"Slick" Rick Porcello (17-7, 4.30 ERA) took the mound in the top of the first inning and Amed Rosario lined out to second to begin. Jeff McNeil grounded out to second and Michael Conforto lined out to second to end the inning. The Sox struck first against Corey Oswalt in the bottom of the first when Mr. Mookie Betts was plunked to begin. Andrew Beninteni grounded a ball to first but Dominic Smith threw the ball away and everyone was safe. JD Martinez whiffed but Xander Bogaerts singled home Betts and advanced Benintendi to third. Steve Pearce popped up to second but Bogaerts swiped second. Ian Kinsler walked but Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Porcello got Jay Bruce to ground out to first to open the top of the second before Todd Frazier flied out to left. Brandon Nimmo walked but Smith whiffed to end the inning. Smith made another error to open the bottom of the second which allowed Rafael Devers to reach. Sandy Leon popped up to short and Mr. Mookie whiffed, but Benintendi singled Devers to third. Martinez flied out to right to end the inning.
Porcello cruised in the top of the third inning as Kevin Plawecki flied out to center before Austin Jackson looked at strike three. Rosario was frozen for strike three to end the inning. Bogaerts whiffed to start the bottom of the third before Pearce singled. Kinsler hit one up the elevator shaft and that was it for Oswalt. The Mets brought in Daniel Zamora who struck out JBJ to end the inning.
The Mets struck back in the top of the fourth as McNeil singled to start before Conforto lined out to third. McNeil swiped second but Bruce whiffed. Frazier walked and Nimmo crushed a 20,000,000 foot home run into the Arctic Ocean to seemingly put the game out of reach. Smith flied out to center to end the inning with the Mets ahead 3-1.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the fourth as Devers whiffed to begin. Leon looked at strike three but Mr. Mookie walked. Benintendi whiffed to end the inning.
Porcello returned for one more inning in the top of the fifth and Plawecki grounded out to first to begin. Jackson whiffed and Rosario flied out to right to end the inning. He went 5 innings and allowed 3 runs, not his best work.
Somehow the Sox rallied in the bottom of the fifth with Paul Sewald now on the mound. Martinez whiffed and Bogaerts popped up to second but Pearce and Kinsler stroked back to back singles. JBJ then looked to have hit a three run bomb to put the Sox on top but for whatever reason the Mets challenged the call. Replays showed the ball hitting above the red line but New York Yankees manag....errr Head of MLB Operations Joe Torre DEMANDED the call be reversed and JBJ was credited with a double instead that still tied the game. Devers was intentionally walked to get to Leon but Sox manager Alex Cora had a nasty surprise when he pinch hit Brock "The Hitman" Holt for Sandy. The Mets tried to counter by bringing in Drew Smith to pitch to him but Brock smacked a double to score both JBJ and Devers to give the Sox the lead. Mr. Mookie popped up to second to end the inning but the Sox led 5-3.
It was up to the bullpen to save this one as Christian Vazquez took over behind the plate and Bobby Poyner now in the game for the top of the sixth. McNeil popped up to third before Conforto grounded out to second. Bruce whiffed to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the sixth as Benintendi flied out to left. Martinez and Bogaerts popped up to second to end the inning.
Steven Wright got the call to pitch the top of the seventh and he walked both Frazier and Nimmo to start. He recovered to strike out Smith and get Plawecki to pop up to center. A passed ball moved both runners into scoring position but Jackson popped up to first to end the inning. Drew Gagnon came in and Pearce greeted him with a single. Kinsler banged into a double play and JBJ popped up to short to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier locked it down in the top of the eighth as Rosario lined out to right to begin before McNeil flied out to center. Conforto whiffed to end the inning. Devers singled to start the bottom of the eighth but Vazquez banged into a double play. Mr. Mookie walked and Benintendi singled but Jacob Rhame was brought in to strike out the slumping Martinez to end the inning.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to lock down the save in the top of the ninth and he blew away Bruce to start. Frazier lined out to center before Nimmo grounded out to short to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-3.
Hero of the Night is Brock Holt. His double in the fifth drove in the winning runs.
The Good:
Mookie Betts walked twice and scored in 4 plate appearances.
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 5.
Steve Pearce was 3 for 4 with a run scored.
Ian Kinsler was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Bobby Poyner pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Steven Wright pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel earned his 41st save with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 1 at the plate.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and stole a base.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 with a run scored but the one hit was a 2 run double to tie the game.
Rick Porcello got the win but only lasted 5 innings and gave up 3 runs.
Final Thoughts:
Once again the starter failed to go a good distance but for once the bullpen slammed the door. They tossed four scoreless innings to lock down the win. Martinez needs a day off because he can't hit anything right now. As fun as it is to come back game after game, it would be nice for the Sox to get a lead and keep it the whole way for once. Still a win is a win and the Sox are 2 wins away from tying their franchise record and clinching the AL East. With a bullpen this bad and a rotation in shambles with multiple players on offense in prolonged slumps, the team still finds ways to win. The win improved the Sox to 102-47, 10.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East with 13 games remaining. Tomorrow Chris Sale makes a vanity appearance taking on current NL Cy Young leader Jake deGromm at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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