Eduardo Rodriguez had the dubious task of matching JA Happ again. In the top of the first, Devon Travis popped up, Josh Donaldson struck out and Edwin Encarnarcion flied out to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the first even though Dustin Pedroia grounded out. Xander Bogaerts and David Ortiz worked back to back walks but Ortiz was erased at second on a force by Mr. Mookie Betts. Hanley Ramirez walked to load the bases and Chris Young singled to score two runs to put the Sox on top. Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to end the inning but it was 2-0 Sox.
Rodriguez immediately gave up the lead in the top of the second. Jose Bautista, Russell Martin and Troy Tulowitzky all walked to load the bases. Rodriguez recovered to strike out Melvin Upton but Kevin Pillar singled in two runs to tie the game. Rodriguez struck out Ezequiel Carrera and Travis to end the inning. 3 walks, 3 strikeouts and it was tied. The Sox almost answered in the bottom of the second. Aaron Hill flied out but Christian Vazquez singled. Pedroia lined out but Bogaerts walked. Ortiz grounded out to end the inning.
Rodriguez recovered in the top of the third. Donaldson whiffed but Encarnarcion walked. Bautista flied out and Martin grounded out to end the inning. Mr. Mookie singled to lead off the bottom of the third but was erased on the force by Ramirez. Carrera let a routine pop up drop in short left and Ramirez was thrown out at second, not much he could do there with less than two outs. JBJ grounded out to end the inning.
Eduardo hung tough in the top of the fourth. Tulowitzky grounded out but Upton singled. Pillar flied out and Upton swiped second. Carrera whiffed to end the inning. Happ then hit cruise control the rest of his outing. In the bottom of the fourth Hill popped up, Vazquez looked at strike three and Pedroia flied out to end the inning.
Rodriguez turned up the heat in the top of the fifth. Travis and Donaldson struck out but Encarnarcion singled. Bautista whiffed to end the inning.
Bogaerts grounded out to begin the bottom of the fifth but Ortiz singled. Travis Shaw pinch ran for Ortiz to give David the rest of the night off. Mr. Mookie flied out and Ramirez grounded out to end the inning.
Rodriguez returned briefly in the top of the sixth only to walk Martin. If it wasn't for the 5 walks, Rodriguez would have been pitching a shut out. Matt Barnes was brought in and he got Tulowitzky to line out. Michael Saunders pinch hit for Upton and guess what he did....he walked. Pillar singled home Martin to give the Jays a 3-2 lead. Carrera banged into a double play to end the inning with the Jays back on top. The Sox failed to answer in the bottom of the sixth. Young flied out, JBJ lined out and Hill grounded out to end the inning. That's twice now Happ got the better of Rodriguez 3-2.
Joe Kelly got the call in the top of the seventh. Travis grounded out, Donaldson lined out and Encarnarcion struck out in short order. Happ returned for the bottom of the seventh and got Vazquez to fly out, but Pedroia walked to chase him. Jason Grilli replaced Happ and got Bogaerts to fly out. Shaw whiffed to end the inning.
Kelly returned for the top of the eighth and turned up the heat. Bautista, Martin and Tulowitzky all struck out to end the inning. The Sox tied the game in bizarre fashion in the bottom of the eighth. Mr. Mookie doubled and Ramirez walked to lead off the inning. Needing the game, Jays manager John Gibbons went to closer Roberto Osuna right here and now. Rather than have Young drop a bunt down, Sox manager John Farrell let pinch hitter Brock Holt hit away.....bad idea. Holt grounded into a double play as the boo birds rained down. Then inexplicably Osuna balked in Betts to tie the game. Of all things...a balk. JBJ grounded out to end the inning but the Sox had probably denied Happ the Cy Young award.
The euphoria lasted very briefly as Craig Kimbrel took the mound in the top of the ninth. With balls flying everywhere, he walked Saunders. Dalton Pompey pinch ran for Saunders and he advanced to second on the sacrifice bunt by Pillar. A wild pitch by Kimbrel moved Pompey to third and Dalton scored on the sac fly by Carrera. Guess who Carrera hit it to that had no arm....Brock Holt. Travis flied out to end the inning but the Jays had the 4-3 lead back. Osuna came back for the ninth and the air was out of the tires so to speak. Andrew Benintendi pinch hit for Hill and flied out. Marco Hernandez pinch hit for Vazquez and grounded out. Pedroia grounded out to end the game. The Jays had won it 4-3.
Jackass of the Night is easy. Craig Kimbrel allowed the go-ahead run to score in the top of the ninth. As a closer he's been starting to suck lately.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts walked twice and scored a run. David Ortiz was 1 for 2 with a walk. Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored. Hanley Ramirez walked twice. Chris Young was 1 for 3 with 2 rbi's. Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3. Joe Kelly struck out 4 of the 6 hitters he faced.
The Bad:
Travis Shaw struck out in his only plate appearance. Brock Holt would have been Jackass had the Sox not tied it in the eighth. He banged into a double play in his only plate appearance and his pop gun arm allowed the go-ahead run to score in the top of the ninth. Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4. Aaron Hill was 0 for 3. Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter. Marco Hernandez was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 4 but walked. Eduardo Rodriguez got knocked out in the 6th inning after allowing 3 runs on just 3 hits but FIVE walks. He did manage to strike out 9 so inconsistent is the word here. Matt Barnes allowed the go-ahead run to score in the top of the sixth but got through the rest of the inning.
Final Thoughts:
Well I guess the Sox are on cruise control the rest of the year. Luckily they only have one game left but they have two things going against them. Suddenly Craig Kimbrel can't find the plate and John Farrell's managerial decisions leave a lot to be desired. He usually pushes the right buttons when it comes to pitching changes but offensively he doesn't have a clue. The 2003 Red Sox went into the playoffs with a shaky bullpen and manager and it almost cost them the LDS and DID cost them the ALCS. Hopefully this is a temporary snag by Kimbrel and he'll be raring to go in the playoffs. As it is the loss puts the Sox at 93-68. If the Sox lose tomorrow they have to travel to Cleveland for the opening round of the playoffs. The Indians named their starters. Game 1 - Trevor Bauer, Game 2 - Corey Kluber, Game 3 - Mike Tomlin. The Sox counter with Rick Porcello, David Price and Clay Buchholz. The goal is to win Game 1 because even if you lose to Kluber, you got two more games to put the Indians away without seeing him again. The Sox end David Ortiz' regular season career tomorrow at 3 PM with David Price (17-9) taking on Aaron Sanchez (14-2) in the finale.
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