Rodriguez took the mound in the top of the first inning and struck out Teoscar Hernandez to begin the ballgame. Kevin Pillar lined out to right and Yangervis Solarte lined out to second to end the inning. Jays starter Sam Gaviglio was tough in the bottom of the first inning as Andrew Benintendi grounded out to first to start. Xander Bogaerts grounded out to third and JD Martinez grounded out to short to end the inning.
Rodriguez got Justin Smoak to ground out to short to open the top of the second before Kendrys Morales also grounded out to short. Devon Travis flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as Rafael Devers watched strike three go by to begin. Eduardo Nunez grounded out to short and Brock Holt grounded out to first to end the inning.
Rodriguez turned up the heat in the top of the third inning as Curtis Granderson looked at strike three to begin. Luke Maile whiffed and Gio Urshela grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the third as Blake Swihart singled up the middle. Swihart moved to second on the ground out by Christian Vazquez and Jackie Bradley Jr doubled him home. Andrew Benintendi singled and stole second....BUT WAIT! Jays manager John Gibbons challenged the call and New York Yankees manag......errr Head of MLB Operations Joe Torre DEMANDED Benintendi be called out. Gaviglio uncorked a wild pitch and JBJ took off for home....SAFE! Oh but wait, once again Gibbons challenged the call and once again Joe Torre bellowed that Bradley was out to end the inning. The sad part was Benintendi was actually safe so to hell with Torre. Still, the Sox had a 1-0 lead.
Could Rodriguez pitch with the lead in the top of the fourth+? YES! Hernandez whiffed, Pillar lined out to right and Solarte grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the fourth as Bogaerts and Martinez whiffed before Devers grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Smoak grounded out to second to start the top of the fifth but Morales singled. The Sox executed a strike em out, throw em out double play when Travis whiffed and Vazquez nailed Morales at second to end the inning. Inspired by the defensive effort, Nunez led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo blast to increase the lead. Holt lined out to right but Swihart singled. Vazquez popped up to second and JBJ grounded out to short to end the inning but the Sox were up 2-0.
Just as soon the Sox were ready to party, the party was crashed in the top of the sixth. Granderson looked at strike three and Maile lined out to right...but Urshela walked and Hernandez smashed a 900,000 foot bomb to tie the game. Pillar whiffed to end the inning but the Jays had tied it 2-2.
The Sox wasted no time getting the lead back in the bottom of the sixth when Benintendi singled to start. Bogaerts tried to bunt Andrew over to second but popped it up. Martinez said to hell with a bunt and hit an absolute rocket to dead center for a two run homer, giving the Sox the lead. Devers whiffed and Nunez grounded out to short to end the inning but the Sox regained the lead 4-2.
Rodriguez looked to go 7 for the first time all year and began the top of the seventh by getting Solarte to pop up to short on the first pitch. Smoak singled but Morales popped up to short. Out marched Sox manager Alex Cora to take the ball after 100 pitches, going 7 be damned. Eduardo pitched very well, holding the Jays to 2 runs in 6 2/3 innings.
Matt Barnes came on to pitch and Travis hit a routine grounder to first. Swihart belly flopped on the ball and dry land swam on it for an error. Granderson flied out to center to end the inning. Seunghwan Oh came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and walked Holt to start. Swihart looked at strike three and Vazquez whiffed but JBJ singled to left. Benintendi flied out to left to end the inning.
Mitch Moreland came in for defense in the top of the eighth with Barnes still on the mound. Maile lined out to right, Urshela took strike three and Hernandez whiffed to end the inning. The Sox teed off on Ryan Tepera in the bottom of the eighth. Bogaerts singled and Martinez reached when Tepera threw a routine grounder away. Devers popped up to short but Nunez doubled home Bogaerts. Holt followed with a single to score Martinez but Moreland whiffed. Holt swiped third but Vazquez whiffed again to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-2.
The Sox felt the lead was good enough to use Brian Johnson to close the game out in the top of the ninth. They were wrong. Pillar singled and Solarte singled him to third. The alert Alex Cora sprinted out of the dugout before Johnson could throw another pitch to get him out of there and bring in Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel for the save. Smoak walked to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. Morales gave the fans a heart attack with a double to score two runs and put the tying run at second with nobody out. Dwight Smith ran for Morales but Kimbrel got a key out when Travis grounded out to third without advancing anyone. Kimbrel blew away Granderson and got Maile to ground out to second to end the game. The Sox survived the scare and swept the Jays out of Fenway with a 6-4 win.
Hero of the Night is Eduardo Rodriguez. He held the Jays to two runs for nearly 7 innings to earn his 6th win of the season. After struggling to go 5 time and time again, nearly 7 full is a huge improvement.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Eduardo Nunez was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis, a run scored including a solo home run.
Brock Holt was 1 for 3 with a walk, stolen base and an rbi.
Blake Swihart was 2 for 3 with a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 3 with an rbi.
Matt Barnes tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Mitch Moreland struck out in his only plate appearance.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Brian Johnson was charged for 2 runs off 2 hits without getting anyone out.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 with 2 total runs scored but made the 1 hit count as it was a 2 run home run.
Craig Kimbrel got his 18th save of the year but allowed 2 inherited runners to score while doing it.
Final Thoughts:
Bring on the Astros! After dispatching the Jays in 3 straight games, the big test is coming up to see if they can knock off the team that wiped them out of last year's Divisional Series. The Astros pitching staff is as deadly as it was last year but the World Series hangover has claimed the offense. Carlos Correa is hitting just .261, Evan Gattis is hitting just .236 and Alex Bregman is hitting .266. Jose Altuve is still deadly but their offense is not as potent as it was last year. Still, the pitching has been damn good and they just spanked the New York Yankees in 2 out of 3 games. As for this one, its about time Jackie Bradley Jr found his stroke in the wake of Mookie Betts being out for a week. Brock Holt being fully healthy for the first time in years also helps Dustin Pedroia slowly return to form without forcing him to play more on his bad knee. JD Martinez has been worth every cent they spent on him so far this year and it was nice to see Rodriguez pitch well. The late inning bullpen is a nightmare but the return of Tyler Thornberg should help that. The win propelled the Sox to 39-17, 2 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. It should be noted that the eventual world series champion 2013 Red Sox were 34-22 at this time during their season. Tomorrow night begins the showdown in Houston with the struggling Drew Pomeranz (1-2, 6.75 ERA) taking on Lance McCullers Jr beginning at 8:10 PM at Minute Maid Park.
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