The Sox got to Tillman early in the top of the first. Dustin Pedroia flied out and Brock "Hitman" Holt grounded out, but Mr. Mookie Betts singled. David Ortiz walked and Hanley Ramirez singled home Betts to make it 1-0. Travis Shaw struck out to end the inning. Price had no problem in the bottom of the first inning. Adam Jones and Chris Davis popped up but Machado singled. Mark Trumbo grounded out to end the inning.
The Sox knocked out Tillman in the top of the second. Jackie Bradley Jr smoked a triple to right and scored when Sandy Leon broke out of a slump with a base hit. Andrew Benintendi struck out and Pedroia flied out, but Hitman singled and Mr. Mookie walked to load the bases. Ortiz walked in Leon to chase Tillman. Vance Worely replaced Tillman and to Ramirez to pop up to end the inning. The Sox had a 3-0 lead and Tillman was gone, things were looking good. Warning signs were there when Price came out for the bottom of the second. Trey Mancini grounded out and Jonathan Schoop flied out, but JJ Hardy singled. Drew Stubbs walked but Caleb Joseph grounded out to end the inning.
Worley returned for the top of the third. Shaw and JBJ grounded out but Leon walked. A wild pitch moved Leon to second but Benny The Kid flied out to end the inning. The O's struck back in the bottom of the third. Jones grounded out but Davis singled. Machado singled but Trumbo struck out. Price then left a hanging change that rookie Mancini blasted out of the yard to tie the game 3-3, lighting up the paltry crowd. So much for the game being in the bag. Schoop grounded out to end the inning but we were back to square one.
Could the Sox answer in the top of the fourth? Well Pedroia led off with a walk and moved to second on a ground out by Holt. Mr. Mookie walked...but Ortiz and Ramirez whiffed to end the inning. So much for that. Price returned for the bottom of the fourth and whiffed Hardy to begin, but Stubbs walked. Joseph looked at strike 3 and Jones flied out to left to end the inning.
Worley returned for the top of the fifth and Shaw walked. JBJ and Leon struck out but a wild pitch moved Shaw to second. Benny The Kid singled home Shaw but was thrown out at second trying to stretch. The inning was over but the Sox had a 4-3 lead. Price took it up a notch in the bottom of the fifth. Davis and Machado flied out before Trumbo grounded out to end the inning.
Tommy Hunter replaced Worley in the top of the sixth. Pedroia grounded out but Hitman singled to center. Mr. Mookie banged into a double play to end the inning. Price coughed up the lead in the bottom of the sixth when his nemesis Mancini doubled. Schoop grounded right to third so Mancini didn't advance. Hardy flied out and Stubbs struck out, firing up Price as he left the mound to end the inning.
Donnie Hart got the ball in the top of the seventh and the Sox tacked on an insurance run. Ortiz grounded out but Ramirez blasted a home run to the opposite field to increase the lead 5-3. Shaw and JBJ whiffed to end the inning
Price returned for the bottom of the seventh and Joseph popped up to start. Jones struck out and Davis popped up to end the inning. Great bounce back by Price after the 3 run homer to go 7 strong innings.
Hart returned for the top of the eighth. Hardy nearly took out the popcorn vendor with a bad throw to first, allowing Leon to reach first. Benny The Kid dropped a sacrifice bunt to advance Leon to second. Mychal "Don't call me David" Givens came in. Pedroia grounded out but advanced Leon to third. Holt flied out to end the inning. Koji Uehara was the first out of the pen in the bottom of the eighth. Machado grounded out and Trumbo whiffed but the pain in the as Mancini was hit with a pitch. Schoop whiffed to end the inning. The Sox were 3 outs away from back to back 4 game sweeps and pretty much locking up the division.
O's closer Zach Britton came in to pitch the top of the ninth just to get some work in. Mr. Mookie popped up but Ortiz singled. Ramirez grounded out but Ortiz moved to second. Chris Young pinch hit for Shaw but grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning. Aaron Hill took over at third base while Craig Kimbrel came in to close it out in the bottom of the ninth. Kimbel blew away Hardy and Hyun-Soo Kim pinch hit for Stubbs. Kimbrel blew away Kim and Matt Wieters pinch hit for Joseph. Wieters flied out to end the game. The Sox swep the Orioles and win the game 5-3.
The Good:
Brock Holt was 2 for 5. Mookie Betts was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored. Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 5 with a run scored and 2 rbi's, also blasting his 29th homer of the year to break a tie game. Sandy Leon was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi and run scored. Andrew Benintendi was 1 for 3 with an rbi. Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Craig Kimbrel earned his 29th save with a scoreless ninth.
The Bad:
Chris Young was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 4 but walked. Travis Shaw was 0 for 3 but walked and scored a run. Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 4 with a run scored.
Honorable Mention:
Aaron Hill played third base in the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
I hate to say it this early but the Sox look like they're about to be division champions. They fired on all cylanders to take 5 of 7 with Baltimore, 2 of 3 with Toronto and 4 straight from New York. That's 11-3 against playoff contending teams. The exclamation point was tonight since they beat a bonafide ace in Chris Tillman. Getting Benny The Kid back healthy gave this team a top 7 that's as good as anyone in baseball. If Price and Rick Porcello pitch this good, the Sox have a real chance to do some playoff damage. The win moved the Sox to 89-64 which is 5.5 games in front of the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East with just 9 to play. The Sox are also a half game behind Cleveland for the second best record in the AL and one game behind Texas for THE best record in the American League. The 2010 Red Sox won 89 total games and this year's team matched it with 9 to go. The Road Warrior Red Sox travel to Tampa Bay next for a 3 game set. The much maligned Drew Pomeranz takes on equally maligned Chris Archer at 7:10 PM tomorrow night.
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