Arizona starter Merrill Kelly was outstanding and he began his dominance in the top of the first inning. Andrew Benintendi grounded out to first but Xander Bogaerts singled. Moreland banged into a double play to end the inning. Velazquez cruised in the bottom of the first as Jarrod Dyson grounded out to first, Edwin Escobar lined out to left and David Peralta grounded out short to end the inning.
Kelly cruised in the top of the second inning as JD Martinez grounded out to short to start. Rafael Devers grounded out to short as well before Blake Swihart whiffed to end the inning. Hector cruised in the bottom of the second as Adam Jones popped up to third, Christian Walker whiffed and Ketel Marte was frozen for strike three to end the inning.
Eduardo Nunez grounded out to third to open the top of the third before Jackie Bradley Jr somehow singled to left. Velazquez himself bunted foul for strike three but Benintendi singled JBJ to third. With a chance to put the Sox on top...Bogaerts popped up to second to end the inning. Velazquez came back for one more inning in the bottom of the third and retired Nick Ahmed on a fly out to center. John Ryan Murphy broke up the perfect game with a base hit to center and moved to second on the Kelly sacrifice bunt. Dyson whiffed to end the inning. Pretty good effort by Velazquez in a short spot start, 3 innings 1 hit and no runs.
Moreland whiffed to open the top of the fourth before Martinez grounded out to short. Devers grounded out to second to end the inning. Brandon Workman came in for the bottom of the fourth and Escobar flied out to left to start. Peralta lined out to right before Jones whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox mustered nothing in the top of the fifth as Swihart lined out to right, Nunez flied out to right and JBJ flied out to center to end the inning. Marcus Walden made his season debut in the bottom of the 5th and Walker doubled to start. Marte grounded out to first and Walker moved to third before Ahmed hit a grounder to short. Bogaerts fired home and threw out Walker before Murphy popped up to second to end the inning.
Desperate for pitching, Sox manager Alex Cora let Walden hit away in the top of the sixth. Walden took strike three and Benintendi whiffed before Bogaerts flied out to right to end the inning. Walden got Kelly to ground back to the mound to start the bottom of the sixth before Dyson grounded out to short. Escobar walked but Peralta whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox finally broke through in the top of the seventh as Moreland swatted his third home run of the year to give the Sox the lead. Martinez flied out to right, Devers whiffed and Swihart flied out to left to end the inning but Boston led 1-0.
Nine outs from victory, Cora called in the big guns with Matt Barnes coming in to pitch the bottom of the seventh. Jones grounded out to third, Walker whiffed and Marte grounded out to third to end the inning.
Kelly returned for the top of the eighth and finished with a flurry. Nunez and JBJ both whiffed before Barnes took strike three to end the inning. Letting Barnes hit meant he came back for the bottom of the eighth and he got Ahmed to ground out to short to start. Murphy whiffed and Wilmer Flores pinch hit for Kelly only to ground out to short to end the inning.
Jon Duplantier came in for the top of the ninth and Benintendi greeted him with a single. Bogaerts lined out to center and Benintendi moved to second on a wild pitch. Moreland flied out to center before Martinez was intentionally walked. Devers drew a full count walk to load the bases but Swihart whiffed to end the inning. Mr. Mookie Betts came in to play right with Ryan Brasier in to close the bottom of the ninth. Dyson whiffed and Escobar popped up to third, but Peralta doubled to put the tying run at second. Tim Locastro pinch ran for Peralta but Jones grounded out to short to end the game. The Sox had grinded out a 1-0 victory to end the road trip with a moral victory.
Hero of the Night is Mitch Moreland. His solo home run was the only run of the game.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 4.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3.
Hector Velazquez tossed 3 scoreless innings.
Brandon Workman pitched a scoreless 4th inning.
Marcus Walden earned the win with 2 scoreless innings.
Matt Barnes pitched 2 scoreless innings.
Ryan Brasier earned his second save with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Blake Swihart was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4.
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 but walked.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 but walked.
Honorable Mention:
Mookie Betts played right field in the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
At last the horrendous road trip is over. The Sox couldn't have possibly played worse and were lucky to win the three games that they did. The 3 wins were a miracle comeback and two skin of their teeth wins. The rotation looks like garbage and the offense is terribly inconsistent. Apart from that they're in good shape. Starting the season with 11 straight road games put them behind the 8-ball and they may not recover. Moreland's homer was all they needed today but they can't rely on shutting teams out every game. Hopefully the offense warms up when they come home and home is where they'll be for most of the remaining month. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox come home to collect their rings in their home opener. The Sox take on the Toronto Blue Jays and Matt Shoemaker at 2:00 PM with Chris Sale going for Boston at Fenway Park.
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