Cashnow got the ball in the top of the first inning and Andrew Benintendi whiffed to start. Mr. Mookie Betts walked and moved to second on the Mitch Moreland grounder. JD Martinez singled and somehow stole second. Xander Bogaerts popped up to second to end the inning. Price scuffled in the bottom of the first as he walked Yandy Diaz on a full count to start. He whiffed Tommy Pham on a full count but Daniel Robertson walked on 5 pitches. Price got a big break when Avisail Garcia banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox looked to rally when Rafael Devers walked and swiped second to begin the top of the second but Michael Chavis grounded out sharply to second. Devers then got himself picked off second and Jackie Bradley Jr took strike three right down the middle to end the inning. Price got Joey Wendle to fly out to center on the first pitch of the bottom of the second but had to go the distance to punch out Guillermo Heredia. Kevin Kiermaier whiffed to end the inning.
Christian Vazquez watched strike three go by to begin the top of the third before Benintendi whiffed again. Mr. Mookie grounded out to short to end the inning. The Rays struck first in the bottom of the third when Willy Adames and Michael Perez both singled to start. Price whiffed Diaz and Pham but Robertson doubled home both runners to give the Rays the lead. Garcia whiffed to end the inning but it was 2-0 Rays.
The Sox fought back in the top of the fourth as Moreland smacked his 7th home run of the year to cut the lead. Martinez flied out to center, Bogaerts whiffed and Devers grounded back to the mound to end the inning but the Sox were back in it 2-1.
Price kept pace in the bottom of the fourth as Wendle grounded out to second to start. Heredia looked at strike three but Kiermaier singled. Adames whiffed on a full count to end the inning but Price was not long for the game.
Chavis flied out to right to start the top of the fifth before JBJ walked. JBJ got doubled off first on a line drive by Vazquez to end the inning. Price came back for the bottom of the fifth and froze Perez for strike three to start. Diaz singled but was erased on a force by Pham. Robertson whiffed to end the inning. It was short and sweet for Price but he left after allowing just 2 runs in 5 innings
The Sox shocked the Rays by taking the lead in the top of the sixth although Benintendi grounded out to second to begin. Mr. Mookie singled to right to chase Glasnow who was NOT happy he was taken out of the game. Adam Kolarek came in and Steve Pearce pinch hit for Moreland, drawing a walk. One and done for Kolarek as Chaz Roe came in only to walk Martinez to load the bases. Bogaerts then ripped a base hit up the middle to score Betts and Pearce to give the Sox the lead. Devers walked but Chavis killed the momentum with a double play to end the inning although it was 3-2 Sox.
Brandon Workman came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Garcia popped up to second to start. Wendle lined out to left and Heredia struck out swinging to end the inning.
Ryan Stanek came in to pitch the top of the seventh and JBJ flied out to left to start. Vazquez also flied out to left but Benintendi singled. Mr. Mookie singled but Peerce flied out to right to end the inning. Colten Brewer came on for the bottom of the seventh and cruised. Kiermaier grounded out to first, Adames grounded out to short and Perez whiffed to end the inning.
Emilio Pagan was on for the top of the eighth and Martinez whiffed to start. Bogaerts grounded out to short and Devers struck out swinging to end the inning. Matt Barnes came on for the second day in a row in the bottom of the eighth just to give up the lead. Diaz grounded out but Pham blasted a 980 foot home run to tie the game. Robertson walked and it looked like the Sox had the second out but Pearce dropped an easy pop up to keep Garcia at the plate. Barnes still managed to punch him out anyway. Wendle waived at a pitch in the dirt to end the inning but the game was tied 3-3.
Diego Castillo came in for the top of the ninth and struck out the side. Chavis, JBJ and Vazquez all struck out in short order to end the inning. Marcus Walden was brought in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Brandon Lowe pinch hit for Heredia. Lowe whiffed before Kiermaier grounded out to second. Adames grounded out to third to end the inning and it was on to extras.
Benintendi tried to start a rally with a base hit to center to open the top of the tenth but Mr. Mookie popped up to first. Benintendi swiped second but Pearce whiffed. Martinez was intentionally walked but Bogaerts whiffed on a pitch headed to the backstop to end the inning. Walden returned for the bottom of the tenth and whiffed Perez to start. Diaz singled and moved to second on the Pham grounder....but Robertson grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox looked to rally against Jose Alvarado in the top of the 11th when Devers blooped a single to center to start. Chavis drew a walk and JBJ dropped down a perfect bunt to move the runners along. Vazquez nearly had a double but was robbed by a sprinting Kiermaier...but Devers scored and Chavis went to third to give the Sox the lead. Benintendi grounded out to second to end the inning but the Sox had the lead 4-3.
Tzu-Wei Lin took over for Chavis at second as Ryan Brasier came on for the save in the bottom of the 11th. Brasier blew away Garcia on a 96 mph fastball to start. Wendle lined out to a running JBJ and Lowe grounded out to first to end the game. The Sox had won it in 11 4-3 and swept the best team in baseball. That's more like it.
Hero of the Night is a tough one but I'll go with Rafael Devers. He got the clutch hit in the 11th and scored the winning run.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 6 with a stolen base.
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Mitch Moreland was 1 for 2 with a solo home run.
JD Martinez was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a stolen base.
David Price tossed 5 innings and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out ten.
Brandon Workman pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Colten Brewer pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Marcus Walden earned his third win of the season with two scoreless innings.
Ryan Brasier earned his 6th save of the year with a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Matt Barnes allowed a run in an inning of work.
The Ugly:
Steve Pearce was 0 for 2 but walked and scored.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 but the one hit knocked in two runs.
Michael Chavis was 0 for 4 but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 but walked.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4 but drove in the winning run with a sac fly.
Honorable Mention:
Tzu-Wei Lin played second in the bottom of the 11th
Final Thoughts:
Finally some good news and momentum for once. The Sox played the first place Tampa Bay Rays in Tampa and won all three games. Maybe this could be the start of the turnaround and it comes at a good time with the New York Yankees suffering one injury after another. If the rotation and offense gets back to where they were last year, there's no reason they can't win 90-95 wins and the division for the fourth straight year. Price wasn't his best self but he didn't suck either. With the exception of Barnes the bullpen was phenomenal and the offense wasn't good but they got the hits when it counted, which was a staple of last year. Hopefully they finally turned the corner and will play good baseball from here on in. Tomorrow night the Sox begin a long homestand with the Detroit Tigers coming to town. Chris Sale (0-4, 8.50 ERA) takes the hill for the Sox opposite Matthew Boyd at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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