What a game! The Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox had a back and forth game full of drama, twists and turns. The Red Sox trailed 4-1 when they pulled off a huge rally to take the lead 5-4. Jose Abreu clobbered a 3 run homer to give Chicago the lead back but the Sox fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. In the end it was Xander Bogaerts who knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the tenth. The Red Sox snapped their losing streak with a thrilling 8-7 victory over the White Sox at Fenway Park.
"Slick" Rick Porcello got the ball in the top of the first and the White Sox wasted no time tagging him. Tim Anderson singled to right and Adam Eaton was plunked. Jose Abreu singled off the glove of Porcello to load the bases and Melky Cabrera banged into a double play to score Anderson. Eaton scored on a wild pitch and Todd Frazier took strike three to end the inning with the White Sox ahead 2-0.
"Big game" James Shields took the ball in the bottom of the first and Mr. Mookie Betts greeted him with a base hit up the middle. Sox analyst Dennis Eckersley heroically snared a foul ball to save Dave O'Brien as Dustin Pedroia forced Betts at second. Xander Bogaerts popped up to left and David Ortiz swung and missed for strike three to end the inning.
Porcello recovered in the top of the second inning as Brett Lawrie grounded out to second to start. Alex Avila flied out to deep center and Avisail Garcia flied out to right to end the inning. Disaster struck in the bottom of the second as Chris Young hit a shot off the Monster but pulled up lame and grabbed his leg. Young had to be carried out on a stretcher, loaded into an ambulance and rushed to Addison Gilbert Hospital's ICU. Ryan LaMarre pinch ran for Young and was erased on the Jackie Bradley Jr force. Hanley Ramirez singled to center and both runners moved over on the Christian Vazquez grounder to short. Marco Hernandez lined out to left to end the inning.
LeMarre took over in left to start the top of the third. JB Shuck lined out to a running JBJ to start before Anderson flied out to right. Eaton caught Porcello asleep with a bunt single and Abreu was plunked, but Cabrera grounded into a force to end the inning. Mr. Mookie popped up to short to start the bottom of the third and Pedroia flied out to the centerfield warning track. Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning.
The White Sox struck again in the top of the fourth as Frazier popped up to first to start. Lawrie dumped a single to right and Avila punched a base hit to center. Garcia took strike three but Shuck dropped a base hit into right. Lawrie scored but Avila was thrown out at third to end the inning with the ChiSox up 3-0.
Ortiz walked to start the bottom of the fourth but LeMarre banged into a double play. JBJ walked but Ramirez popped up to short to end the inning.
Porcello looked strong in the top of the fifth as Anderson grounded out to third to start. Eaton walked but Abreu banged into a double play to end the inning. The BoSox finally showed some life in the bottom of the fifth as Vazquez took strike three to start. Hernandez grounded out to second but Mr. Mookie dropped in a bloop single to right. Pedroia doubled down the left field line to score Betts to put the Sox on the board. Bogaerts popped up to the middle of the mound and nearly all of the White Sox infielders ran into each other, but Abreu caught it for the third out. The BoSox were on the board and trailed 3-1.
The ChiSox chased Porcello in the top of the sixth as Cabrera led off with a triple over the head of Bradley. Sox manager John Farrell challenged that Cabrera was out at third but replays showed he was safe. Frazier scored Cabrera with a sac fly and Lawrie singled off the bumbling Porcello. Farrell had seen enough and pulled Porcello after 5 1/3 innings. He allowed 4 runs and just wasn't sharp. Tommy Layne came in and Avila singled Lawrie to third. Garcia banged into a double play to end the inning but it was 4-1 Chicago.
The Red Sox exploded in the bottom of the sixth as Ortiz led off by drawing a walk. LaMarre walked to chase Shields. Matt Alberts came in and JBJ was plunked was to load the bases. Hanley hit a routine grounder to Lawrie who fired to first....NOWHERE NEAR THE BAG! Ortiz and LeMarre scored on the error with Bradley moving to third. Sandy Leon pinch hit for Vazquez and singled home Bradley to tie the game with Hanley moving to third. Dan Jennings came in to pitch and Hernandez beat out a double play ball to score Hanley with the go-ahead run. Mr. Mookie forced Hernandez at second and then got picked off to end the inning with Boston ahead 5-4.
The White Sox answered in the top of the seventh although Shuck grounded back to the mound to start. Anderson singled to left and Eaton caught Layne asleep with a bunt single to chase Tommy. Junichi Tazawa came in and Abreu pounded a home run to South America to put Chicago back on top. Cabrera and Frazier both flied out to center to end the inning but it was 7-5 White Sox.
Chris Beck took over for the bottom of the seventh and the BoSox rallied again. Pedroia walked to start but Bogaerts hit a routine grounder to third....THROWN AWAY by Frazier. Both runners moved into scoring position and Ortiz was intentionally walked to load the bases with nobody out. Travis Shaw pinch hit for LaMarre and hit a sac fly to the right field warning track to score Pedroia. JBJ popped up a bunt to second and Hanley whiffed to end the inning with the BoSox down 7-6.
Heath Hembree came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Lawrie hit a routine grounder to Bogaerts. Xander picked up the ball and threw it straight up in the air for an error. Avila then missed taking Hembree's head off with a liner to center and Garcia dumped a single to right to load the bases with nobody out. Somehow Hembree got Shuck to fly out to short left to hold the runners. Hembree struck out Anderson swinging and got Eaton to ground out to second to houdini his way out of the inning. The BoSox tied it in the bottom of the eighth with Nate Jones now on the mound. Eaton robbed Leon of extra bases with a great running catch and Hernandez missed the go-ahead home run by inches, settling for a Monster double. Mr. Mookie whiffed but Pedroia lashed a base hit to left to score Hernandez with the tying run. Bogaerts check swing popped up to Abreu to end the inning but the game was tied 7-7.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Abreu flied out to right to start. Cabrera also flied out to right and Frazier went down hacking to end the inning. White Sox closer David Robertson took over for the bottom of the ninth and Ortiz pounded a ground-rule double into the right field bleachers to start. Deven Marrero pinch ran for Ortiz and Shaw drew a walk. JBJ watched strike three go right down the middle and Hanley hit a bullet, but right to Eaton. Leon whiffed to end the inning, what a waste.
Kimbrel returned for the top of the tenth and walked Lawrie to start. Avila singled Lawrie to third and Tyler Saladino pinch ran for Avila. Saladino took second on defensive indifference and Garcia walked to load the bases. Somehow Shuck popped up to short and Kimbrel blew away Anderson with a 97 mph fastball. Eaton whiffed to end the inning as Kimbrel houdini'd his way out of the jam to end the inning. Dioner Navarro took over behind the plate with Matt Purke now on the mound for the bottom of the tenth. Hernandez walked to start but was erased on the force by Mr. Mookie. Pedroia walked and Bogaerts singled home Betts to win the game. The Sox had won it 8-7 in 10 innings.
Hero of the Night is Xander Bogaerts. He got the game winning base hit in the bottom of the tenth.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4 with 2 walks, 2 rbis and a run scored.
David Ortiz was 1 for 2 with 3 walks and a run scored.
Chris Young was 1 for 1 before leaving with injury.
Ryan LeMarre walked and scored as a pinch hitter.
Travis Shaw walked and hit a sac fly to drive in a run.
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.
Sandy Leon was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Heath Hembree tossed a scoreless eighth innings.
Craig Kimbrel got the win with 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Rick Porcello was lit up for 4 runs in just 5 1/3 innings.
Tommy Layne was charged with 2 runs in an inning.
Junichi Tazawa served up the 3 run homer to Abreu.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 2 for 6 but scored 2 runs.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 but walked, was hit with a pitch and scored a run.
Marco Hernandez was just 1 for 4 but walked, drove in a run and scored a run.
Honorable Mention:
Deven Marrero pinch ran for Ortiz in the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
That was a great comeback win but holy moly did the Red Sox look silly in four straight games. They got clowned in the first three games and nearly blew this one as well. Not only did the White Sox tee off on the Sox bullpen but Boston needed some really bad defense to win today's game. If James Shields didn't come back for the sixth inning, its possible the White Sox complete the sweep. Hopefully Chris Young isn't out too long because the Sox are painfully thin on the bench, especially with Brock Holt still in Pawtucket rehabbing. We may see one of the outfielders from Pawtucket get called up tomorrow if Young's injury is serious enough. Its too bad a lot of negatives overshadow a walkoff, feel good win but that's where we are. The win improved the Sox to 40-32, 1.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Sox now hit the road for a set with the Texas Rangers. David Price (8-4, 4.24 ERA) gets the start for the Sox against Nick Martinez of the Rangers. The game begins at 10:05 PM Eastern time at Arlington Park.
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