Jackie Bradley Jr got the rare leadoff start against Foltynewicz and he popped up to left to begin. Blake Swihart popped up to center before Andrew Benintendi also popped up to center to end the inning. Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez got the start for the Sox and immediately crapped his pants. He gave up a 780 foot bomb to Ronald Acuna to open the game before Ender Inciarte tripled into the right field corner, scoring on the Nick Markakis base hit. Johan Camargo singled into center as Sox pitching coach Dana LeVange ran to the mound to inform Hector that Desperado was on in the dugout. Hector immediately got Lucas Duda tp bang into a double play and Ozzie Albies grounded out to first to end the inning with the Braves up 2-0.
The Sox struck back in the top of the second inning although Mitch Moreland whiffed to begin. Brandon Phillips drew a walk an Rafael Devers singled him to third. Brock "The Hitman" Holt grounded out to first but Phillips caught everyone asleep by faking going to third and then making a mad dash home to score a run. Christian Vazquez was intentionally walked to get to the pitcher and Velazquez grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox down 2-1.
Velazquez settled down in the bottom of the second as Tyler Flowers whiffed befoe Charlie Culberson lined out to right. Foltynewicz whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the third as JBJ grounded out to short before Swihart whiffed. Markakis dropped a routine pop up by Benintendi to allow him to reach second but Moreland flied out to center to end the inning. Acuna walked to open the bottom of the third but Inciarte flied out to center and Markakis grounded out to short. Camargo grounded out to short to end the inning.
Nothing was accomplished in the top of the fourth as Phillips grounded out to short to begin. Devers grounded out to second before Holt looked at strike three to end the inning. Velazquez got in trouble in the bottom of the fourth when Duda walked to start. Albies popped up but Flowers doubled to left. Benintendi gunned the ball to Holt who gunned it home....DUDA IS OUT! Flowers took third and Culberson was intentionally walked, but Velazquez retired Foltynewicz on a comebacker to end the inning.
Vazquez grounded out to short to begin the top of the fifth and Sam Travis pinch hit for Velazquez only to fly out to center. JBJ grounded out to second to end the inning. Drew Pomeranz took over for the bottom of the fifth and he crapped his pants. Acuna walked and Inciarte singled him to third. Markakis singled home Acuna and Inciarte to third before Camargo walked to load the bases and pinch hitter Kurt Suzuki (for Duda) beat out a double play ball to score another run. Ryan Flaherty ran for Suzuki and Albies cleared the bases with a triple to seemingly put the game out of reach. That was it for the incompetent Pomeranz who retired just 1 of the men he faced while giving up four runs to that point. William Cuevas came in and Flowers singled home Albies to increase the lead. Culberson walked but Foltynewicz and Acuna hiffed to end the inning with the Braves ahead 7-1...yuck!
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the sixth as Swihart whiffed, Benintendi was caught loking and Moreland grounded ou to first to end the inning. Cuevas returned for the bottom of the sixth and Inciarte flied out to left before Markakis lined out to left. Camargo was plunked and Flaherty walked but Albies whiffed to end the inning.
Jesse Biddle came in for the top of the seventh and Phillips walked, but Devers banged into a double play. Holt grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox made a double switch in the bottom of the seventh by bringing in Tzu-Wei Lin to play short and hit 9th with Bobby Poyner on the mound hitting 7th. Flowers lined out to a running JBJ before Culberson whiffed. Adam Duvall pinch hit for Biddle and whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox somehow exploded in the top of the eighth inning with Duvall taking over in right hitting 9th with Dan Winkler on the mound hitting third. Vazquez got the rally started with a bloop single that Duvall just missed catching. Lin singled to left and JBJ reached on a single to load the bases that Duvall gave up on. Swihart drove in Vazquez and Lin with a double into the right center gap to chase Winkler. Jonny Venters came in after Winkler threw a tantrum in the dugout and Benintendi singled to left to score JBJ to keep the rally going. Steve Pearce pinch hit for Moreland and hit a rocket to left but it was caught, still scoring Swihart to make it a two run game. Phillips hit a routine ground ball to Camargo who booted it, picked it up and threw it away for an error to put both runners into scoring position. That was it for Venters as the Braves turned to Brad Brach to save the day only for Sox manager Alex Cora countering by bringing in Ian Kinsler to pinch hit for Devers. Kinsler lined a single to left to score both runners to tie the game. Eduardo Nunez pinch hit for Poyner but he popped up to center. Vazquez singled Kinsler to third and Xander Bogaerts pinch hit for Lin. The Braves countered by bringing in Freddie Freeman to hit third and play first, Flaherty moving to third, Camargo moving to short with Culberson in right. AJ Minter came in to pitch and Bogaerts walked to load the bases with Mr. Mookie Betts pinch hitting for JBJ only to look at strike three to end the inning with the game tied 7-7. How about that?
Just as soon as the Sox tied it up, the Braves took the lead with Phillps moving to third and Brandon Workman now on the mound. Acuna whiffed and Inciarte lined out to center, but Freeman crushed a 500,000 foot home run to give the Braves the lead back. Camargo grounded out to second to end the inning but the Braves jumped ahead 8-7.
Lane Adams came in for Culberson with Dansby Swanson taking Flaherty's spot but playing short to open the top of the ninth. Swihart popped up to a running Albies in shallow right to start but Benintendi ripped a base hit to center. Things look bleak when Pearce looked at strike three but Phillips launched the first pitch Minter threw into the left field stands to give the Sox the lead. Kinsler whiffed to end the inning but the Sox were 3 outs away from an improbable win 9-8.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in for the save in the bottom of the ninth and Swanson whiffed on a pitch in the dirt before Albies popped up to center. Flowers walked and yesterday's pitcher Touki Toussaint ran for him. Kimbrel ran the count full on Adams before blowing him away with a 98 mph fastball to end the game. The Sox had stunned the Braves 9-8.
Hero of the Night is Brandon Phillips. His two run home run sealed the game and he scored the first run on a head's up play.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 3 for 5 with an rbi and two runs scored.
Steve Pearce drove in a run with a sac fly as a pinch hitter.
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3.
Ian Kinsler was 1 for 2 with 2 rbis after coming in for Devers.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Tzu-Wei Lin singled and scored as a pinch hitter.
Xander Bogaerts walked as a pinch hitter.
William Cuevas pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Bobby Poyner pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 38th save with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Mookie Betts struck out as a pinch hitter.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Sam Travis was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Drew Pomeranz was horrible, allowing 5 runs in just 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Blake Swihart was just 1 for 5 but drove in 2 runs and scored one.
Brock Holt was 0 for 3 but drove in a run.
Hector Velazquez lasted just 4 innings but allowed only 2 runs to keep the Sox in the game.
Brandon Workman vultured the win by allowing a go-ahead homer to Freeman in the eighth.
Final Thoughts:
That was a comeback for the ages in a season that's already been special. The Braves were up 7-1 against the Sox' JV team and the JV's refused to quit. That's the kind of heart the Sox need to display when the games really matter in October. Phillips may be 37 but he can still swing the bat and Kinsler has been driving in key runs lately. It was a good team win that pretty much put the exclamation point on the AL East race. The win improved the Sox to 97-44, 9.5 games ahead of the Yankees who lost two out of three to Oakland with a 3 game set in Seattle looming. It should be noted the 2013 World Champion bearded Red Sox won 97 regular season games. The 2018 Red Sox have 97 wins with 21 games remaining. After an off-day the Sox return to action Friday night in an important 3 game set at home against the world champion Houston Astros. David Price (14-6, 3.60 ERA) makes his return against Gerrit Cole at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park
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