The late Bernie Casey approves of the win
Old friend Wade Miley took the mound in the top of the first inning and cruised. Xander Bogaerts grounded out to second, Dustin Pedroia popped up to short and Andrew Benintendi hit a comebacker to the mound to end the inning. Chris Sale began his dominance in the bottom of the first by striking out Austin Hays and Trey Mancini to start. Jonathan Schoop lined out to center to end the inning.
The Sox were pointless in the top of the second inning as Mookie Betts grounded out to second, Hanley Ramirez looked at strike three and Sam Travis flied out to left field to end the inning. The O's tried to rally in the bottom of the third when Adam Jones led off with a single. Sale recovered to get Wellington Castillo to strike out and Mark Trumbo to bang into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox squandered a chance to take the lead in the top of the 3rd inning. Ryan Flaherty threw a ground ball by Deven Marrero away and Sandy Leon walked. Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out but both runners moved over. Bogaerts walkedto load the bases but Pedroia lined into a double play when Leon was doubled off second to end the inning. Sale responded by strikingout Chris Davis to open the bottom of the third. JJ Hardy flied out to center and Flaherty struck out to end the inning.
The Sox exploded on Miley in the top of the fourth inning. Benintendi singled and Betts lined a home run to left to give the Sox the lead. Ramirez doubled but Travis struck out. Marrero then clobbered an opposite field home run to ice the game early. Leon struck out but Davis misplayed a ground ball by JBJ for an error. Bogaerts struck out to end the inning but the Sox were up 4-0.
Could Sale hold the lead in the bottom of the fourth? YES! He struck out Hays but Mancini singled. Schoop lined out to a diving Marrero and Jones looked at strike three to end the inning.
Boston added to the lead in the top of the fifth inning although Pedroia grounded out to short to start. Benintendi and Betts walked to chase Miley. Mike Wright came in and Ramirez greeted him with a double to score both Benintendi and Betts. Travis and Marrero struck out to end the inning but it was 6-0 Sox.
Sale continued his dominance in the bottom of the fifth inning by getting Castillo to fly out to start. Trumbo struck out and Davis popped up to short to end the inning.
Wright return for the top of the sixth inning but Leon greeted him with a single. JBJ walked but Bogaerts lined out to center and Pedroia hit into another double play to end the inning. Sale got Hardy looking to begin the bottom of the sixth before Flaherty grounded out back to Sale. Hays grounded out first to end the inning.
Wright came back for the seventh and struck out Benintendi to start before getting Betts to ground out to second. Ramirez popped up to first to end the inning. Fans wondered why Sale came back for the bottom of the seventh with a 6 run lead, especially when Mancini doubled to start. Sale whiffed Schoop but Jones singled Mancini to third. With 300 strikeouts on the season in sight, Sale blew away Castillo and Trumbo to end the inning, putting him at 299.
Tanner Scott got the ball for the top of the eighth inning and the Sox struck again. Travis led off with a single to right before Marrero whiffed. Leon walked but JBJ beat out a double play ball. Bogaerts walked to load the bases and Pedroia doubled home Travis and Leon to break an 0-18 drought. Brock Holt pinch ran for Pedroia but Benintendi lined out to right to end the inning.
Much to the chagrin of many people, Sale returned for the bottom of the eighth with an 8 run lead to chase the last strikeout. It didn't look like he would get it as Davis grounded out to short and Hardy grounded out to third, but Flaherty was rung up to end the inning. Sale had done it, he became the first pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 1999 to strike out 300 batters. Also helped he pitched 8 shut-out innings to do it too.
The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the top of the ninth inning as the O's emptied their bench. Caleb Joseph came in for Davis, Joey Rickard came in to catch, Chance Sisco came in to play second, Anthony Santander took over in center, and Jimmy Yacabonis came in to pitch. The Sox wasted no time scoring as Betts tripled to the centerfield wall and Ramirez singled him home. Blake Swihart pinch ran for Ramirez but was erased on a force by Travis. Marrero failed to score Hanley with a ground out to second and Leon popped up to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-0.
Austin Maddox came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and got Hays to pop up to first to start. Mancini grounded out to short but Sisco singled. Santander doubled Sisco to third but Rickard threw his bat up in the air and ran away screaming into the dugout for strike three to end the game. The Sox had swept Baltimore to keep pace with New York and won this game 9-0.
Hero of the Night is Chris Sale. He pitched 8 innings of shut-out ball while striking out 13, topping 300 strikeouts on the season.
Hero of the Night: Chris Sale
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with a walk, 3 total runs scored and a 2 run home run.
Hanley Ramirez was 3 for 5 with a run scored and 3 rbis.
Sandy Leon was 1 for 3 with 2 walks.
Austin Maddox pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
None.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 but walked twice.
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 5 but the one hit was a 2 run double.
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4 with a walk but scored 2 runs.
Sam Travis was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Deven Marrero was just 1 for 5 but made the hit count as it was a 2 run home run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 but walked and scored.
Honorable Mention:
Brock Holt pinch ran and played second for Pedroia.
Blake Swihart pinch ran for Ramirez.
Final Thoughts:
After all the BS that went on this season beginning with Buck Showalter making fun of the Sox for getting the flu, to the Machado situation, to the Adam Jones incident, to getting swept last month....to take on the Orioles for 31 innings is tough enough. Then, the Sox swept the bastards and gave one final middle finger to Showalter this season with the exclamation point being tonight's game. The Sox didn't just batter the O's, they took a dump in Camden Yards and made Showalter clean it up. Sale getting his 300th strikeout and pitching another shut-out proves his gas tank wasn't empty after all. Hopefully he can ride this momentum to his next start and beyond with October approaching. It was nice to see the offense produce for once, can they repeat that in the next series? A tall order for sure. The win improved the Sox to 88-64, 3 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Friday night the Sox begin a 3 game set with National League rules against the Cincinnati Reds. The Sox need to win 2 out of 3 to keep pace with the Yankees and that may not be enough. Rick Porcello (10-17, 4.46 ERA) takes on Sal Romano at 7:10 PM at Great American Ball Park.
After all the BS that went on this season beginning with Buck Showalter making fun of the Sox for getting the flu, to the Machado situation, to the Adam Jones incident, to getting swept last month....to take on the Orioles for 31 innings is tough enough. Then, the Sox swept the bastards and gave one final middle finger to Showalter this season with the exclamation point being tonight's game. The Sox didn't just batter the O's, they took a dump in Camden Yards and made Showalter clean it up. Sale getting his 300th strikeout and pitching another shut-out proves his gas tank wasn't empty after all. Hopefully he can ride this momentum to his next start and beyond with October approaching. It was nice to see the offense produce for once, can they repeat that in the next series? A tall order for sure. The win improved the Sox to 88-64, 3 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Friday night the Sox begin a 3 game set with National League rules against the Cincinnati Reds. The Sox need to win 2 out of 3 to keep pace with the Yankees and that may not be enough. Rick Porcello (10-17, 4.46 ERA) takes on Sal Romano at 7:10 PM at Great American Ball Park.
Magic Number: 8
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