Mike Leake got the start for St. Louis and the Sox nearly tagged him in the top of the first. Mr. Mookie Betts popped up and Dustin Pedroia grounded out, but Xander Bogaerts legged out a triple. Andrew Benintendi struck out to end the inning. "Slick" Rick Porcello got the ball and immediately crapped his pants homered 3 pitches into the game to give St. Louis the lead. Rick recovered to strike out Tommy Pham and Matt Carpenter before getting Jedd Gyorko to ground out to end the inning, but the Cards had a 1-0 lead.
Leake kept the Sox off the board in the top of the second. Mitch Moreland struck out but Jackie Bradley Jr singled. Sandy Leon popped up and Deven Marrero struck out to end the inning. Porcello was almost knocked out in the bottom of the second as the Cards teed off. Yadier Molina doubled and Aledmys Diaz caught Moreland napping with a bunt single. Magneuris Sierra singled home Molina and Kolten Wong doubled home Diaz to make it 3-0. Rick got Leake to ground out but Fowler walked to load the bases. Pham beat out a double play ball to score Sierra and Carpenter walked to re-load the bases. Gyorko grounded out to end the inning and that turned out to be a huge out. Porcello was on the ropes and that ended up being the last run the Cards scored, leading 4-0.
The Sox mustered nothing in the top of the third inning. Porcello struck out but Mr. Mookie singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pedroia grounded out but Betts moved to third only for Bogaerts to fly out to end the inning. Somehow Porcello got out of the bottom of the third inning without a run. Molina grounded out and Diaz struck out but Sierra singled. Sierra stole second but Wong struck out to end the inning.
Leake cruised in the top of the fourth inning. Benny The Kid flied out, Moreland grounded out and JBJ grounded out to end the inning. Porcello nearly left the game in shame in the bottom of the fourth as Leake the pitcher doubled and Fowler walked to begin the inning. Pham nearly grounded into a triple play but beat out the throw to first. Carpenter struck out to end the inning.
Leake once again got through the top of the fifth quickly. Leon singled but Marrero grounded into a double play. Porcello struck out to end the inning. Porcello also had a quick bottom of the fifth inning. Gyorko singled but Molina struck out. Diaz grounded out to end the inning.
Leake continued to pitch shut-out ball in the top of the sixth inning. Mr. Mookie singled but was erased on the Pedroia force. Bogaerts lined out and Benny The Kid grounded out to end the inning. Porcello returned for one more inning in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sierra flied out but Wong singled, only for Leake to bang into a double play to end the inning. Porcello stunk the first two innings but battled back to work 6.
The Sox somehow came alive in the top of the seventh as Moreland and took second on a throwing error by Diaz. JBJ then launched a 2 run home run to dead center to cut the lead in half. Leon lined out and Marrero popped up as Hanley Ramirez pinch hit for Porcello. Ramirez grounded out to end the inning but the Sox were now down 4-2.
Robbie Ross Jr got the ball in the bottom of the seventh and got Fowler to ground out. Pham singled but was erased on the Carpenter force. Gyorko singled to chase Ross as he was replaced by Matt Barnes. Molina grounded out to end the inning.
Somehow the Sox tied it in the top of the eighth against Trevor Rosenthal. Mr. Mookie struck out but Pedroia walked and Bogaerts legged out another triple to score Dustin. Benny The Kid hit a sac fly to score Bogaerts and tie the game. Moreland struck out but the game was tied 4-4.
Joe Kelly was brought in to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Diaz grounded out and Sierra struck out, but Wong singled. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny pinch hit Matt Adams for Rosenthal and Sox manager John Farrell countered by bringing in Robby Scott. Matheny re-countered by pinch hitting Randal Grichuk, Scott struck out Grichuk to end the inning.
Seung Hwan Oh got the ball in the top of the ninth inning. JBJ flied out, Leon grounded out and Marrero struck out to end the inning. Craig Kimbrel came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Josh Rutledge came in to play third base. Fowler flied out, Pham struck out and Carpenter flied out to end the inning.
On to extra innings we went and the Sox caught a break in the top of the 10th when Molina dropped a pop up by Rutledge who singled on the next pitch. Josh moved to second on a ground out by Mr. Mookie but Pedroia struck out. Bogaerts was intentionally walked and the slumping Benintendi grounded out to end the inning. Heath Hembree came on to pitch the bottom of the tenth inning and got Gyorko to ground out. Molina popped up and Diaz popped up as well to end the inning.
Matt Bowman came in to pitch the top of the eleventh and Moreland looked at strike three to begin. JBJ flied out and Leon struck out to end the inning. Fernando Abad came in to pitch the bottom of the eleventh and Christian Vazquez came in to catch. Sierra struck out and Wong popped up as Eric Fryer pinch hit for Bowman only to fly out to end the inning.
Sam Tuivailala was brought in to pitch the top of the 12th and Vazquez grounded out to begin. Rutledge was plunked but was erased on the Mr. Mookie force. Betts swiped second but Pedroia grounded out to end the inning. Abad returned for the bottom of the 12th and got Fowler to ground out. Pham walked but Carpenter flied out. For some reason Pham tried to run on Vazquez and was thrown out trying to steal to end the inning.
The Sox finally broke the scoring tie in the top of the thirteenth inning. Bogaerts lined out and Benny The Kid flied out but Moreland hit a ground rule double down the left field line. JBJ was intentionally walked and pinch hitter Chris Young made the Cards pay by singling home Moreland to give the Sox the lead. Vazquez grounded out but the Sox were ahead 5-4.
Ben Taylor came on to pitch the bottom of the thirteenth looking for his first career save. Gyorko struck out and Molina flied out but Diaz walked. Sierra looked at strike three to end the game. The Sox had pulled it off 5-4.
Hero of the night is Chris Young. His pinch hit single drove in the winning run in the 13th.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 6 with a stolen base.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 5 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Mitch Moreland was 2 for 6 with 2 runs scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 5 with a walk and a 2 run home run.
Josh Rutledge singled and was hit with a pitch in his two plate appearances.
Matt Barnes got the final out of the 7th inning.
Joe Kelly got the first two outs of the 8th inning.
Robby Scott got the final out of the 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 10th inning.
Fernando Abad got the win with 2 scoreless innings.
Ben Taylor earned the save with a scoreless 13th inning.
The Bad:
Deven Marrero was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 2.
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 5 but walked and scored.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 5 but hit a sac fly.
Sandy Leon was just 1 for 5.
Rick Porcello gave up 4 runs in 6 innings and was 0 for 2 at the plate but battled after a lousy second inning.
Robbie Ross Jr retired only 2 of the 4 men he faced.
Final Thoughts:
Now that was a good win. Anytime you win on the road in extra innings it shows a lot of guts. Timely hitting and shut-down pitching is the key and the Sox got it, not allowing a run in the final 11 innings played. With the Sox going through a lot of issues, winning the first two games of a road trip is a good start to get back on track. Its too bad Porcello is struggling since the team is still missing David Price. The win improved the Sox to 21-18, still 4 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox travel to Oakland to play the A's in a four game set beginning tomorrow night at 10:00 PM. Hector Velazquez makes his major league debut against Oakland ace Sonny Gray.
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