Jarred Cosart (brother of Sox prospect Jake) got the ball to start the game. Dustin Pedroia grounded out but Xander Bogaerts walked. Mr. Mookie Betts flied out and Hanley Ramirez lined out to end the inning. David Price (15-8, 3.87 ERA) got the ball for the Sox and immediately ran into trouble in the bottom of the first. John Jay grounded to second and Luis Sardinas struck out, but Will Myers singled and Yangervis Solarte doubled him home to give San Diego a quick 1-0 lead. Alex Dickerson grounded out to end the inning.
The Sox wasted no time getting the run back and more in the top of the second. Sandy Leon whiffed but Jackie Bradley Jr walked. Chris Young lined out and Travis Shaw (in for the benched Yoan Moncada) swatted his 16th home run of the year to give the Sox a 2-1 lead. Price himself struck out to end the inning.
Price had no trouble in the bottom of the second inning. Derrek Norris popped up, Ryan Schimpf struck out and Travis Jankowski struck out to end the inning.
Pedroia singled to open the top of the third and moved to second on the force out by Bogaerts. Mr. Mookie lined out and Hanley flied out to end the inning. The Padres tied it in the bottom of the third. Cosart the pitcher singled then Jay singled as well. Sardinas dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners and Cosart scored on the sac fly by Myers to tie the game 2-2. Solarte lined out to end the inning.
The Sox took advantage of an injury to Cosart to take the lead. Jarred returned but wasn't himself in the top of the fourth. Leon flied out but Myers played hot potato with a ground ball by JBJ, injuring Cosart's ankle trying cover first. Jarred left the game and was replaced by Carlos Villanueva who was not warmed up enough when brought in. Young singled and Shaw singled home JBJ to give the Sox a 3-2 lead. Price struck out but the Sox executed a double steal when Young swiped third and Shaw stole second. Pedroia added to the lead with a 2 run double to make it 5-2. Bogaerts flied out to end the inning but the Sox had the lead.
Price settled into a groove beginning in the bottom of the fourth. Dickerson singled but Norris flied out. Schimpf struck out and Jankowski grounded out to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fifth. Mr. Mookie and Hanley both lined out then Leon grounded out to second to end the inning. Adam Rosales pinch hit for Villanueva and struck out to open the bottom of the 5th. Jay and Sardinas both grounded out to second to end the inning.
Kevin Quackenbush pitched the top of the sixth as Rosales stayed in at short. JBJ grounded out and Young lined out to left. Shaw walked but Price struck out to end the inning. Price remained hot in the bottom of the sixth as Myers and Solarte struck out then Dickerson grounded out to end the inning.
Quackenbush matched Price in the top of the seventh. Pedroia grounded out, Bogaerts flied out and Mr. Mookie popped up in short order. Price returned to finish the bottom of the seventh. Norris lined out but Schimpf doubled and moved to third on a Jankowski ground out. Roasales whiffed to end the inning. 7 innings of 2 run ball hurled by Price on the road, in line for his 15th win, outstanding.
The Sox offense came to life in the top of the eighth briefly. Hanley Ramirez greeted new pitcher Jake Smith with a solo blast to left, his 21st of the season to make it 6-2. Leon singled but JBJ grounded into a double play. Young flied out to end the inning. Sox manager John Farrell wanted to get specific guys some work and first in line was the returning Koji Uehara, who hadn't pitched since July after tearing a pectoral muscle. Koji topped out at 88 mph but used his deceptiveness to strike out Jay to begin the bottom of the eighth. Brett Wallace pinch hit for Smith and he struck out as well. Myers flied out to end the inning. Welcome back Koji.
The Sox had one last run to score and they did it in the top of the ninth off Leonel Campos. Shaw whiffed and Brock Holt pinch hit for Uehara...lining one 400 feet out of the yard for his 7th home run of the year to wrap up the scoring, 7-2. Pedroia walked but Bogaerts struck out. Mr. Mookie singled but Hanley grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning. No David Ortiz tonight despite the crowd chanting his name in the late innings. On to close the game out was Brad Ziegler with Deven Marrero playing second base, Shaw at first and Holt at third. Solarte grounded out but Dickerson singled. Norris whiffed....and out came John Farrell. Apparently his explanation was Craig Kimbrel doesn't like to go too many days without pitching so Farrell brought him in to get the last batter of the game. Dickerson took second on defensive indifference and Schimpf took a hit by pitch. Jankowski lined out to left to end it. The Sox had matched their win total from last year with the 7-2 victory.
Hero of the night is a tough one but I'll go with Travis Shaw. Price pitched great but Shaw was chopped liver a week ago when Moncada was brought up, and he almost singlehandedly outscored the Padres by himself.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 4 with 2 rbi's and a walk. Brock Holt pinch hit in the ninth and homered. Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless eighth. Brad Ziegler retired 2 of the 3 batters he faced. Craig Kimbrel got the last out of the ninth.
The Bad:
Nothing here.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 but walked, dropping his average to .300, 60 points lower than it was a few months ago. Mookie Betts was just 1 for 5. Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 5 but made his one hit count, a home run. Sandy Leon was just 1 for 4. Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 but walked and scored 2 runs. Chris Young was just 1 for 4 but scored a run and stole a base.
Honorable Mention:
Deven Marrero played second base in the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Price is finally living up to his billing as the ace they paid for in the off-season. He won his 15th game of the season, just 3 off last year's total for Detroit. The Sox matched their win total last year but unlike then, they have 3 key elements they didn't a year before....Price, Ramirez and Uehara. The wild card is Buchholz, was his recent resurgence a fluke or is this how he's going to be the rest of the season? All in all the Sox needed to take 2 of 3 from San Diego and they did just that. Uehara is back to assist Ziegler in the 8th inning and is insurance in case Kimbrel goes down again. The win puts the Sox all alone in first place at 78-61 on the season, 1 game in front of Toronto for first place in the AL East with 23 games to play. Friday night the Sox head to Toronto for a show-down with the Blue Jays. Rick Porcello (19-3, 3.23 ERA) goes up against Marco Estrada.
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