Price took the mound in the top of the first inning and got Teoscar Hernandez to pop up to second to begin. Josh Donaldson singled but Justin Smoak whiffed. Yangervis Solarte lined out to Price to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time scoring off Aaron Sanchez in the bottom of the first inning although Benintendi grounded out to first to begin. Xander Bogaerts singled and Mitch Moreland singled Xander to third to put runners at the corners. JD Martinez beat out a double play ball to score Xander to give the Sox the quick lead. Rafael Devers grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Price ran into trouble in the top of the second inning as Kevin Pillar walked and stole second. Russell Martin walked and Pillar moved to third on the fly out by Kendrys Morales. Price got a big out when Luke Maile popped up to first and whiffed Devon Travis to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as Eduardo Nunez struck out to start. Brock "The Hitman" Holt walked but Christian Vazquez flied out to right. Jackie Bradley Jr lined out to center to end the inning.
Price returned for the top of the third inning and Hernandez flied out to right to begin. Donaldson walked but Smoak watched strike three go by. Solarte popped up to first to end the inning. Sanchez settled down in the bottom of the third although Benintendi singled to start. Bogaerts struck out and Moreland erased Benintendi at second on a force. Martinez lined out to center to end the inning.
The Jays struck back in the top of the fourth inning when Pillar led off with a double and moved to third on the Martin ground out. Morales singled in Pillar to tie the game but Maile flied out to center. Travis lined out to center to end the inning with the game now 1-1.
The Sox iced the game early in the bottom of the fourth inning as Devers and Nunez stroked back to back singles before both runners moved into scoring position on a passed ball. Holt scored Devers with a sac fly to give the Sox the lead and Vazquez singled. JBJ stepped up with a double to score Nunez and Benintendi crushed a 3 run bomb into left for his 7th home run of the year. Bogaerts and Moreland whiffed to end the inning but it was 6-1 Sox just like that.
Meanwhile Price got rocked in the top of the fifth inning although Hernandez lined out to right to begin. Donaldson walked and Smoak doubled him to third but Josh pulled up lame and had to leave the game. Gio Urshela pinch ran for Donaldson and scored on the sac fly by Solarte. Pillar struck out to end the inning and that was it for Price. He lasted just 5 innings and threw 95 pitches but was put in a position to win up 6-2.
The Sox wasted no time getting that run back in the bottom of the fifth as Martinez crushed his 17th home run of the year into the Monster Seats to increase the lead. Devers popped up to first, Nunez grounded out to first and Holt grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 7-2.
Heath Hembree took over for the top of the sixth inning and he struck out Martin to begin. Morales flied out to center and Maile whiffed to end the inning. Danny Barnes had the bottom of the sixth and Vazquez grounded out to second to start. JBJ walked, stole second and took third on an error before Benintendi tripled him home. Bogaerts flied out to center and Moreland flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 8-2.
The Jays struck back in the top of the seventh as Travis and Hernandez smacked back to back triples but Hembree punched out Urshela for a big out. Smoak walked but Solarte banged into a double play to end the inning with the Jays down 8-3.
John Axford came in for the bottom of the seventh and walked Martinez to start. Devers singled but Nunez banged into a double play. Holt walked but Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning.
Steven Wright took over for the top of the eighth and struck out Pillar to start. Martin grounded out to third and Morales grounded out to short to end the inning. Jake Petricka came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and JBJ grounded out to second to start. Benintendi flied out to left and Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning.
Wright returned to finish off the game in the top of the ninth. Maile grounded out to third and Travis grounded out to short but Hernandez doubled. Urshela struck out to end the game with the Sox victorious by an 8-3 score.
Hero of the Night is Andrew Benintendi. He fell a double short of the cycle, drove in 4 runs and appears to be on a hot streak.
The Good:
JD Martinez was 1 for 3 with a walk, 2 total rbis and a solo home run.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Brock Holt walked twice in three plate appearances and scored a run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi and 2 runs scored.
David Price got the win with 5 innings of 2 run ball, striking out 4 batters.
Steven Wright pitched 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Mitch Moreland was just 1 for 4.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Heath Hembree allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
That was a good bounceback win after getting trounced by the Atlanta Braves yesterday. It sucks but every win is necessary with the AL East battle looking like its going to come down to the wire. There's a very real chance the Sox could win 98-100 games and be out in the wild card play-in game so winning the division would be a better option. Price continues to be average at best and that can't continue considering Drew Pomeranz is struggling, Rick Porcello hit a cold streak and Eduardo Rodriguez is a 6 inning pitcher at best. If Price wants to justify his contract, he needs to go 7 to save some bullpen arms. Its nice to see Benintendi get hot and Bradley Jr do some damage as well. Devers needs to get hot soon but maybe he's hit the sophomore slump that Xander Bogaerts did in 2014. The Sox will give him every chance to bust out of it but if he can't, getting Dustin Pedroia back means they can have Holt or Nunez spell Devers at third for a game or two. Just have to keep on winning every game they can. The win propelled the Sox to 37-17, 2 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night "Slick" Rick Porcello (6-2, 3.74) looks to rebound from his cold streak against Marco Estrada and the Toronto Blue Jays tomorrow night at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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