Dustin Pedroia led off the top of the first with a ground out to short on a 3-2 count. Xander Bogaerts whiffed badly on 3 pitches but David Ortiz singled into the shift and Mr. Mookie Betts worked a 3-2 walk. Travis Shaw came into the night 0-8 against Jimenez and right on cue Shaw singled to load the bases. Aaron Hill grounded out on a full count to end the inning. They did make Jimenez throw 28 pitches though. Adam Jones led off the bottom of the first with a strikeout on a 2-2 changeup. Hyun-Soo Kim grounded out to Pedroia on the first pitch. Manny Machado grounded out to third to end the inning.
Jackie Bradley Jr hit one up the elevator shaft to begin the top of the second. Sandy Leon extended his slump to 0-14 with a horrendous strikeout. Andrew Benintendi struck out on a 2-2 pitch in the dirt to end the inning. The Sox were making Jiminez work but had nothing to show for it. Buchholz whiffed Chris Davis to begin the bottom of the second. Mark Trumbo grounded out to short and Pedro Alvarez was rung up on a 3-2 changeup to end the inning.
Pedroia flied out on a 3-2 count but Bogaerts walked on 4 straight pitches. Bogaerts was foolishly thrown out at first on a pickoff. Ortiz whiffed anyway to end the inning.
The O's took advantage of Bogaerts miscue by taking the lead in the bottom of the third. Jonathan Schoop blooped a single to center and Sandy Leon made a mental error trying to throw out Schoop at second on the bunt by Matt Weiters. JJ Hardy walked on 4 pitches to load the bases. Jones then hit a sac fly to left that scored Schoop to make it 1-0. Kim grounded out but both runners advanced into scoring position. Machado hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. That could have gone a lot worse, but the O's still had the 1-0 lead.
Mr. Mookie tried to start a rally in the top of the fourth with a base hit. Travis Shaw whiffed as Mookie took off for second, the throw by Wieters hit Betts and rolled away. Mookie scampered to third safely. Hill then reached first on catcher's interference, Wieters got in the way of the swing. JBJ walked to load the bases but Leon continued his slump by banging into a double play to end the inning. Buchholz got into some trouble in the bottom of the fourth. Davis walked but Trumbo flied out. Alvarez popped up but Schoop singled. Wieters gave run a ride but was caught at the wall to end the inning.
Jimenez stayed strong in the top of the fifth. Benny The Kid looked at strike 3, Pedroia grounded out and Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning. Buchholz kept pace in the bottom of the fifth. Hardy grounded out but Jones singled. Kim nearly hit one out but JBJ caught him at the wall. Machado popped up to end the inning.
The Sox got some help by the incompetent O's defense in the top of the sixth to take control of the game. Ortiz walked and Mr. Mookie singled. Shaw whiffed and O's manager Buck Showalter brought in his top set up man Brad Bach to pitch to Aaron Hill. Its a smart move by Buck with the season on the line. It just didn't work as Wieters and Brach got crossed up on a dribbler by Hill and everyone was safe. JBJ whiffed and in came the slumping Leon. Leon lofted a slow grounder to Davis who....THREW THE BALL AWAY! Ortiz and Betts scored to give the Sox a 2-1. All of a sudden Benny The Kid blasted a 3 run bomb to give the Sox a 5-1 lead in the blink of an eye. Wow! Pedroia grounded out to end the inning.
Could Buchholz protect the lead? In the bottom of the sixth he could. Davis and Trumbo flied out then Alvarez grounded out to end the inning. The Sox were 9 outs away from taking complete control of the division race.
Oliver Drake came on to pitch the top of the seventh. Bogaerts grounded out, Ortiz struck out and Mr. Mookie grounded out to end the inning. Buchholz came back for the bottom of the seventh and sent a message. He struck out Schoop, got Wieters to ground out and Hardy to fly out to end the inning. Buchholz had thrown 7 innings of 1 run ball with a chance to knock Baltimore out, guess he wants the Number 3 starter job as well. Good on him for delivering.
Drake returned briefly in the top of the eighth. Shaw flied out and Hill grounded out before Showalter pulled Drake for Brian Duensing. Machado then made a running catch into the Red Sox dugout to field a pop up from JBJ to end the inning. Brad Ziegler got the ball to begin the bottom of the eighth. Jones popped up and Kim lined out in short order. Machado whiffed to end the inning and the Sox were 3 outs away from taking control of the division.
Showalter continued to mirco-manage in the top of the ninth. Leon flied out and Benny The Kid popped up, but Buck pulled Duensing for Mike Wright. Pedroia grounded out to end the inning. Robby Scott came in to close out the bottom of the ninth. He struck out Davis but Trumbo singled to chase him. Trey Mancini pinch hit for Alvarez and Sox manager John Farrell decided to go with the closer. Craig Kimbrel chugged in from the bullpen and got Mancini to line out. Schoop grounded out to end the inning. With the division title on the line, the Sox swept the New York Yankees and have now taken 3 straight against the Baltimore Orioles.
Hero of the Night is Clay Buchholz. With a chance to lock up the division, he dominated the Orioles. He threw 7 innings of 1 run ball, allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4.
The Good:
David Ortiz was 1 for 3 with a run scored. Mookie Betts was 2 for 3 with a run scored. Aaron Hill was 1 for 3 with a run scored. Brad Ziegler pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Robby Scott retired one of two batters he faced. Craig Kimbrel got the final 2 outs in the ninth.
The Bad:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 5.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 with a walk. Travis Shaw was just 1 for 4. Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 but walked. Sandy Leon was a miserable 0 for 4 but did manage to score a run. Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4 but it was a big hit as his 3 run homer broke the game open, he scored a run on the homer.
Final Thoughts:
Its not over yet but that could be the crushing blow to decide the Division race. The O's had the Sox on the run and due to poor defense, let the Sox take the game over. It was another gutsy victory by the Sox even if it was aided by poor defense by Baltimore. Every win counts whether it be a blowout, a close game or a fluke. It seems the Sox need for a number 3 post-season starter created the good kind of competition between Clay Buchholz and Eduardo Rodriguez, each trying to out-do each other to get the job. That's good news for the Red Sox who's gonna need 3 starters if they have any hope of going far in the playoffs. The only negative is Sandy Leon has completely fallen off the map, it may be time to play Vazquez for a few days. You don't want to run him into the ground like they did with Bogaerts. The win improved the Sox to 88-64, 5 games in front of the Toronto Blue Jays for 1st place in the AL East with just 10 games to go. Tomorrow the Sox look for the series sweep in an ace vs ace monster match. David Price (16-8, 3.91 ERA) goes mano e mano with Baltimore ace Chris Tillman (16-6, 3.72 ERA) looking to get the Sox to 8 wins in a row.
Magic Number: 6 to win division, 4 to clinch a post-season spot.
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