Drew Pomeranz took the mound in the top of the first inning and nearly coughed up the game. Joey Rickard led off with a bloop double to right, Adam Jones then lofted a ground ball toward Marco Hernandez but Hernandez somehow popped his shoulder out of the socket and dropped like a dead deer. Jones ended up on first and Marco was charged with an error before he left the game.
Josh Rutledge replaced Marco and Pomeranz was able to strike out Manny Machado. Mark Trumbo flied out to center but both runners advanced on a passed ball by Leon. Chris Davis walked to load the bases but Jonathan Schoop whiffed to end the inning. It was a 30 pitch inning but Drew got out of it. Gausman took the hill in the bottom of the first and got Dustin Pedroia to ground out. Andrew Benintendi flied out to left but Mr. Mookie Betts walked and took second on a passed ball. Hanley Ramirez lined out to end the inning.
Pomeranz found his groove in the top of the second inning. Trey Mancini struck out, JJ Hardy grounded out to third and Caleb Joseph grounded out to short to end the inning. All hell broke loose in the bottom of the second when Gausman hit Bogaerts with a curveball and umpire Sam Holbrook gave him the HEAVE-HO! The entire Orioles dug-out was livid as it was clearly unintentional but Holbrook would have none of it, Gausman was gone.
O's manager Buck Showalter had to bring in Richard Bleier ice cold to replace Kevin. Mitch Moreland works a walk and Chris Young beat out a double play to put runners at the corners. Rutledge singled home Bogaerts to give the Sox the lead but Christian Vazquez....you guessed it...hit into a double play to end the inning, although the Sox led 1-0.
Pomeranz cruised in the top of the third inning. Rickard grounded out, Jones popped up and Machado grounded out to end the inning. Pedroia singled to open the bottom of the second but Benny The Kid flied out and Dustin was erased on the Mr. Mookie fielder's choice. Ramirez grounded out to end the inning.
Pomeranz ran into trouble in the top of the fourth inning. Trumbo grounded out but Davis singled. Schoop struck out but Mancini grounded a ball to Rutledge. Josh inexplicably got in a bowling stance and actually rolled the ball toward first. Naturally the runners advanced on the error as Mitch Moreland looked at Josh with total astonishment. Luckily Drew recovered to strike out Hardy to end the inning. The Sox broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth inning. It started when Hardy went OLE on a ground ball by Bogaerts, allowing him to reach first. Moreland singled to center to advance Xander to third and Young doubled Bogaerts home. Rutledge grounded to short and Hardy tried to throw Moreland out at home but Mitch beat the throw to score the third run. Young took third on the play and Vazquez popped up. Pedroia hit a sac fly to score Young but Benny The Kid grounded out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-2.
More excitement happened in the top of the fifth inning. Joseph popped up to first but Rickard singled. Jones took a bordrline strike two pitch that looked like a ball before striking out swinging. He barked at Holbrook and Sam GAVE HIM THE HEAVEEEE HO. Jones went nuclear and Showalter came out to yell at Holbrook some more. Machado grounded out to end the inning, talk about bad umpiring.
The Sox offense was done for the night in the bottom of the fifth. Craig Gentry took over for Jones in the field as Mr. Mookie popped up and Ramirez flied out. Bogaerts grounded to Machado who threw the ball away, allowing Xander to reach second. Bogaerts swiped third but Moreland grounded out to end the inning.
The first inning pitch totals came back to haunt Pomeranz as he ran out of gas in the top of the sixth inning. Trumbo walked but Davis looked at strike three. Schoop hit a ground rule double to chase Pomeranz after 5 1/3 innings.
Heath Hembree came on and provided little relief. Mancini nearly hit one out of the yard but died at the wall, allowing Trumbo to score and Schoop to reach third. Hardy slammed a single to score Schoop and cut the lead in half. Joseph singled but Rickard struck out to end the inning with the Sox now ahead 4-2. Tomorrow's starter Ubaldo Jimenez came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth inning. Young walked but was picked off immediately. Rutledge grounded out and Vazquez struck out to end the inning.
Matt Barnes got the call in the top of the seventh inning. Gentry grounded out, Machado lined out and Trumbo grounded out to end the inning. Jimenez returned for the bottom of the seventh inning and got Pedroia to line out. Benny The Kid struck out but Mr. Mookie hustled out an infield single and swiped second. Ramirez walked but Bogaerts grounded out to end the inning.
Barnes returned for the top of the eighth and got Davis to pop up. Schoop grounded out but Mancini and Hardy stroked back to back singles. O's manager Buck Showalter sent out Seth Smith to pinch hit for Joseph so Sox manager John Farrell countered with lefty Robby Scott. Showalter then re-countered by pinch hitting Fransisco Pena for Smith. Pena grounded out to end the inning. The Sox did nothing against Jimenez in the bottom of the eighth inning. Moreland grounded out but Young walked again. Rutledge and Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came on to close out the game in the top of the ninth. Rickard whiffed, Hyun-Soo Kim pinch hit for Gentry and whiffed. Machado whiffed to end the game, the Sox had won 4-2.
Hero of the night is Craig Kimbrel. Facing a pissed off O's team chomping for a win, he blew them away to earn his 10th save of the year.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Mookie Betts was 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch, stolen base and 2 runs scored.
Mitch Moreland was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Chris Young was 1 for 2 with 2 walks, an rbi and a run scored.
Drew Pomeranz earned the win by tossing 5 1/3 innings of 2 run ball, surviving a bad first inning to put the Sox in position to win.
Matt Barnes pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Robby Scott got the final out of the 8th inning.
The Bad:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Marco Hernandez committed an error before leaving the game.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 3 but walked.
Josh Rutledge was just 1 for 4 with an error but drove in two runs.
Heath Hembree allowed both inherited runners to score but escaped the inning unscathed.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox lucked out on this one. They only managed to scratch out four runs against the O's bullpen and tomorrow night's starter after Gausman was tossed. The anemic offense is a huge concern but so is third base. With Marco Hernandez out, that leaves Josh Rutledge the only healthy guy who can play third base. Unless the Sox bring up someone or trade for someone else, its going to be more errors in the field. Maybe now the Red Sox and Orioles beef is over with all the balderdash that happened today. The win propelled the Sox to a 15-12 record on the season, 3 1/2 games out of first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night Kyle Kendrick is being brought up to make the start with Wright gone against.....we have no idea. Could be Jimenez, could be Gausman. Stay tuned at 7:10 PM to find out.
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