Boston couldn't do anything right against Stephens in the top of the first inning. Xander Bogaerts grounded out to short and Dustin Pedroia looked at strike three, but Andrew Benintendi walked. Mookie Betts whiffed to end the inning. The Reds wasted no time scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Billy Hamilton watched strike three go by but Zack Cozart singled. Joey Votto whiffed but Scooter Gennett doubled into the gap. Cozart scored but Gennett was thrown out at third trying to stretch a triple to end the inning with the Reds up 1-0.
The Sox failed to answer in the top of the second inning. Mitch Moreland grounded out to third, Rafael Devers grounded out to first and Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to left field to end the inning. Fister settled down in the bottom of the second inning as he struck out Eugenio Suarez to start. Scott Shebler grounded out to first and Adam Duvall looked at strike three to end the inning.
Sox manager John Farrell fell asleep in the top of the third inning after Sandy Leon led off with a double. Rather than have Fister bunt him over to third, he had Doug swing away only to line out to left. Bogaerts grounded out to short but Leon moved to third, meaning he would have scored had Fister bunted. Pedroia grounded out to second to end the inning, WAKE UP FARRELL!!! Luckily Fister kept the Reds in check in the bottom of the third inning. Tucker Barnhart and Stepehens looked at strike three before Hamilton whiffed to end the inning.
Stephens cruised in the top of the fourth inning as Benintendi lined out to second, Betts flied out to center and Moreland grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox D saved the game in the bottom of the fourth inning as Cozart singled to start Votto singled as well but Betts gunned down Cozart at third. Fister whiffed Gennett and Suarez grounded into a force to end the inning.
The Sox struck back as Devers tied the game with his 10th homer of the season to right field off Stephens to start the top of the fifth. JBJ walked but Leon flied out to right and Fister popped the bunt attempt up back to Stephens. Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning but it was 1-1.
Just as soon as the Sox tied it, they pissed it away in the bottom of the fifth inning. Schebler grounded out to first but Duvall singled. Barnhart popped up to short and all Fister had to do was retire the pitcher to get out of the inning. Instead Stephens singled to center and Duvall broke for third. JBJ then fired the ball 300 feet over the head of Devers completely out of the ball park, scoring Duvall and sending Stephens to second on the error. Hamilton compounded the error with an rbi triple to score the pitcher. Cozart flied out to center to end the inning but the Sox were reeling down 3-1.
The Sox had no answer in the top of the sixth inning as Pedroia grounded out to second, Benintendi grounded out to first and Betts flied out to center to end the inning. Fister returned for the bottom of the sixth but Votto and Gennett stroked back to back singles. Suarez looked at strike three then Sox manager John Farrell ran out of the dugout as fast as he could to take the ball from Fister. He wasnt his sharpest but he wasn't the worst either, giving up 3 runs in just 5 1/3 innings.
"The Human White Flag" Fernando Abad came in and got Schebler to ground out to first, but both runners moved over. Duvall was intentionally walked to load the bases but Abad got Barnhart to ground out to short to end the inning with the Reds up 3-1.
Wandy Peralta took the mound for the top of the seventh inning after Stephens had pitched 6 innings of 2 hit ball. Moreland grounded out to second and Devers whiffed, but JBJ walked. Hanley Ramirez pinch hit for Leon and Patrick Kivlehan was brought in to play left and Michael Lorenzen was brought in to pitch to him. Naturally Ramirez whiffed on 3 pitches to end the inning. The Sox looked like complete clowns in the bottom of the seventh inning with Christian Vazquez behind the plate and Brandon Workman now on the mound. Kivlehan flied out to right but Hamilton walked. Workman then had Hamilton picked off.....but Pedroia threw the ball away. NOBODY covered home plate so Hamilton made a mad dash all the way around, sliding in safely. A simple, routine rundown turned into another run for the Reds. Cozart struck out and Sox manager John Farrell bolted out of the dugout and threw a full pack of Big League Chew at Workman, screaming and beating his chest like a caveman. Workman ran off the mound and dove into the stands, Robby Scott replacing him. Votto struck out to end the inning but it all looked lost at 4-1.
Suddenly the Sox exploded in the top of the eighth inning. Vazquez walked and Bogaerts singled to chase Peralta and bring in closer Raisel Iglesias as well as Phillip Ervin for Lorenzen. Pedroia grounded out but both runners moved over before Benintendi walked. Betts cracked a double into the gap to score Vazquez and Bogaerts easily. Benintendi motored around and slid.....SAFE! TIE GAME! Betts had done it again.
Moreland popped up to third but Devers strode to the plate. Devers hit a tapper toward third and Betts took off for home. Devers was safe at first and the relay throw to home was.....LATE. BETTS SCORES, THE SOX TAKE THE LEAD! JBJ flied out to left to end the inning but the Sox turned a 4-1 deficit into a 5-4 lead.
Deven Marrero came in for defense for Devers in the bottom of the eighth with Addison Reed now on the mound. Gennett lined out to second to start before Suarez whiffed. Reed blew away Schebler to end the inning.
Kevin Shackleford took over on the mound with Brock Holt pinch hitting for Reed in the top of the ninth inning. Holt grounded out to short, Vazquez grounded out to second and Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to close out the game in the bottom of the ninth. Ervin flied out to right and Barnhart grounded out to second. Jesse Winker pinch hit for Shackleford only for Kimbrel to blow him away to end the game. The Sox had swept the Reds and completed their road schedule for the year with a 5-4 win.
Hero of the Night is Rafael Devers. His solo home run tied it at 1 and his rbi single put them up for good.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi walked twice in four plate appearances and scored a run.
Jackie Bradley Jr walked twice in four plate appearances.
Sandy Leon was 1 for 2.
Christian Vazquez walked and scored in the 8th inning.
Fernando Abad got the final 2 outs of the 6th inning.
Robby Scott got the final out of the 7th inning.
Addison Reed pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel got his 35th save with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 4.
Hanley Ramirez struck out as a pinch hitter.
Brock Holt was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 but made the one hit count as it was a 3 run double before scoring a run.
Doug Fister was perfectly mediocre, going just 5 1/3 innings while allowing 3 runs on NINE hits.
Brandon Workman gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Honorable Mention:
Deven Marrero played third base in the final two innings.
Final Thoughts:
Don't look now but the Sox may be repeating as AL East division champions for the first time in team history. Their win today combined with the New York Yankees getting mauled by the Toronto Blue Jays puts them just 3 wins away from clinching. Most Sox fans had the Sox going 3-6 on this roadtrip given their inability to score runs consistently and they ended up going 8-1, still not managing to generate much offense. The pitching stepped up big when it mattered, especially in the bullpen. Today's game was not pretty but they showed a lot of guts to come back and win, especially on the road. Unless something drastic happens it looks like Fister is the odd man out. He had a great August but fizzled out since and Eduardo Rodriguez has had a great September. The rotation looks like Chris Sale, Drew Pomeranz and either Rodriguez or Rick Porcello for Game 3. Too much pitching is better than not enough any day. The Sox come home for the final 7 games with a 91-64 record and a 5 game lead in the AL East over the Yankees. Tomorrow night the Toronto Blue Jays come to town and Drew Pomeranz (16-5, 3.15 ERA) will be there to greet Brett Anderson in Game 1 at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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