Porcello got the ball to begin the top of the first and Logan Forsythe greeted him with a single to right. Kevin Kiermaier blew a hit and run and Forsythe was gunned down by the alert Sandy Leon trying to steal. Kiermaier looked at strike three to boot moments later. Evan Longoria grounded out to second to end the inning. Matt Andriese took the ball in the bottom of the first and Brock "The Hitman" Holt led off by grounding out to second to start. Xander Bogaerts whiffed on a high fastball and David Ortiz whiffed on a change in the dirt to end the inning.
Brad Miller began the top of the second by lining one off the glove of Hanley Ramirez but it went right to Holt who still got Miller at first. Matt Duffy lined out to the busy Ramirez before Logan Morrison grounded into the shift in right to end the inning. Mr. Mookie Betts began the bottom of the second by swatting a tremendous home run off the Selfeo sign in the Monster to give the Sox the lead. Betts joins Ted Williams and Tony Conigliaro as the only Red Sox players to hit 30 homers in one year before the age of 24. Hanley crushed a 400 foot double to center then moved to third on the ground out by Travis Shaw. Ramirez was thrown out at home on the grounder by Chris Young, nothing you can do when you're off on contact with the infield in. Leon singled to left before Jackie Bradley Jr walked to load the bases. Holt singled home Hanley but Leon was thrown out at home to end the inning but it was 2-0 Sox.
The Rays struck back in the top of the third as Nick Franklin singled through the shift as did Corey Dickerson, sending Franklin to third. Doesn't get much more lucky than that. Bobby Wilson singled home Franklin to put the Rays on the board. Holt couldn't corral a pop up by Forsythe to load the bases with nobody out. Pitching coach Carl Willis jogged to the mound and informed him that the legend of the rent was way hardcore. Kiermaier hit a ground ball to first but a poor throw by Hanley was only able to nab Dickerson at home. Longoria scored Wilson with a sac fly to tie the game but Miller whiffed to end the nning with the game tied 2-2.
Bogaerts popped up to third to begin the bottom of the third before Ortiz grounded out to first. Mr. Mookie popped up to second to end the inning.
Duffy wasted no time popping up to short to begin the top of the fourth before Morrison grounded into the shift for the second out. Franklin took strike three to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fourth as Hanley opened with a base hit to left and Shaw smacked a ground rule double. Young smoked a double off the glove of Longoria to score both runners to give the Sox the lead. Leon whiffed badly on a pitch in the dirt and JBJ did the same. Holt ended the bad swing parade with an rbi double to center. Bogaerts popped up to Miller in foul territory to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-2.
Could Porcello pitch with the lead in the top of the fifth? Franklin smacked a ground rule double to right before Wilson advanced him to third with a grounder to short. Bogaerts made a great play to rob Forsythe of a hit and fired to first....SAFE! But wait! Sox manager John Farrell challenged the call and it was correctly overturned, but the run scored. Kiermaier popped up to Shaw to end the inning but it was now 5-3 Sox.
Ortiz led off the bottom of the fifth with a double off the top of the centerfield wall and Mr. Mookie scored him with a double off the base of the Monster to chase Andriese. Danny Farquhar replaced Andriese and Hanley flied out to deep center as Betts advanced to third. Shaw singled off the glove of Forsythe to score Betts with another run. Young whiffed before Leon grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-3.
Porcello cleaned out Longoria before getting him to ground out to short to begin the top of the sixth. Miller watched strike three go by before Duffy whiffed to end the inning. Farquhar returned for the bottom of the sixth and JBJ whiffed to begin. Holt grounded back to the mound before Bogaerts flied out to left to end the inning.
Porcello returned for the top of the seventh with 91 pitches on his arm and whiffed Morrison on a pitch in the dirt to start. Franklin popped up to short and Dickerson whiffed to end the inning. 7 innings of 3 run ball by Porcello, damn good.
Brad Boxberger took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and the Sox kicked his ass. Ortiz popped up to Miller who made the catch on top of the tarp before Mr. Mookie grounded out to first. Hanley walked, Shaw singled in the hole to right and Young walked to load the bases. Leon hit a grounder up the middle for a hit that scored Hanley and Shaw. JBJ grounded out to end the inning but the Sox were up 9-3.
Clay Buchholz got the ball in the top of the eighth inning and immediately allowed a single to Wilson to start. Forsythe walked and Kiermaier lined a broken bat single to left to load the bases. Sox pitching coach Carl Willis went to the mound to inform Buchholz that getting 10 yards on a screen pass is a first down. Longoria lined out to a running JBJ in center but Wilson scored and Forsythe advanced to third. Miller popped up to right and Duffy was rung up for strike three on a bad call to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-4.
Xavier Cedeno came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Holt poked a single to left to begin. Bogaerts whiffed but Holt swiped second. Ortiz walked but Mr. Mookie popped up to center. Ramirez lined out to a running Dickerson to end the inning.
Marco Hernandez took over at third with Fernando Abad on the mound to begin the top of the ninth. Morrison whiffed before Franklin poked yet another hit to right. Dickerson banged into a double play to end the game. The Sox had won it 9-4.
Hero of the Night is a tough one with everyone contributing on offense but I'll go with Mookie Betts. Mr. Mookie got the party started with a home run and later added another rbi double. He's been something else this year.
The Good:
Brock Holt was 3 for 5 with 2 rbis.
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Travis Shaw was 3 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Chris Young was 1 for 3 with a walk, 2 rbis and 2 runs scored.
Sandy Leon was 2 for 4 with 2 rbi's.
Fernando Abad pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Clay Buchholz allowed a run in the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
David Ortiz was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 but walked.
Honorable Mention:
Marco Hernandez played third in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
That was a good bounce back win after last night's disaster against Kansas City. The Sox are still hanging around the AL East division race and they're gonna need a good September to win it. Porcello is on pace to win 22 games in the biggest turnaround since Jim Lonborg 50 years ago. The Sox are gonna need him and Price if they want to make it to October. Ortiz, Betts and Ramirez could be vital as well. The win improved the Sox to 73-58, 2 games behind the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night Drew Pomeranz (2-3, 4.06 ERA) goes for the Sox up against Jake Odorizzi.
No comments:
Post a Comment