The Sox struck first in the top of the first. Dustin Pedroia led the game off by striking out. Xander Bogaerts flied out to right but David Ortiz worked a walk. Mr. Mookie Betts put the Sox on the board by lining a 2 out double when Kevin Pillar overran a ball that went over his head. Hanley Ramirez whiffed to end the inning. Clay Buchholz promptly gave the run right back. Devon Travis flied out to Betts to begin the bottom of the first. Josh Donaldson was now 0-21 with a pop up to Bogaerts. Edwin Encarnarcion tied the game with a solo blast to left, number 38 on the season for Ortiz' possible successor. Jose Bautista walked but Russell Martin struck out to end the inning.
The Sox struck back big time in the top of the second. Travis Shaw was robbed of a hit by a great play by Ryan Goins but Brock Holt walked. Holt took second on a wild pitch and the third base umpire fell asleep on a steal play. Sandy Leon walked and Holt broke for third. The ball got away from Donaldson on the throw but the umpire called Holt out anyway. Eventually the correct call was made (safe) but come on. Jackie Bradley Jr said enough of these shenanigans and he blasted a three run bomb to give the Sox a 4-1 lead. Pedroia lined out and Bogaerts grounded out to end the inning. Could Buchholz hold the lead? Troy Tulowitzky singled to open the bottom of the second but Michael Saunders flied out to center. Pillar and Goins struck out to end the inning.
Sanchez recovered in the top of the third. Ortiz flied out to center but Mr.Mookie walked. Betts was erased on the fielder's choice by Ramirez. Shaw flied out to left to end the inning. Buchholz puked on himself in the bottom of the third. Travis popped up and Buchholz worked a 2-2 count on Donaldson. He threw a perfect pitch on the outside corner....ball three. Clay was miffed and threw the next pitch on the inside corner....ball four. After that Clay mentally fell apart. Encarnarcion singled and Bautista walked to load the bases. Martin walked to cut the lead 4-2 and Tulowitzky erased the lead completely with a grand slam to give the Jays a 6-4 lead. In a game the Sox needed, Buchholz crapped his pants. Saunders flied out to center and Pillar grounded out to end the inning.
The Sox showed some balls by coming back in the top of the fourth. Holt grounded out and Leon lined out but the Sox roared back. JBJ singled and Pedroia doubled. Bogaerts broke his mini-slump with a 2 run single to tie the game and chase Sanchez. Brett Cecil was brought in to face Ortiz and David lined out.
Heath Hembree got the ball in the bottom of the fourth and he wasn't much better. He managed to strike out Goins and Travis. As usual Donaldson walked and Encarnarcion blasted another home run to give the Jays an 8-6 lead. Bautista flied out to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fifth off new pitcher Joe Biagni. Mr. Mookie flied out but Ramirez blasted a solo shot into the centerfield restaurant to cut the lead 8-7.
Shaw struck out and Holt walked. Holt swiped second and took third on the horrible throw. Leon got plunked and that was it for Biagni. Aaron Loup replaced Biagni and for some reason, Holt decided to steal home. He almost made it...but he was out. Inning over.
Noe Ramirez came on to pitch the bottom of the fifth and he struck out Russell Martin, but Tulowitzky singled. Sox manager John Farrell brought in Robbie Ross Jr at that point and struck out Saunders. Pillar popped up to end the inning.
The Sox pulled off a killer rally in the top of the 6th. JBJ struck out and Schultz replaced Loup. Pedroia and Bogaerts hit back to back singles and Juaquin Benoit came on to face David Ortiz. Fans remembered the 2013 ALCS where Ortiz hit a grand slam to tie Game 2. History damn near repeated itself when Ortiz crushed a 3 run blast to right to give the Sox a 10-8 lead, number 535 of his career. Mr. Mookie popped up and Ramirez struck out to end the inning. Ross returned for the bottom of the sixth but left quickly when Goins singled. John Farrell removed Ross for Brad Ziegler. Travis immediately grounded into a double play to take Ross off the hook. Bogaerts then went OLE! on a ground ball, allowing Donaldson to reach first. Representing the tying run again, this time Ziegler struck out Encarnarcion to end the inning.
The Sox tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh against Danny Barnes. Shaw flied out but Holt worked a walk. Leon doubled home Brock to make it 11-8. JBJ struck out and Pedroia flied out to end the inning. Ziegler returned to navigate the bottom of the seventh. He struck out both Bautista and Martin but walked Tulowitzky. Farrell brought in lefty specialist Fernando Abad to pitch to Saunders...but Jays manager John Gibbons countered by pinch hitting Saunders with righty Melvin Upton. Upton reached first when Travis Shaw unintentionally gave the fans a souvenir by chucking the ball away. Farrell then brought in Matt Barnes to face Pillar. Matt got Kevin to ground into a force to end the inning. 6 outs to go.
Danny returned for the top of the eighth with Upton now in left field. Bogaerts looked at strike 3 and Matt Dermody came on to relieve Barnes. Ortiz and Mr. Mookie both struck out to end the inning. Koji Uehara was brought in to pitch the bottom of the eighth. He whiffed Goins but Travis singled in the hole at short. The slumping Donaldson proved further incompetent when he banged into a double play to end the inning. Just 3 outs to go.
Ryan Tempera got the call in the top of the ninth. Ramirez struck out and Shaw popped up. Holt singled but Leon whiffed to end the inning. Sox closer Craig Kimbrel was brought in to close it out in the bottom of the ninth. Usually walking the first batter is a big no no, but Encarnarcion had been a pain in the ass all day so putting him on first instead of watching him circle the bases was a better outcome. Craig whiffed Bautista but threw a pitch to Martin a hundred feet to the left of Leon, allowing Edwin to go to second. Craig recovered to strike out Martin on a nasty curveball for the second out. Tulowitzky then looked to have doubled off the wall but the umpires called it a foul ball. Mr. Mookie stopped running when he saw the ball land so there was no way it could have been fair. Sure enough, the replays showed foul amidst a chorus of boo's. Troy flied out to right to end it, the Sox had come back twice to win it 11-8!
Hero of the night is easy. David Ortiz hitting the 3 run bomb off Juaquin Benoit put the Sox in front for good.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored. Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 5 with 2 rbi's and a run scored. Mookie Betts was 1 for 4 with a walk and drove in the game's first run. Brock Holt was 1 for 2 with 3 walks, 2 runs scored, a stolen base. Sandy Leon was 1 for 3 with a walk, hit by pitch, run scored and rbi. Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 3 rbi's off a three run home run. Robbie Ross Jr got out of the 5th without allowing a run. Brad Ziegler tossed 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless eighth. Craig Kimbrel earned his 25th save of the year with a scoreless 9th.
The Bad:
Travis Shaw was 0 for 5 with a strikeout and an error. Clay Buchholz sucked big time. He crapped his pants by allowing 6 runs in 3 innings on 4 hits, 4 walks, a home run and a grand slam. Heath Hembree gave up the two run bomb to Edwin Encarnarcion in the 4th inning.
The Ugly:
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 5 but made the one hit count as his solo home run cut the lead 8-7. Noe Ramirez retired one of two batters he faced. Fernando Abad would have retired the only man he faced if Shaw didn't throw the ball away.
Final Thoughts:
That was a balsy, season saving win by the Sox. They took two of three from Toronto in Toronto and sent a message that they are for real. They faced Toronto's 3 best pitchers and smacked two of them around, nearly taking all three games in the process. The Sox finally won a game they trailed in by beating a bullpen. The Sox now have 20 games left, 10 home games and 10 road games. The win puts the Sox at 80-62, 2 games in front of the Jays and Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow the road warriors come home to face Baltimore. Old friendWade Miley goes for Baltimore against David Price (15-8).
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