Stroman began his dominance in the top of the first inning when Mr. Mookie Betts opened the game by swinging at air. Andrew Benintendi got the first of many ground outs with one to third and Mitch Moreland watched strike three go by to end the inning. Pomeranz began his miserable outing by getting Randal Grichuk to ground out to second to begin. Devon Travis flied out to center but Justin Smoak singled and Teoscar Hernandez walked. Kendrys Morales flied out to left to end the inning.
The sinkerballs continued when JD Martinez began the top of the second by grounding out to second. Xander Bogaerts walked but Jackie Bradley Jr banged into a double play to end the inning. Pomeranz began the bottom of the second by walking Yangervis Solarte but Aledmys Diaz grounded into a double play. Kevin Pillar flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the third inning as Eduardo Nunez grounded out to first, Brock "The Hitman" Holt grounded out to second and Sandy Leon grounded out to short to end the inning. The Jays struck first in the bottom of the third although Luke Maile popped up to first to start. Grichuk walked and Travis smashed a 30,000 foot bomb to give the Jays the lead. Smoak grounded out to third but Hernandez singled. Morales grounded out to third to end the inning with the Jays leading 2-0.
The Sox struck back with pure luck in the top of the fourth inning. Mr. Mookie flied out to center but Travis booted a ground ball by Benintendi for an error. Moreland walked and Martinez slammed a single to right to score Benintendi to cut the lead. Bogaerts banged into a double play to end the inning but it was 2-1 Jays.
Pomeranz got Solarte to line out back to him to start the bottom of the fourth before Diaz walked. Pillar hit into a double play to end the inning.
Stroman was unhittable in the top of the fifth inning as JBJ looked at strike three to start. Nunez whiffed and Holt grounded out to second to end the inning. Pomeranz got rocked in the bottom of the fifth as Maile doubled to start. Grichuk struck out and Travis lined out to short, but Smoak walked to chase Pomeranz. He failed to last 5 innings although he only gave up 2 runs in 85 pitches. Heath Hembree came in and got Hernandez to fly out to right to end the inning, thanks a lot Pomeranz.
More incompetence followed in the top of the sixth as Leon grounded back to the mound and Mr. Mookie grounded out to first. Benintendi walked but Moreland grounded out to first to end the inning. Brandon Workman came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and damn near gave the game away. Morales singled, Solarte walked and Diaz singled to load the bases with nobody out. The lack of speed of Toronto manifested as Pillar flied out to right but the slow Morales stayed at third. Maile hit a swinging bunt and Leon was able to gather the ball and tag Morales for the second out. Grichuk then grounded back to Workman who flipped it to Leon for the final out. Workman manged to Houdini out of his own mess.
Stroman returned for the top of the seventh and Martinez pounded a ground rule double to try to get a rally going. Bogaerts failed to move him over by grounding out to short and by the time JBJ advanced JD to third with a grounder, there were two outs. Nunez grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Joe Kelly came on for the bottom of the seventh and crapped his pants again. Travis singled to right and Benintendi picked the ball up, did a dance with it and spiked it like a football which allowed Travis to make it to second. Kelly blew away Smoak but Kelly turned around and threw over to first even though the runner was at second. Moreland had no idea the ball was coming so Travis made it to third. Hernandez hit a sac fly to center to score Travis with the insurance run. Morales whiffed to end the inning but the Jays were up 3-1. Thanks a lot Kelly.
Stroman came out for the eighth but there was something wrong with his hand, so he had to come out. The Sox capitalized on an ice cold Ryan Tepera although Holt whiffed to start. Leon doubled and Mr. Mookie walked before Benintendi singled to load the bases. The play of the game when Moreland hit a picture perfect double play to second but Travis couldn't get the ball to second fast enough and Moreland was safe at first, scoring Leon. Martinez put the exclamation point with a 3 run blast to give the Sox the lead. Bogaerts grounded out to end the inning and Tepera went berserk, chasing the home plate umpire around the infield grass before he was ejected and escorted away by security. The Sox were now 6 outs from victory with a 5-3 lead.
Matt Barnes came on for the bottom of the eighth and pissed himself. Solarte singled but Diaz flied out to right. Pillar whiffed but Maile doubled home Solarte. Grichuk popped up to first but the Jays inched closer at 5-4.
Tyler Clippard came in to pitch the top of the ninth as JBJ flied out to right to start. Nunez whiffed and Holt looked at strike three to end the inning. Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel (3-1, 2.49 ERA) came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth and blew away Travis to start. Suddenly Smoak crushed a 5,000 foot bomb to tie the game out of nowhere. Hernandez and Morales both whiffed to end the inning but Kimbrel had thrown way too many pitches and blew the save, 5-5.
The Sox found the concept of a blown save offensive and attacked former Astros closer Ken Giles in the top of the tenth. Leon whiffed but Mr. Mookie motored around with a triple. Benintendi walked to put runners at the corners but Moreland cleared the bases with a three run bomb to give the Sox the lead. They weren't done although Martinez grounded out to short for the second out. Bogaerts singled and stole second before JBJ crushed his 9th homer of the year to extend the lead. That was it for Giles as Luis Santos came in to get Nunez to pop up to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 10-5.
Tyler Thornburg got the call to close out the game but he also struggled. Solarte singled but Diaz popped up to shirt. Pillar then blasted a 400,000 foot home run to cut the lead. Maile hit one up the elevator shaft but Grichuk singled. Travis flied out to left to end the game, the Sox had held on to win 10-7 for their 80th win of the season.
Co-Heroes of the night are JD Martinez and Mitch Moreland. Martinez' blast gave the Sox the lead in the top of the eighth and Moreland's 3 run homer was the difference in the end.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored.
Heath Hembree retired the only man he faced.
Brandon Workman houdini'd out of the 6th inning.
The Bad:
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Brock Holt was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Joe Kelly gave up a run in the 7th inning.
Matt Barnes gave up a run in the 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel gave up a run in the 9th inning.
Tyler Thornburg gave up 2 runs in the 10th inning.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a run scored and a stolen base.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 5 but made the hit count as it was a 2 run home run.
Sandy Leon was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Drew Pomeranz lasted just 4 2/3 innings by walking 5 guys, but only allowed 2 runs.
Final Thoughts:
The bullpen is in big trouble as its been allowing runs in bunches. The offense isn't going to be able to bop its way to victory every night if the bullpen is getting pounded nightly, especially in one run games. Still the offense is rolling coming out of the Yankees series and tonight was great. Right now we're having a two way fight for the fifth starter slot when Eduardo Rodriguez returns and Pomeranz is failing miserably. Brian Johnson is giving up runs but can at least go 6 or 7 innings. If Johnson can pitch well tomorrow than Pomeranz' days in the rotation are numbered because he's useless with diminished velocity. The win catapulted the Sox to 80-34, 9 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The 1993 Red Sox collapsed at the end and finished with 80 wins, this year's team reached 80 wins on August 7th. Tomorrow night Johnson (2-3) takes on Mike Hauschild in game 2 of this set at 7:07 PM at the Skydome.
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