The Royals wasted no time scoring off Pomeranz in the top of the first inning. Whit Merrifield walked and Jorge Soler doubled him to third. Pomeranz froze Mike Moustakas for strike three and the Royals ran themselves into an out while taking the lead. Salvador Perez hit a sac fly to score Merrifield but Soler was thrown out at third to end the inning with the Royals up 1-0.
The Sox had no success in the bottom of the first off starter Danny Duffy. Mr. Mookie Betts singled to left but Andrew Benintendi whiffed and Hanley Ramirez banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Royals struck again in the top of the second although Cheslor Cuthbert whiffed to start. Jon Jay singled but was forced at second by Alcides Escobar. Alex Gordon singled and Drew Butera doubled home both runners to put the Royals up big early. Merrifield grounded out to second to end the inning but the Royals were up 3-0.
The Sox failed to counter in the bottom of the second as JD Martinez flied out to right, Xander Bogaerts whiffed and Rafael Devers popped up to third to end the inning.
The biggest inning of the game came in the top of the third. Soler doubled an Moustakas singled him to third. This could have been a huge inning but instead Perez flied out to left without advancing anyone. Cuthbert walked to load the bases but Jay bounced into a double play to end the inning. That turned the game around although the Sox did nothing in the bottom of the third inning. Eduardo Nunez hit one up the elevator shaft, Sandy Leon flied out to right and Jackie Bradley Jr whiffed to end the inning.
As usual the Royals put the lead man aboard in the top of the fourth when Escobar singled. Pomeranz recovered to get Gordon to fly out to center and Butera to fly out to right. Merrifield grounded into a force to end the inning. The Sox exploded in the bottom of the fourth when Mr. Mookie led off with a solo blast to left. Benintendi whiffed but Ramirez walked. Martinez tied the game with a 2 run bomb into the Monster Seats. Bogaerts and Devers stroked back to back singles but Nunez lined out to center. Leon grounded into a force to end the inning but it was now tied 3-3.
Pomeranz did his job in the top of the fifth as Soler flied out to right, Moustakas flied out to left and Perez grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox took the lead in the bottom of the fifth although JBJ flied out to center. Mr. Mookie smashed his second homer of the game to left to give the Sox the lead and Ramirez doubled. Martinez singled Hanley to third but Bogaerts grounded out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-3.
Could Pomeranz pitch with the lead in the top of the sixth? Hell yes, Cuthbert led off with a single to right but Jay beat out a double play ball...but wait! Sox manager Alex Cora challenged that Jay was out and Yankees mana.....err Head of MLB Operations Joe Torre was out getting lunch so his new assistant called Jay out for the double play. Escobar took a 2-2 pitch on the inside corner for strike three to end the inning. That was it for Pomeranz who came back after the lousy start to toss 6 solid innings and put the team in position to win.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the sixth as Devers popped up to short but Nunez singled to right. Nunez was promptly picked off and Leon flied out to the left field wall to end the inning.
The returning "Machine Gun" Joe Kelly took over for the top of the seventh and Gordon greeted him with a single to right. Butera was frozen for strike three and Merrifield whiffed before Soler grounded into a force to end the inning. Welcome back Kelly!
Duffy returned for the bottom of the seventh and JBJ whiffed to start. Mr. Mookie continued his hot streak with this THIRD home run of the game, this one to dead center to increase the lead. Benny The Kid whiffed and that was it for Duffy. Brad Keller replaced him and Ramirez grounded out to second but it was now 5-3 Red Sox.
Matt Barnes was called upon to pitch the top of the eighth and got Moustakas to ground out to short to start. Perez whiffed but Cuthbert hit one of those 298 foot pop up home runs to right to cut the lead. Jay was hit with a pitch but Escobar was rung up for strike three to end the inning with the Royals down by a run 5-4.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the eighth as Martinez grounded out to third Bogaerts was retired on a squibber in front of the mound and Devers grounded out to short to end the inning.
Could Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel get back on track after blowing last night's game in the top of the ninth? Well he did freeze last night's villain Gordon for strike three to start. Lucas Duda pinch hit for Butera and swing and missed for strike three.....but the ball hit him and he took first. Not so fast! Sox manager Alex Cora challenged the call and not even Torre could screw this up as Duda was correctly called out. Kimbrel blew away Merrifield to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-4.
Hero of the Night is Mookie Betts. His 3 home runs were instrumental in winning the game.
The Good:
Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Eduardo Nunez was 1 for 3.
JD Martinez was 2 for 4 with a 2 run home run.
Drew Pomeranz tossed 6 solid innings of 3 run ball. He got lit up early but battled back to make a good effort.
Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 8th save with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 3.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Matt Barnes gave up a run in the top of the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Looks like Betts has shaken off his miserable 2017 so far. The problem with him last year was he admittedly was trying to make up for the loss of David Ortiz so he kept swinging for the fences. The problem was he developed a bad habit of trying to pull everything so opposing pitchers pounded the outside corner, causing him to ground out to short more often than not. That explains why his batting averaged dropped 50 points between 2016 and last year. Well, if he's corrected this mistake then look out AL East. Pomeranz is starting to look better as his fastball velocity was 89-90, if he can get it back to 91-92 then he'll be the same pitcher that won 17 games last year. Winning this game after being down 3-0 was huge considering the New York Yankees have gone 9-1 in their last 10 games including a spanking of the Houston Astros. In other news, Tyler Thornberg tossed 2 innings of 1 run (not earned) ball for Pawtucket so he's on his way back. The Sox desperately need another 8th inning guy with Smith, Barnes and Kelly schizophrenic in that role. The win put the Sox at 22-8, 2 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox venture to Arlington, Texas to play a set with the Texas Rangers. Mike Minor goes for the Rangers against David Price (2-3, 3.78 ERA) of the Sox at 8:05 PM at Arlington Park.
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