Sale took the mound in the top of the first inning and Amed Rosario flied out to center on the first pitch. Jeff McNeil grounded out to first and Wilmer Flores grounded out to third to end the inning. deGrom took the ball in the bottom of the first and Mr. Mookie Betts was rung up for strike three on a borderline call. Brock "The Hitman" Holt whiffed badly on 3 pitches and Andrew Benintendi grounded into the shift to end the inning.
Sale returned for the top of the second and Michael Conforto grounded out to short to begin. Todd Frazier whiffed on a 2-2 count but Jay Bruce singled. Bruce was gunned down at second trying to steal by the alert Christian Vazquez to end the inning. deGrom made quick work of the Sox in the bottom of the second as Steve Pearce whiffed, Mitch Moreland looked at strike three and Ian Kinsler was rung up on a check swing to end the inning.
Sale blew through the Mets in the top of the third as Brandon Nimmo hit one up the elevator shaft to start. Kevin Plawecki flied out to center and Austin Jackson grounded out to first to end the inning. That was it for Sale as Sox manager Alex Cora stuck to his guns about only giving him 3 innings.
The Sox somehow smacked around deGrom in the bottom of the third although Jackie Bradley Jr whiffed badly to begin. Rafael Devers somehow singled to center and moved to third on the Vazquez singled. Devers scored on the Mr. Mookie sac fly to give the Sox the lead. Brock "The Hitman" Holt cracked a 2 run homer into the bullpen to increase the lead. Benintendi was robbed of a hit by a lunging Rosario to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez took the mound for the top of the fourth inning with Sale now throwing in the bullpen. Rosario an McNeil both grounded out to short but Flores was plunked. Conforto singled and both runners moved over on a wild pitch but Frazier popped up to Devers in foul territory to end the inning. Pearce drew a walk to start the bottom of the fourth but Moreland was frozen for strike three. Kinsler whiffed and JBJ popped up to center to end the inning,
For reasons unexplained, Sox manager Alex Cora brought in Drew Pomeranz to pitch the top of the fifth inning. Bruce and Nimmo lined out to right before Plawecki grounded out to short to end the inning. Devers popped up to left to begin the bottom of the fifth before Vazquez took strike three before Mr. Mookie whiffed to end the inning,
The Mets finally came alive in the top of the sixth when Jackson singled to start. Rosario doubled but McNeil lined out to right so hard Jackson couldn't score. Flores lined to right and Jackson broke for home. Betts threw home....SAFE! But wait! Sox manager Alex Cora challenged the call but New York Yankees manag.....errr Head of MLB Operations Joe Torre DEMANDED the call be upheld and Jackson was safe. To add insult to injury, Betts fell to the ground holding his shoulder and had to be hauled off on a gurney. Cora decided it would be funny to put infielder Tzu-Wei Lin in center and have JBJ in right and that bit him in the ass when Lin dropped a routine fly ball by Conforto trying to catch the ball with his glove on the wrong hand, scoring Rosario. That was it for Pomeranz as Heath Hembree came in and Frazier grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-2.
deGrom returned for the bottom of the sixth and Holt looked at strike three to start. Benintendi flied out to left but Pearce doubled off the Monster. Moreland grounded out to short to end the inning.
The awful Red Sox bullpen blew the game in the top of the seventh when Hembree walked Bruce to start. Nimmo was plunked and Sox manager Alex Cora brought in Joe Kelly to complete the meltdown. Somehow Kelly blew away Plawecki and got Jackson to pop up to right, but naturally Rosario singled to center. Lin turned around and threw the ball into the Monster seats and Bruce scored to tie the game, Nimmo moving to third on the insane throw. McNeil grounded out to short to end the inning but the game was tied 3-3.
Pitching with new life, deGrom stayed strong in the bottom of the seventh as Kinsler flied out to right to start. Somehow JBJ singled and stole second but naturally Devers looked at strike three. Vazquez popped up tp left to end the inning.
Brandon Workman took the mound in the top of the eighth and walked Flores to start. Jack Reinheimer pinch ran for Flores and end up getting picked off in a rundown. Conforto and Frazier whiffed to end the inning. The Sox somehow rallied against Seth Lugo with Dominic Smith at first in the bottom of the eighth. Lin atoned for his error earlier with a double and moved to third on the Holt fly out to center. Benintendi scored Lin with a sac fly to give the Sox the lead. Pearce whiffed to end the inning but the Sox had taken the lead 4-3.
With Craig Kimbrel unavailable, Steven Wright was brought in for the save in the top of the ninth. Bruce grounded out to second but Nimmo walked. Plawecki popped up to second and Jackson looked at strike three to end the game. The Sox had won it 4-3.
Hero of the Night is Andrew Benintendi. His herculean sac fly ended up being the difference in the game.
The Good:
Tzu-Wei Lin singled and scored.
Steve Pearce was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a stolen base.
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Chris Sale pitched 3 scoreless innings.
Hector Velazquez pitched a scoreless 4th inning.
Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Brandon Workman got the win with a scoreless 8th inning.
Steven Wright got the save with a scoreless 9th.
The Bad:
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Ian Kinsler was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Drew Pomeranz gave up 2 runs in 1 2/3 innings.
Heath Hembree was charged with the tying run in 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Brock Holt was just 1 for 4 but drove in two runs and scored.
Final Thoughts:
For once the Sox showed an encouraging sign by getting to a pitcher the caliber of deGrom. If the Sox are going to have any hope of competing in the playoffs they need to attack the best pitchers in the league. They're also going to need their own pitchers to actually pitch well but their inability to get to Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber the last two years have been the main reason they've had quick exits in October. Hopefully Mookie Betts is ok but if he's not then forget about October with JD Martinez in a slump he's never going to recover from just like Moreland. Wright became the first knuckleballer to earn a save since April 2003 and it was comical. The win improved the Sox to 103-47, 11.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees with 12 to play. After an off-day its the big showdown in the Bronx against the Yankees on Tuesday afternoon. Nathan Eovaldi (5-7, 4.22 ERA) who dominated the Yankees last month takes the mound opposite JA Happ at 1:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.
Magic Number: 2
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