Price took the mound in the top of the first and dominated. Billy McKinney grounded out to second, Devon Travis lined out to center and Lourdes Gurriel Jr lined out to short to end the inning. Sanchez was greeted by a Mr. Mookie Betts single to start the bottom of the second and a wild pitch moved him to second. Betts moved to third on the Andrew Benintendi ground out but JD Martinez whiffed. Xander Bogaerts grounded out to first to end the inning.
Price was unhittable in the top of the second inning as Kendrys Morales flied out to right, Yangervis Solarte grounded out to short and Teoscar Hernandez whiffed to end the inning. Mitch Moreland walked to begin the bottom of the second but Rafael Devers struck out swinging and Brock "The Hitman" Holt banged into a double play to end the inning.
Price continued his hot streak in the top of the third inning as Rowdy Tellez looked at strike three before Danny Jansen lined out to short. Jonathan Davis grounded out to third to end the inning. Sanchez turned up the heat in the bottom of the third as Sandy Leon, Jackie Bradley Jr and Mr. Mookie Betts all swung and missed for strike three in short order to end the inning.
McKinney was rung up for strike three to open the top of the fourth before Travis was also called out on strikes. Gurriel Jr flied out to center to end the inning. 12 up, 12 down for Price. Benintendi flied out to center to open the bottom of the fourth before Martinez lined out to second. Bogaerts lined a ball into left for a base hit but was called out at second trying to stretch. Sox manager Alex Cora challenged the call but it was upheld and the inning was over.
Morales grounded out to short to begin the top of the fifth but Solarte singled to break up the perfect game. Hernandez lined out to left and Tellez whiffed to end the inning. The Sox broke through in the bottom of the fifth when Moreland walked to start. Moreland was erased on the Devers force but Rafael moved to third on the base hit by Holt. Leon flied out to right but Holt swiped second and Sanchez uncorked a wild pitch to score Devers, advancing Brock to third. JBJ walked but Mr. Mookie grounded out to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Could Price pitch with the lead in the top of the sixth? Jansen popped up to third but Davis singled. McKinney flied out to center but a passed moved Davis to second. Price recovered to get Travis to fly out to center to end the inning. Benintendi flied out to center to begin the bottom of the sixth before Martinez whiffed. Bogaerts flied out to left to end the inning.
Price returned for one more inning and got Gurriel Jr to ground out to third to start the top of the seventh. Morales whiffed but Solarte singled. Aledmys Diaz pinch ran for Solarte but Hernandez whiffed to end the inning. Price tossed 7 innings of shutout ball while striking out 7
The Sox failed to provide insurance for Price in the bottom of the seventh as Moreland grounded out to second, Devers flied out to left and Holt grounded out to first to end the inning,
Steven Wright came in to pitch the top of the eighth and nearly blew it by allowing a leadoff double to Tellez. Jansen walked and Kevin Pillar pinch hit for Davis only to strike out swinging. McKinney beat out a double play ball to put the tying run at third but Travis lined out to right to end the threat. The Sox squandered a chance to ice it against Tyler Clippard in the bottom of the eighth. Leon flied out to left but JBJ doubled. Mr. Mookie walked but Benintendi lined out to short. Martinez walked to load the bases but Bogaerts flied out to left to end the inning.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to lock down the save in the top of the ninth. Guriel Jr flied out to right before Kimbrel blew away Morales. Justin Smoak pinch hit for Diaz and was wisely walked. Dwight Smith Jr pinch hit for Hernandez and looked at strike three to end the game. The Sox had their 100th victory with a 1-0 win.
Hero of the Night is David Price. He tossed a 7 inning shutout on a night the offense sputtered to lift the team to victory.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base.
Mitch Moreland walked twice in 3 plate appearances.
Brock Holt was 1 for 3 with a stolen base.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 2 with a walk and a stolen base.
Steven Wright pitched a scoreless 8th.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 39th save with a scoreless 9th.
The Bad:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4.
Sandy Leon extended his slump to 0 for 27 by going 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 with a walk.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 but scored the only run.
Final Thoughts:
The offense was asleep but Price stepped up big time. The Sox really needed this win as the New York Yankees were nearly no-hit by the Twins to increase Boston's stranglehold on the AL East title. The Sox are inching closer to home field advantage throughout the playoffs with each passing win. They still have 3 games with the New York Mets, another game with the Blue Jays, 3 more with Baltimore and 6 more with the Yankees who's wild card homefield lead is down to 1 game over the Oakland A's. The Yankees also have four games against the red hot Tampa Bay Rays before they come to Fenway for the final 3 games. If the Rays play with reckless abandon all the way to those games then there's absolutely no chance the Yankees will ever catch the Sox. The win improved the Sox to 100-46, 10 games in front of the Yankees with 16 to play. Tomorrow night the Sox look for the sweep with Eduardo Rodriguez (12-4, 3.64 ERA) taking on Sam Gaviglio at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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