Law took the mound in the top of the seventh inning. Young tried to start a rally with a base hit up the middle to begin. Travis Shaw pinch hit for Rutledge and popped up to center to start. Vazquez popped up to center and Price whiffed to end the inning. Price continued his hot streak in the bottom of the seventh by freezing Duffy on a 95 mph heater to start. Crawford drew a walk and the wind caused Brown's home run ball to die on the left field warning track for the second out. Parker whiffed on a 93 mph fastball to end the inning.
Cory Gearrin took over for the top of the eighth with Gregor Blanco now in right field. Sox analyst "Psycho" Steve Lyons asked if every Giants pitcher all have the same hair as Mr. Mookie whiffed on a nasty slider to start. Belt dropped a pop up by Pedroia but Dustin ended up popping up to center anyway. Bogaerts whiffed on a slider down the middle to end the inning. The Giants took command in the bottom of the eighth when the slumping Williamson crushed his first major league home run just over the left field wall to put San Francisco up for good. Price battled back to get Blanco to ground out to Hanley and Span to swing at air. Tomlinson lined out to center to end the inning. Price held the Giants to 3 hits in 8 innings but unfortunately trailed 2-1.
Joe Panik came in to play second with Giants closer Santiago Casilla coming in to close out the top of the ninth. The Sox caught a break when Williamson dropped Hanley's line drive for an error to start. With the tying run at second, JBJ took a borderline pitch for strike three before uncharacteristically barking at the umpire. David Ortiz got a standing ovation as he pinch hit for Young which prompted Giants manager Bruce Bochy to pull his closer in favor of old buddy Javier Lopez. Ortiz walked to put the go-ahead run at first base. Rusney Castillo pinch ran for Ortiz and with a chance to put the Sox on top....Shaw whiffed. Bochy then brought in Hunter Strickland to face Vazquez but Sox manager John Farrell bizarrely sent in Marco Hernandez to pinch hit with the game on the line. Naturally Hernandez grounded out to second to end the game. The Giants had just 3 hits in the game but won it 2-1 thanks to good pitching.
Jackass of the Night is Travis Shaw. He popped up with a man on base in the seventh and struck out with two men on in the top of the ninth inning.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with 2 stolen bases.
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Chris Young was 2 for 3 with a solo home run.
David Ortiz walked as a pinch hitter.
One of the rare times the losing pitcher ends up on the good list but David Price pitched well. He tossed a complete game 3 hitter while striking out 7, the only two mistakes were the two home runs. He did have a hat trick of three strikeouts too.
The Bad:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Josh Rutledge was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3.
Marco Hernandez grounded out to end the game as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
None
Honorable Mention:
Rusney Castillo pinch ran for Ortiz in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Great game, too bad they couldn't win it. The Boston talking heads on the radio after the game were whining that Price can't beat other teams aces. Guess they didn't see Bumgarner only lasted 6 innings and the Sox offense mustered nothing against the struggling Giants bullpen. On any other day, 8 innings of 2 run ball would be enough to win. Just goes to show how toxic the media can be around here. Still it was only one game and the Sox get to feast on the last place Minnesota Twins in their next series. The loss dropped the Sox to 34-25, 1.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow, the Sox head to Minnesota for a three game set with the lowly Twins. Steven Wright (6-4, 2.29 ERA) takes on Tyler Duffey on Friday night at 8:10 PM Eastern time at Target Field.
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