Gausman took the mound in the top of the first and Xander Bogaerts struck him with a line drive to start the game but Kevin threw him out at first. Andrew Benintendi whiffed and Mookie Betts lined out to center to end the inning. Pomeranz took the mound in the bottom of the first and struck out Tim Beckham on a full count fastball to start. Manny Machado popped up to right and Betts nearly cleaned out Brock Holt who ran out to catch it too. Jonathan Schoop singled to left but Adam Jones grounded into a force to end the inning.
Mitch Moreland led off the top of the second inning with a pop up to center. Christian Vazquez grounded out to first and Rafael Devers whiffed badly to end the inning. Pomeranz began the bottom of the second by getting Trey Mancini to fly out to the centerfield wall to start. Mark Trumbo walked on four pitches but Chris Davis looked at strike three as some fan in the crowd yelled "swing the bat!!!" Austin Hays grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the third inning as Sam Travis and Brock Holt struck out before Jackie Bradley Jr lined out to left to end the inning. Pomeranz got a big assist from his D in the bottom of the third as Caleb Joseph grounded out to third to start. Beckham was rung up for strike three but Machado doubled. Schoop singled to left and Machado broke for home. Benintendi fired home....YERRRR OUTTA THERE! Machado was out and that was all for the third inning.
The Sox failed to capitalize in the momentum swing in the top of the fourth inning. Bogaerts grounded out to second, Benintendi flied out to center and Betts whiffed to end the inning. Gausman was perfect through four. Luckily Pomeranz was up to the task in the bottom of the fourth inning as he got Jones to ground out to start. Mancini flied out to right and Trumbo grounded out to second to end the inning.
Gausman continued his hot streak in the top of the fifth when Moreland lined out to center and Vazquez grounded out to short. Devers broke up the perfect game with a base hit but Travis struck out to end the inning. Progress! The D came up big in the bottom of the fifth when JBJ jumped up and snared a home run away from Davis to start the bottom of the fifth. A double by Hays eluded JBJ but Pomeranz struck out Joseph. Beckham grounded out to third to end the inning.
Gausman nearly cruised in the top of the sixth inning when he got Holt to ground oit to short to start. JBJ popped up to first but Bogaerts singled. Benintendi walked for one of the few threats all night but Betts grounded out to short to end the inning. Pomeranz returned for the bottom of the sixth to get Machado and Schoop to ground out to third to begin. Jones walked and Mancini singled, before Devers fell asleep and allowed Jones to steal third. Pomeranz whiffed Trumbo to end the inning.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the seventh as Moreland grounded to first, Vazquez flied to center and Devers grounded out to second to end the inning. Pomeranz returned briefly to get Davis to fly out to open the bottom of the seventh and that was it for him. 6 1/3 of shutout ball would be a sure win with a competent offense, he deseved better. Carson Smith came in and struck out both Hays and Joseph to end the inning.
Travis singled to put the go-ahead run on in the top of the eighth and Rajai Davis pinch ran for him. Davis never tried to run and Holt looked at strike three. JBJ banged into a double play to end the inning. 8 shutout innings by Gausman, pathetic. Addison Reed was brought in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and he struck out Beckham to start. Machado hit one up the elevator shaft and Schoop whiffed to end the inning.
Darren O'Day relieved Gausman in the top of the ninth and he got Bogaerts to pop up to start. Benintendi stroked a double to put the go-ahead run at second but Betts and Moreland flied out to end the inning. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel had the bottom of the ninth and he hit Jones on the hand to start. Kimbrel caught Mancini looking then got Trumbo to fly out to center. Davis also flied to center to end the innings to send the game into extras, how unusual.
Brad Bach had the top of the tenth and got Vazquez to line out to right to start. Devers singled but Sox manager John Farrell made the idiotic move of sending the crippled Dustin Pedroia to pinch hit for Davis. Naturally Pedroia banged into a double play to end the inning. Nice going Farrell. Joe Kelly had the bottom of the tenth and he whiffed Hays to start. Kelly blew away Alvarez and Beckham to end the inning.
Wellington Castillo took over for Alvarez in the top of the 11th and Holt singled to once again put the go-ahead run on. JBJ erased Holt on a force and Bogaerts slid into first on a grounder but he was out, although JBJ moved to second. Benintendi and Betts both walked to load the bases. Moreland didnt have to do anything it turned out as a wild pitch by Bach scored JBJ to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. Moreland ended up hitting a weak tapper on a 2-0 count to end the inning but they were 3 outs from winning it.
Sox manager John Farrell again made the peculiar decision to have Matt Barnes close the game out despite his terrible road record in the bottom of the eleventh. Barnes did get Machado to pop up to first and Schoop to pop up to second to put the Sox one out away from winning it. Jones then hit a routine grounder to Devers....WHO THREW IT AWAY! Jones ended up on second when the game should have been over. Still, Barnes showed some balls by getting Mancini on a comebacker to end the game. After being terrible offensively all night, they still found a way to win and shove it up Buck Showalter's ass with a 1-0 win.
Hero of the Night is Matt Barnes. Hes been awful on the road all year and he survived an error to close out a huge win for the Sox. It was also his first save of the year.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and cut down a runner at the plate.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4.
Sam Travis was 1 for 3.
Drew Pomeranz pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings while striking out 5.
Carson Smith got the final 2 outs of the 7th.
Addison Reed pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win.
The Bad:
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 5.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4.
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5.
Mookie Betts was 0 for 4 but walked.
Brock Holt was just 1 for 4.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 but stole a home run and scored the winning run.
Honorable Mention:
Rajai Davis pinch ran for Travis
Final Thoughts:
This win reminded me of last season when the Sox were in their 11-game winning streak and found every which way to win. They looked completely helpless offensively for 10 Innings only to scratch out the one run they needed to win the game. Drew Pomeranz and the Boston bullpen were once again outstanding. Not giving up a single run is hard to do and they did it through 11 innings. It was a big win considering that they still have four road games left this year. The win propelled the Sox to 87-64, 3 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Red Sox look for the series sweep and to get Chris Sale (16-7, 2.87 ERA) back on track. Standing in the way is old friend Wade Miley and the relentless Showalter who would rather eat raw sewage than get swept by the Red Sox. The socks look to do the impossible tomorrow night at 7:10 p.m. at Camden Yards.
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