A's starter Andrew Triggs didn't last long as Dustin Pedroia led the game off with a scintillating strikeout on a 3-2 count. Xander Bogaerts lofted a routine ground ball on a 3-2 pitch to shortstop Marcus Semien who's throw to first went low, Bogaerts hustling to second base on the error. David Ortiz made the A's pay by singling through the shift to score Xander to make it 1-0 early.
Mr. Mookie Betts erased Ortiz at second on a force play but Hanley Ramirez grounded out to end the inning. Could David Price (14-8, 3.92 ERA) hold the lead in the bottom of the first? Price started off well by blowing Semien away with a 2-2 fastball. The Sox got a lucky bounce when Jake Smolinski lined one off the glove of Travis Shaw...right to Bogaerts who threw him out. Danny Valencia grounded out to short on the first pitch to end the inning. Good start by Price.
The Sox then caught a break when Zach Neal was brought into the game in the top of the second inning, Triggs left with an injury. Shaw did himself no favors by popping up on the first pitch. Brock "Hitman" Holt grounded out to first but Sandy "King" Leon shot a single in the hole at short. Jackie Bradley Jr nearly beat out a swinging bunt but was thrown out at first to end the inning. Khris Davis led off the bottom of the second looking at strike 3 on the outside corner. Billy Butler worked a walk but Steven Vogt also looked at strike 3 much to his chagrin. Ryon Healy also whiffed to end the inning. 4 strikeouts in 2 innings for Price.
Before the top of the third, it was announced Triggs left with a back injury. Dustin Pedroia lofted a ball that dropped in front of Brett Eibner who booted it, allowing Pedroia to reach second. Bogaerts made a productive out as he flied out to deep center, moving Pedroia to third. Neil wisely stayed away from Ortiz and walked him. Mr. Mookie brought Pedroia home with a sac fly to increase the lead 2-0. Ramirez flied out to end the inning.
Price began the bottom of the third with another called third strike, this time it was Eibner. Chad Pinder flied out and Semien grounded out in short order to end the inning. 9 up, 9 down for Price.
Shaw led off the top of the fourth with a line drive snared in left. Hitman Holt grounded out to second and Leon flied out to end the inning. The A's struck back in the bottom of the fourth. Smolinski lined one up the middle and Valencia hit one into the hole at second. Davis hit a pop fly that Ramirez ran down, but Smolinski moved to third. Butler scored him with a sac fly to left and Vogt doubled down the line to tie the game just like that. Healy flied out to left but the game was tied.
The Sox struck back in the top of the 5th big time. JBJ led off with a flyout to the wall. 10 more feet and it was gone. Pedroia grounded out but Bogaerts doubled to left. Ortiz singled in the hole at short to plate Bogaerts to give the Sox a 3-2 lead. Mr. Mookie singled and Ramirez doubled them both home to make it 5-2. After throwing a ball to Shaw, A's manager Bob Melvin had seen enough. Neal was out and Daniel Colombe was in. Shaw greeted him with an rbi double to score Ramirez. That's 5 straight hits with two men out. Holt grounded out to end the inning but it was now 6-2. Could Price handle a 4 run lead in the bottom of the fifth? Price got Eibner to pop up to Leon, Pinder then gave one a ride but Betts flagged it down at the wall. Semien struck out to end the inning. Nice bounce back inning by Price.
The Sox broke it open in the top of the 6th. King Leon, JBJ and Pedroia all singled to load the bases with nobody out. Bogaerts worked a bases loaded walk to tack on another run. Bradley then scored the eighth run on the sac fly by Ortiz. That was it for Colombe as Melvin pulled him for old Sox farmhand JB Wendelken, who was apart of the Jake Peavy trade. Betts flied out but Ramirez scored Pedroia with a base hit to make it 9-2. Travis Shaw then cleared the bases with a 3 run bomb to make it 12-2.
Holt struck out to kill another rally but the damage was done. Bogaerts then flashed the glove by running into the Bermuda triangle in short left to run down a Smolinski pop up. That's two hits Bogaerts robbed from Smolinski. Valencia and Davis worked back to back walks. Butler then ran with a load in his pants and banged into a double play in deep short. Carl Lewis would have been halfway to second base when Bogaerts began his throw.
King Leon walked to begin the top of the seventh. JBJ hit a rocket but right to first for an out. Pedroia flied to the wall in dead center for the second out. Bogaerts walked and it was time to empty the bench. The returning Ryan Hanigan pinch hit for Ortiz and flied out on a 3-2 count to end the inning. David Price returned for the bottom of the seventh and Yoan Moncada made his major league debut at third, moving Shaw to first and giving Ramirez the night off. Vogt struck out but Healy blooped one into the Bermuda triangle. Eibner popped up to Shaw at the 15 yard line. Pinder grounded to Moncada who gunned him down at first to end the inning.
Another great start by David Price who put himself in line for his 14th win of the season.
Matt McBride took over behind the plate for Oakland to begin the top of the eighth. Mr. Mookie struck out to begin the inning and Moncada walked in his first at-bat.
Shaw doubled his would-be replacement home with a double. Hitman Holt finally joined the hit parade with a single that sent Shaw to third. Shaw scored on a wild pitch and Holt moved to second to make it 14-2. Leon walked and that was it for JB. Another ex-Sox pitcher, Chris Smith, was brought in to pitch to JBJ. Smith was drafted in the same draft as Jon Lester and Brandon Moss. Smith also pitched for the 2008 Sox. The A's continued to play hot potato as a passed ball advanced the runners and Bradley scored Holt with a sac fly. Deven Marrero pinch hit for Pedroia and was frozen on a 3-2 strike to end the inning with the score now 15-2. Joe Kelly replaced Price to begin the bottom of the eighth, Marrero took over at short and Marco Hernandez replaced Bogaerts but at second base. Kelly immediately allowed a single to pinch hitter Joey Wendle. Smolinski couldn't catch a break as he lined another hard one but Hernandez made a diving catch. Bruce Maxwell pinch hit for Valencia and Kelly blew him away with a 98 mph fastball. Max Muncy pinch hit for Khris Davis and Kelly blew him away as well to end the inning. Good stuff by Kelly.
The offense continued to poured it on in the top of the 9th. Hernandez joined the hit parade with a single and Hanigan doubled him to third. Betts scored Hernandez with a ground out to make it 16-2. Moncada whiffed and Shaw grounded out to end the inning. Robby Scott made his major league debut in the bottom of the ninth. Scott struck out Butler to open the inning and McBride as well. Welcome to the big leagues Robby.
Healy then singled off the glove of Moncada to extend the inning. Eibner then flied out to end the game. The Sox are now 1 game out of first place. Big win.
Hero of the Night was a tough one with so much offense but it has to be Travis Shaw. His job is pretty much going to Yoan Moncada so he had one final blow off by going 3 for 6 with 5 runs batted in and 2 runs scored on 2 doubles and a 3 run bomb.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored before taking the night off. Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, an rbi and 3 runs scored. Marco Hernandez took a hit away from Smolinski, then singled and scored after coming in for Bogaerts. David Ortiz was 2 for 2 with a walk, run scored and 3 rbi's. Ryan Hanigan pinch hit for Ortiz and was 1 for 2. Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 3 rbi's. Sandy Leon was 2 for 3 with a run scored and 2 walks. David Price earned his 14th win of the season by pitching 7 innings of 2 run ball on 4 hits, 3 walks and 7 strikeouts. He also lowered his ERA to 3.92. Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless 8th, striking out two batters. Robby Scott made his ML debut by striking out 2 batters in a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Deven Marrero struck out in his only plate appearance
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 5 but made his outs count as he scored a run and knocked in two. Yoan Moncada was 0 for 1 with a walk, strikeout and run scored in his Major League debut. Brock Holt was just 1 for 5 but scored a run. Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox picked up where they left off against Oakland, beating the daylights out of them. The Sox needed a big win after the nailbiters they've had recently and this was just what the doctor ordered. Price continues his second half resurgence and if it wasn't for some close loss games, he could easily be 16-6 right now, right behind Porcello. The offense finally woke up and they're going to need it with only a month left to play. One thing to point out is the Sox had a good September last year with the losses of Junichi Tazawa, Koji Uehara and Hanley Ramirez looming large. This year Ramirez is on fire going into September and they'll need his bat big time. The win improved the Sox to 75-59 on the season, 1 game behind Toronto for first place in the AL East. Rick Porcello (18-3, 3.26 ERA) looks for his 19th win of the season tomorrow night against Daniel Mengden.
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