Price took the mound in the top of the first inning and struck out Trey Mancini to begin. Adam Jones flied out to right and Price froze Manny Machado for strike three to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time scoring off Gausman in the bottom of the first inning. Mr. Mookie Betts led off with a single before Andrew Benintendi flied out to center. Betts swiped second but Hanley Ramirez grounded out to third. The red hot JD Martinez smashed a 2 run bomb to dead center to put the Sox on top. Xander Bogaerts singled and a wild pitch moved him to second before Rafael Devers walked. Brock "The Hitman" Holt whiffed to end the inning but it was 2-0 Sox.
Could Price pitch with the lead? YES! Jonathan Schoop popped up to first, Chris Davis grounded out to short and Mark Trumbo watched strike three go by to end the inning. Gausman settled down in the bottom of the second inning as Sandy Leon grounded out to second to start. Jackie Bradley Jr watched strike three go by but Mr. Mookie singled. Benintendi whiffed to end the inning.
Danny Valencia singled to right to begin the top of the third before Joey Rickard flied out to center. Andrew Susac whiffed and Mancini grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Ramirez looked to rally the Sox to start the bottom of the third but Martinez banged into a double play to end that. Bogaerts flied out to center to end the inning.
Price cruised in the top of the fourth by getting Jones to line out to second and Machado to fly out to center to start. Schoop singled but Davis whiffed to end the inning. Meanwhile Boston did nothing in the bottom of the fourth inning as Devers flied out to right to start. Holt and Leon both whiffed to end the inning.
Price continued to dominate in the top of the fifth by getting Trumbo to strike out to begin. Valencia singled but was thrown out at second by Benintendi trying to stretch a double. Rickard popped up to short to end the inning. The Sox exploded to ice the game in the bottom of the fifth and it started with a JBJ walk. JBJ stole second and Mr. Mookie singled him to third. Benintendi hit a sac fly to score JBJ and Betts swiped second. Ramirez beat out an infield single and both runners swiped their respective 3rd and 2nd bases when Martinez struck out. Bogaerts didn't need to play small ball as he launched a back-breaking 3 run bomb to left to put the game away and chase Gausman. Donnie Hart came in and got Devers to ground out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-0.
The will of the O's was broken by the top of the sixth as Susac popped up to third, Mancini grounded out to first and Jones lined out to right to end the inning. There would be another rally in the bottom of the sixth although Holt grounded back to the mound to begin. Leon singled but JBJ popped up to second to chase Hart. Miguel Castro came in and walked both Mr. Mookie and Benintendi to load the bases. Ramirez popped up to second to end the inning.
Price returned for the top of the seventh and got Machado to ground out to third to begin. Schoop grounded out to second and Davis struck out to end the inning. Blake Swihart pinch hit for Martinez to give him the night off and grounded out to second to begin the bottom of the seventh. Bogaerts whiffed and Devers flied out to center to end the inning.
Price was unstoppable in the top of the eighth as Trumbo grounded out to third, Valencia lined out to right and Rickard whiffed to end the inning. Outstanding work by Price to go this far.
Pedro Araujo had the mound in the bottom of the eighth and got Holt to ground out to first to begin. Leon singled but JBJ flied out to left. Mr. Mookie grounded into a force to end the inning.
Price returned to finish the shutout in the top of the ninth, but wouldn't get it. Susac doubled but Mancini popped up to first. Jones popped up to third but Machado took a dump in Price's stew by launching a 378,000,000 foot home run halfway to the Azores to break up the shutout. Schoop flied out to center to end the complete game victory for Price and the Red Sox 6-2.
Hero of the Night is David Price. He tossed a 9 inning complete game allowing just the mistake to Machado with 2 outs in the ninth. He scattered 5 hits, walked no one and struck out 8
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 3 for 4 with a walk, 3 stolen bases and 2 runs scored.
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
JD Martinez was 1 for 3 with a big two run home run.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4 with a big 3 run home run.
Sandy Leon was 2 for 4.
The Bad:
Blake Swihart was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Brock Holt was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 2 but walked, drove in a run and threw out Valencia at second.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 but walked and scored.
Final Thoughts:
Price hasn't made it easy for himself in his 3 years in Boston but tonight was a hell of an effort. Many thought his arm would fall off this season but going the distance in the middle of May is a good sign that maybe good things are coming this season after a mediocre 2016 and a disastrous 2017. If the offense can produce like tonight and the pitching including Price, Rick Porcello and Chris Sale continues to do well, the playoffs should be in sight for a 3rd straight year for the first time since 2007-09. Just gotta keep everyone healthy or else its going to be very difficult to beat the New York Yankees in the race. The win propels the Sox to 30-14, percentage points behind the Yankees for first place since New York hasn't played a full game since Sunday. Tomorrow night Drew Pomeranz (1-1, 5.47 ERA) looks to regain his velocity taking on Alex Cobb who hasn't won a game yet this year. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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