Rodriguez took the mound in the top of the first and Niko Goodrum walked before taking second on a wild pitch. Nicholas Castellanos whiffed before Miguel Cabrera looked at strike three. Victor Martinez grounded out to third to end the inning. Blaine Hardy took the mound in the bottom of the first and got Andrew Benintendi grounded out back to the mound to begin. Xander Bogaerts whiffed and JD Martinez singled to left....but was thrown out at second trying to stretch. Worst baserunning team in baseball strikes again!
The Tigers struck first in the top of the second inning although James McCann popped up to first to start. Leonys Martin grounded out to second but Jacoby Jones somehow tripled into the gap in left. Old friend Jose Iglesias lined a single to center to score Jones with the first run. Ronny Rodriguez whiffed to end the inning but it was 1-0 Tigers.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the second as Mitch Moreland grounded out to short, Eduardo Nunez whiffed and Sam Travis popped up to second to end the inning.
Rodriguez struggled in the top of the third although Goodrum grounded out to third to start. Castellanos whiffed but the ball got under the glove of Christian Vazquez and Nicholas made it to first. Cabrera lined out to second and Martinez flied out to center to end the inning but Rodriguez had thrown 64 pitches already. Suddenly the Sox exploded in the bottom of the third inning. Rafael Devers singled and Vazquez doubled into the gap in center to tie the game. Jackie Bradley Jr was plunked and Benintendi doubled home Vazquez to give the Sox the lead. Bogaerts followed with a double to center to score both runners and ice the game early. That was it for the rally as Martinez grounded out to third, Moreland grounded out to second and Nunez grounded out to short to end the inning but it was 4-1 Sox.
Once again Rodriguez kept nibbling in the top of the fourth although Mccann flied out to right to start. Martin grounded out to first but Jones singled to right. Iglesias grounded out to short to end the inning. Boston did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Travis grounded out to third to begin. Devers popped up to second but Vazquez singled. JBJ grounded out to first to end the inning.
Needing a quick inning to stay in the game, Rodriguez got one in the top of the fifth. Ronny grounded out to short on the second pitch, Goodrum grounded out to first on the fifth pitch and Castellanos lined out to left on the 10th pitch of the inning, good work E-Rod. The Sox got another run in the bottom of the fourth when Benintendi smashed his 10th home run of the year to dead center to open the frame. Bogaerts singled but Martinez bounced into a double play. Moreland grounded out to short to end the inning but the Sox were up 5-1.
Rodriguez tried to come back for the top of the sixth but Cabrera greeted him with a single. E-Rod did manage to get Martinez to fly out to right before striking out McCann. That was it as Martin singled to chase him after 5 2/3 gutty innings. He kept nibbling and nibbling but at least he had only allowed 1 run in his outing.
Heath Hembree came in and walked Jones to load the bases but Moreland snared a line drive by Iglesias to end the inning. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the sixth as Nunez popped up to second, Travis grounded back to the mound and Devers grounded out to second to end the inning.
Matt Barnes took over for the top of the seventh and nearly crapped his pants. Rodriguez grounded out to short and Goodrum was frozen for strike three, but Castellanos singled. Cabrera singled and instead of throwing to third, Benintendi turned around and heaved the ball into the bullpen for an error. Martinez walked to load the bases but McCann grounded out to end the inning and the biggest threat. Buck Farmer replaced Blaine Hardy for the bottom of the seventh and Vazquez greeted him with a solo blast to dead center to increase the lead. JBj flied out to left and Benitnendi grounded back to the mound, but Bogaerts singled. Martinez grounded into a force to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-1.
Brandon Workman took over for the top of the eighth and got martin to line out to left to start. Jones flied out to right and Iglesias flied out to left to end the inning. Louis Coleman replaced Farmer and the Sox tagged him in the bottom of the eighth. Castellanos booted a ball hit by Moreland to allow Mitch to reach second. Nunez lined out to the mound but Travis scored Moreland with a base hit. Vazquez looked at strike three but JBJ was plunked. Zac Reininger came in to pitch to Benintendi as Andrew grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-1.
Bobby Poyner had mop up duty in the top of the ninth and he got Rodriguez to ground out to third to start. Goodrum grounded out to third and Castellanos whiffed to end the game. The Sox had won it 7-1.
Hero of the Night is Christian Vazquez. He's been struggling all year but he came through by going 3 for 4 with two total rbis and two total runs scored including a home run.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 5 with 2 total rbis and 2 total runs scored with a home run.
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 4 with 2 rbi's.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was hit by pitches twice in four plate appearances and scored a run.
Eduardo Rodriguez got the win with 5 2/3 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 5.
Heath Hembree got the final out of the 6th inning.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Brandon Workman pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Bobby Poyner pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 4 but scored a run.
Sam Travis was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Another good win by the Sox who are doing what they can to keep pace with the New York Yankees. Its only June but its obvious the two best teams not only in the American League but in all of baseball are the Sox and Yankees. The Sox are 24 games over .500 and are slightly ahead of the Yankees. They don't appear to be going away so the Sox are going to have to win every game they can to keep pace. Tonight the Sox beat up on a bad team but that's what they have to do. Its good to see not only the offense produce but the pitching as well. Rodriguez and the bullpen did well and you want to see that as often as possible. The win improved the Sox to 43-19, 1.5 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow rookie Jalen "Twin" Beeks makes his major league debut for the Sox going up against Matthew Boyd. The Sox look to sweep the Tigers out of Boston tomorrow night at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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