Eduardo Nunez led off the top of the first with a line out to first. Andrew Benintendi singled off the glove of Darwin Barney but Mookie Betts popped up to center. Mitch Moreland flied out to left to end the inning. Pomeranz took the hill in the bottom of the first and crapped his pants. Steve Pearce walked on 4 pitches but Josh Donaldson grounded into a double play. Justin Smoak walked and Jose Bautista doubled to the right field wall. Kendrys Morales doubled down the right field line to score the two runners. Kevin Pillar popped up in foul territory to first to end the inning but it was 2-0 Jays already.
Xander Bogaerts whiffed to open the top of the second and Rafael Devers popped up to right. Ramirez hit a lazy fly to Pearce....AND HE DROPPED IT. He lost it on its way down and Ramirez advanced to second. Christian Vazquez singled Ramirez to third and caught the Blue Jays napping by taking off for second. The throw went into center and Ramirez walked home to cut the lead. Brock Holt hit a comebacker to the mound to end the inning. The Sox had cut it to 2-1 only because the Jays puked on themselves.
Barney singled to open the bottom of the second inning but Ryan Goins was rung up for strike three. Raffy Lopez drew a walk but Pearce popped up to shallow right. Pomeranz whiffed Donaldson to end the inning.
Nunez opened the top of the third inning with a solo home run to tie the game immediately. Benintendi hit a comebacker to the mound, Betts grounded out to third and Moreland whiffed to end the inning but it was tied 2-2.
Smoak hit one up the elevator shaft to open the bottom of the third inning before Bautista popped up to right. Betts then made a great, leaping catch to deny Morales of a wall ball to end the inning.
Bogaerts whiffed to open the top of the fourth inning as Mookie Betts enjoyed a PB&J in the dugout. Devers lined out to center and Ramirez hit a comebacker to Jays starter Marcus Stroman to end the inning. The Jays struck back in the bottom of the fourth as Pillar led off with a double to the left field wall. Barney singled to right to advance Pillar to third and Goins singled him home. The Sox caught a huge break when Lopez popped up a bunt for the first out. Pearce banged into a double play to end the inning with the Jays ahead 3-2, but this turned out to be a huge defensive stop.
Vazquez singled to center to open the top of the fifth inning but was erased on the Holt double play. Nunez beat out an infield single but Benintendi grounded out to short to end the inning. Donaldson singled to start the bottom of the fifth and Smoak walked to put the pressure on. Bautista popped up to shallow center as Pomeranz gave up his FIFTH walk, this time to Morales to load the bases. The Sox caught a break when Pillar hit a shot to third and Devers fired home to get Donaldson for the force. Barney lined out back to Pomeranz to end the inning. Another Houdini job by Pomeranz to keep it a one run game.
Pillar made an AMAZING catch to rob Betts of a double to begin the top of the sixth inning. Moreland stroked a single to right but Bogaerts popped up to Bautista. Devers froze on strike three as Stroman celebrated wildly coming off the mound to end the inning. It was still a one run game but the Sox were not amused. Goins hit a routine grounder to Pomeranz, who threw the ball 600 feet into the balcony for a 2 base error. Lopez whiffed and Pearce popped up to short before Donaldson whiffed to end the inning. Pomeranz didn't have his best stuff but he gave the team 6 solid innings to keep them in the game.
Danny Barnes got the call to pitch the top of the seventh inning and Ramirez greeted him with a base hit up the middle. Vazquez remembered Stroman celebrating and launched a 2 run bomb just inside the left field foul pole to give the Sox the lead. Holt popped up to Goins but Nunez walked. Jays manager John Gibbons waddled to the mound to replace Barnes with Aaron "Fruit" Loup. Benintendi greeted Loup with a ground rule double in right-center. Betts was intentionally walked to load the bases and Moreland beat out an infield single to score Nunez. That was it for Loup as Gibbons waddled out to replace him with Ryan Tepera. Bogaerts worked a walk to score Benintendi but Devers banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox exploded for 4 runs to take a 6-3 lead.
Addison Reed was brought in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and got Smoak to pop up to short to start. Reed struck out Bautista and got Morales to fly out deep to left to end the inning.
Tom Koehler came in to pitch the top of the eighth and struck out Ramirez to start. Vazquez got his fourth hit of the night with a double, now a triple short of the cycle. Holt flied out to right and Nunez popped up to second to end the inning. Brandon Workman got the call to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning and got Pillar to ground out to second to start. Barney grounded out to first and Goins hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
Leonel Campos was brought in to pitch the top of the ninth inning and got Benintendi to pop up to center after a 10 pitch at-bat. Betts walked and swiped second but Moreland struck out. Bogarts popped up to first to end the inning. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to close out the game in the bottom of the ninth. Trouble was afoot when Kimbrel walked the number 9 man Lopez to start and gave up a 400 foot out to Pearce. Donaldson popped up to right but Smoak blasted a 2 run home run to make it a 1 run game. Bautista walked but Morales popped up to short to end the inning. Terrible outing by Kimbrel but they held on to win it 6-5.
Hero of The Night is Christian Vazquez. He went 4 for 4 with 2 singles, a triple and a 2 run home run to put the Sox on top.
The Good:
Eduardo Nunez was 2 for 4 with a walk, 2 total runs scored and a home run.
Mitch Moreland was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Drew Pomeranz went 6 innings and gave up 3 runs to earn the win. He struck out 4 but walked 5.
Addison Reed pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Brandon Workman pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Brock Holt was 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 3 but walked twice.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 but walked and drove in a run.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 30th save but gave up 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
A win is a win but that was too close for comfort. After getting swept by Baltimore, this is the kind of win the team needed to set the tone against Toronto in this 3 game set before the big series with the New York Yankees coming up. The Sox needed a comeback win to show they can fall behind and still come back to win the game after rolling over and dying against the Orioles. Pomeranz has been just as important as Chris Sale this season and came completely out of nowhere, he may win 17 games before the year is over. The win improved the Sox to 74-57, 3.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night Chris Sale (14-6, 2.88 ERA) looks to rebound from his stinker against Cleveland to take on Brett Anderson getting the call-up from Buffalo. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Skydome.
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