Mr. Mookie Betts led the game off with a base hit. Xander Bogaerts whiffed and David Ortiz popped up. Hanley Ramirez worked a walk. Travis Shaw flied out to end the inning. Eduardo Rodriguez got the ball in the bottom of the first and Adam Jones popped up on the first pitch. Chris Davis whiffed and Manny Machado popped up to shallow left to end the inning.
Chris Young led off the top of the second with a double. Jackie Bradley Jr moved Young to third with a fly ball to center. Sandy Leon lined one right to second who nearly doubled Young off third. Marco Hernandez popped up to end the inning. Mark Trumbo gave one a ride but his fly ball was caught at the wall to begin the bottom of the second. Jonathan Schoop grounded out to short and Matt Wieters struck out to end the inning.
Mr. Mookie got his 200th hit of the season with a bloop to center to begin the top of the third. Bogaerts lined out to right, The Sox played some hit and run and Betts moved to third on a single by Ortiz. Ramirez then grounded a pitch right off the glove of Gausman, forcing Ortiz at second but Betts scored to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. Shaw then grounded to Davis on the first pitch to end the inning. Trey Mancini flied out to lead off the bottom of the third. Hardy looked at strike 3 and Reimold struck out swinging to end the inning. 9 up 9 down for Eduardo.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fourth. Young struck out but JBJ crushed a home run to center to up the lead 2-0. Gausman recovered to strike out Leon and get Hernandez to ground out to end the inning.
Rodriguez started the bottom of the fourth by striking out Jones. Davis popped up but Machado worked a four pitch walk. Trumbo lined out to Shaw to end the inning.
Reimold made a great diving catch to rob Mr. Mookie of a hit to begin the top of the fifth. Bogaerts blooped one to left and Ortiz crushed one to right but died at the wall. Ramirez grounded out to end the inning. Rodriguez got Schoop to fly out to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Wieters whiffed on a pitch in the dirt but Mancini got his first hit of his CAREER with a solo blast to left to cut the lead 2-1. Hardy singled but Reimold grounded out to end the inning with the lead cut in half.
Gausman settled down in the top of the sixth. Shaw popped up, Young grounded out but JBJ singled. Leon whiffed to end the inning. Rodriguez was in control in the bottom of the sixth. Jones popped up but Davis singled. Davis moved to second on the ground out by Machado and Trumbo whiffed on a nasty splitter to end the inning.
The Sox got some huge insurance in the top of the seventh. Hernandez and Mr. Mookie stroked back to back singles but Bogaerts struck out. Earlier when Ortiz just missed a homer a fan had heckled him. Ortiz got his revenge when he blasted a 3 run home run to right to give the Sox a 5-1 lead and chase most of the paltry crowd away. That fan who heckled Ortiz probably ran away screaming with his arms flailing over his head. That was it for Gausman as Tommy Hunter was brought in to get Ramirez to ground out to end the inning.
Rodriguez returned for the bottom of the seventh as Marco Hernandez made a boo-boo. Schoop stroked one off the wall but Hernandez failed to cover second, allowing Schoop to reach for a double. It doesn't go down as an error but it certainly was mental. Weiters then lined a hard one right to Shaw and Sox manager John Farrell decided that was it for Rodriguez. 6 1/3 innings against a good hitting lineup gave the Sox a chance to win. Matt Barnes was brought in but he didn't have it. Mancini grounded out but moved Schoop to third, where he scored on the single by Hardy. Hyun-Soo Kim pinch hit for Reimold and singled to chase Barnes. Brad Ziegler came in and Jones nearly sent one out of here but was caught at the wall. The Sox still led 5-2.
Hunter remained in the game in the top of the eighth but he was quickly chased when Young singled. Brian Duensing came in and although he tossed a wild pitch to move Young to second, both JBJ and Leon struck out. For Leon that was the hat trick, may be time to sit him down. Hernandez grounded out to end the inning. It was Koji Uehara's turn in the bottom of the 8th and it was vintage Koji. Davis flied out on 2 pitches, Machado popped out in 4 and Trumbo whiffed to end the inning.
Darren O'Day came in to pitch the top of the night and he got Mr. Mookie to fly out and Bogaerts to strike out. For some reason O's manager Buck Showalter wanted to piss off the remaining fans by bringing in Donnie Hart to pitch to Ortiz. Ortiz grounded out to end the inning. Craig Kimbrel replaced Koji in the bottom of the ninth to close it out. He blew away Schoop and got Wieters to ground out. Pinch hitter Pedro Alvarez walked but Hardy grounded into a force to end the game. The Sox had taken game 2 by a score of 5-2.
Hero of the night is Eduardo Rodriguez. With the playoffs in sight, Sox fans are wondering who the third starter would be. Rodriguez made a case for it by earning the win, tossing 6 1/3 innings of 2 run ball. He allowed 4 hits and walked 1 while striking out 7.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored. David Ortiz was 2 for 5 with a run scored and 3 rbi's that came off his 3 run home run, number 36 on the season. Chris Young was 2 for 4. Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4 with a run scored and an rbi off his solo home run, number 26 on the year. Brad Ziegler got the only man he faced. Koji Uehara pitched a perfect 8th inning. Craig Kimbrel earned his 28th save of the year with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Travis Shaw was 0 for 4. Matt Barnes allowed the second run to score and only retired one of the 3 men he faced. Sandy Leon was 0 for 4 with a hat trick. He's really slumping.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5. Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 3 but walked and drove in a run. Marco Hernandez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Apart from Fernando Abad's 2 run homer to Gary Sanchez and Noe Ramirez' homer prior, the Red Sox bullpen this month is 0.89....yes..0.89. That's absurd and it comes at the right time. Their bullpen was one of their strengths before the year and thanks to the Brad Ziegler trade, its one of their strengths again. The Sox are firing on all cylanders as we make the turn for home with just 11 games left in the year. Each win puts the Sox closer and closer to the playoffs. The Sox need a third starter behind Rick Porcello and David Price and hopefully Eduardo Rodriguez will step up to claim that role. Right now Mookie Betts would make a frontrunner for the MVP but the way David Ortiz is hitting, he has to be in SOME consideration. The win put the Sox at 87-64, 4 games in front of the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East race with 11 games to play. Tomorrow night Clay Buchholz takes the mound opposite Ubaldo Jimenez. This could be a slugfest.
Magic Number: 8 to win division, 6 for playoff spot
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