In much less disturbing news, Carson Smith was finally activated from Disabled List. After getting Tommy John surgery last May, its been a long road for Smith. If he can be close to the pitcher he was before the injury, he will give the bullpen a much needed shot in the arm with Heath Hembree and Matt Barnes struggling.
As for the game, for 8 innings it appeared the Sox had no guts, desire or pride after being accused of cheating earlier in the day. They trailed 2-0 to the last place, hapless Blue Jays at home and looked headed to a defeat with Yankee fans ready to piss on their grave. Instead they rallied to tie the game and survived a war of attrition to defeat the Jays 3-2 in a marathon of 19 innings.
Eduardo Rodriguez took the mound in the top of the first inning and cruised. Steve Pearce grounded out to first, Josh Donaldson flied out to center and Kendrys Morales grounded out to first to end the inning. Jays starter Marco Estrada began his domination in the bottom of the first inning. Eduardo Nunez grounded out to second but Dustin Pedroia singled. Andrew Benintendi grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The Jays struck first in the top of the second inning. Jose Bautista grounded out to short but Kevin Pillar doubled. Darwin Barney singled Pillar to third and he scored on the sac fly by Teoscar Hernandez. Luke Maile whiffed to end the inning with the Jays up 1-0.
Could the Sox respond in the bottom of the second inning? Hell no. Mookie Betts lined out to left but Hanley Ramirez doubled. Mitch Moreland flied out to left but Xander Bogaerts walked. Christian Vazquez walked to load the bases but Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to second to end the inning. A huge chance wasted.
Rodriguez recovered to nearly cruise in the top of the third inning. Richard Urena lined out to left and Pearce popped up to first, but Donaldson walked. Morales struck out to end the inning. Nunez whiffed to open the bottom of the third inning but Pedroia singled. Benintendi flied out to left and Betts hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
Things got scary when Bautista doubled to start the top of the fourth inning. Pillar struck out but Barney hit a roller to Bogaerts. Xander picked the ball up and and served it to first with his glove like a tennis racket. The bizarre play failed and there were runners at the corners. Hernandez popped up to right and Maile looked at strike three to end the inning. The Sox failed to score in the bottom of the fourth inning as Ramirez lined out to left to start. Moreland hit one up the elevator shaft but Bogaerts walked. Vazquez looked at strike three to end the inning.
Rodriguez turned up the heat in the top of the fifth inning to strike out both Urena and Pearce to start. Donaldson grounded out to short to end the inning. Estrada cruised in the bottom of the fifth inning as JBJ popped up to second to start. Nunez grounded out to short and Pedroia hit a comebacker to Estrada to end the inning.
The Jays struck again in the top of the 6th inning when Morales led off with a solo home run to increase the lead. Bautista grounded out to third but Pillar singled. Rodriguez recovered to strike out Barney and Hernandez to end the inning. Normally 6 innings of 2 run ball would be good enough for the win. Not tonight it wasn't.
The Sox failed to pick up Rodriguez in the bottom of the sixth inning. Benintendi flied out to right, Betts grounded out to short, and Ramirez watched strike three go by to end the inning.
Joe Kelly was first out of the Sox bullpen in the top of the seventh inning. Maile earned a hat trick with his third strikeout and Kelly got Urena whiffing as well. Pearce flied out to right to end the inning. Estrada came back for one final domination in the bottom of the seventh inning. Moreland hit one up the elevator shaft, Bogaerts popped up to second and Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning.
Addison Reed got the call to pitch the top of the eighth inning. Donaldson popped up to third, Morales grounded out to second and Bautista grounded out to third to end the inning.
Dominic Leone was first out of the Jays pen in the bottom of the eighth inning. JBJ struck out and Nunez flied out to right. Pedroia popped up to second to end the inning. The Red Sox were accused of cheating and we're now three outs away from being shut out, humiliated and embarrassed.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel was brought in to pitch the top of the ninth inning. Pillar struck out but Barney doubled. Justin Smoak pinch hit for Hernandez and walked, but Maile earned the golden sombrero with his fourth strikeout of the night. Urena struck out to end the inning. After being quiet all game, the Sox roared to life against closer Roberto Osuna in the bottom of the ninth. Benintendi walked and Betts doubled to put the tying runs in scoring position. Ramirez grounded to third and Donaldson made the decision to get the sure out at first rather than try to gun down Benintendi at home. Andrew scored and Pedroia moved to third. Barney made a great play at second to get Moreland at first, but Pedroia scored to tie the game. Bogaerts singled to keep the rally going but Sox manager John Farrell made the peculiar decision to pinch hit ice cold Devers for Vazquez who already had a walkoff homer this year. As expected, Devers struck out to end the inning but the Sox had tied it 2-2 headed to extras.
Sandy Leon took over behind the plate as Brandon Workman was brought in to pitch the top of the tenth inning. Workman got Pearce looking, Donaldson to fly out to left, and Morales swinging to end the inning. Tom Koehler came in to pitch the bottom of the tenth inning only for JBJ to ground out to second to start. Nunez singled to put the winning run on but Pedroia lined out to a jumping Barney at second. Benintendi grounded out to second to end the inning.
Brock Holt came in to play second as Workman returned for the top of the eleventh. Things looked bleak when Bautista walked and Pillar sacrificed him to second. Michael Saunders pinch hit for Barney (nice going Demarlo Hale) and hit a shot to Bogaerts who couldn't make the play, putting runners at the corners. Ryan Goins pinch ran for Saunders as Smoak hit a fly ball to JBJ in center. Bautista broke for home and JBJ unleashed a howitzer to home.....YER OUTTA THERE!!! JBJ saved the game as we headed to the bottom of the eleventh.
Somehow the Sox failed to win the game in the last half of the eleventh against Luis Santos. Betts worked a leadoff walk but Ramirez flied out to right. Moreland grounded out but Betts moved to second. With the winning run in scoring position, Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning. More lack of clutch hitting.
Rookie Austin Maddox was brought in to pitch the top of the 12th and pinch hitter Ezequiel Carrera started things off with a single. Urena popped up a bunt and Maddox made a great diving catch to keep Carrera at first. Pearce popped up to third and Donaldson grounded out to end the inning. Raffy Lopez took over behind the plate for Toronto as Santos slammed the door in the bottom of the 12th. Leon flied out to right, Leon whiffed and Nunez flied out to center to end the inning.
Maddox returned for the top of the thirteenth inning and cruised. Morales popped up to second, Bautista struck out and Pillar hit a comebacker to end the inning. Matt Dermody was brought in to pitch the botton of the 13th inning and Chris Young pinch hit for Holt. Young singled but Farrell again made the peculiar decision to A. Not pinch run Rajai Davis or B. Sacrifice. Instead Young was erased at second on a force by Benintendi before Betts watched strike three go by. Ramirez flied out to end the inning.
Deven Marrero took over at second as Heath Hembree jogged in for the top of the fourteenth inning. Hembree blew away Goins and Smoak before Carrera grounded out to third to end the inning. Dermody matched Hembree in the bottom half as Moreland struck out to start. Bogaerts lined out to right and Bogaerts grounded out to third to end the inning.
Robby Scott got the call to start the top of the fifteenth inning and got Urena to line out to a running Betts to start. Lopez watched strike three go by and that was it for Scott. Blaine Boyer replaced him and got Donaldson the fly out into the triangle to end the inning. Another good catch by JBJ. Dermody returned for the bottom of the fifteenth inning and JBJ flied out to left to start. Nunez beat out an infield single as Sam Travis pinch hit for Marrero....and struck out. Benintendi grounded out to first to end the inning.
Tzu-Wei Lin took over at second and things looked bleak in the top of the sixteenth when Boyer walked Morales to start. Rob Refsnyder ran for Morales but Bautista banged into a dounle play to end the threat. Pillar flied out to center to end the inning. Could the Sox win it in the bottom of the sixteenth against rookie Chris Rowley? Hell no! Betts singled to start but Ramirez lined out to right and Moreland grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Boyer returned for the top of the seventeenth inning and struck out Goins to start. Smoak looked at strike three and Farrell suddenly made a mad dash to the mound, kicking dirt and screaming at Boyer to get out of there. Fernando Abad came in and nearly coughed up the game. Carrera singled and Urena singled him to third. Urena swiped second but Abad froze Lopez with an eephus pitch to end the inning. Too bad the Sox failed to capitalize im the bottom of the 17th inning. Bogaerts lined out to short, Leon struck out and JBJ grounded out to first to end the inning.
Suddenly Carson Smith, who hadn't pitched since last May, appeared out of thin air to pitch the top of the eighteenth inning. Josh Donaldson was so enraged at the sight of Smith that he threw his bat at the third base umpire and started screaming at the home plate umpire while threatening to take off the umpire's pants. DeMarlo Hale sprinted out of the dugout and had to carry the hysterical Donaldson out of there after he was ejected. Miguel Montero replaced Donaldson and grounded out to second. Refsnyder hit a routine grounder to Nunez who thought he saw a UFO and heaved the ball up in the air at it, allowing Rob to reach on the error. Bautista watched strike three go by and the alert Leon gunned down Refsnyder trying to steal to end the inning.
Would the game FINALLY end in the bottom of the eighteenth? Not on your life. Nunez grounded out to short, Lin flied out to left and Benintendi whiffed to end the inning. The Sox had essentially played two full games and scored only two runs, absolutely pathetic.
Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velasquez (3-1) got the ball in the top of the ninteenth inning. Pillar grounded out to first and Goins flied out to center, but Smoak beat out an infield single. Carrera lined out to right to end the inning. FINALLY the game ended in the bottom of the nineteenth inning. Betts hit a leadoff double and Ramirez blooped a single to center. Betts motored around to score and THE RED SOX WIN! On a day they were accused of cheating and 2 outs from defeat, they rallied to outlast the Jays 3-2 in 19 innings.
Hero of The Night is a special one tonight. For the first time ever the ENTIRE Sox bullpen gets a Hero credit. They tossed 13 innings of shutout ball allowing 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 15 batters. Give a big hand to Joe Kelly, Addison Reed, Craig Kimbrel, Brandon Workman, Austin maddox, Heath Hembree, Robby Scott, Blaine Boyer, Fernando Abad, Carson Smith and Hector Velazquez.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 5.
Chris Young pinch hit for Brock Holt and singled.
Mookie Betts was 3 for 7 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Eduardo Rodriguez pitched well, giving up 2 runs in 6 innings of work while striking out 8. The offense didn't pick him up.
The Bad:
Sam Travis pinch hit for Deven Marrero and struck out.
Tzu-Wei Lin was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Rafael Devers struck out as a pinch hitter.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Eduardo Nunez was just 2 for 8.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 7 but walked and scored.
Hanley Ramirez was just 2 for 8 but drove in the winning run.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 7 but drove in a run.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 but walked twice.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 2 but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 7 but made the game saving throw in the top if the eleventh.
Honorable Mention:
Brock Holt played second base from the 10th to the 13th inning.
Deven Marrero played second base from the 14th inning to the 15th inning.
Final Thoughts:
What a day. It started with the New York Times publishing an article claimimg the Red Sox were cheating and ended with the Sox rallying for an arduous 19 inning victory over the Blue Jays. Whether or not commissioner Rob Manfred will punish the Red Sox is up in the air, but one thing is for sure, the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry is back. It's too bad they don't play again the rest of the year. As for this game, the socks came dangerously close to losing not only this game but the fans as well who were ready to rioy after they were down 2 to nothing in the 9th inning. Not too many games are considered must-win, but this was one of them. The good news didn't end there, Manny Machado hit a walk-off two-run home run for the Baltimore Orioles to defeat the Yankees tonight. The win improves the Sox to 78-61, 3.5 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox look to Doug Fister (4-7, 4.19 ERA) to toss another gem since most likely Toronto starter Jeff Biagini throws a 3 hit shutout tomorrow night at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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