Sox Offense Wakes Up, Defeat Jays (9/12/19)

At this point the Boston Red Sox are just looking for some positives to go on next year because this season is a washout. One of them has to be Xander Bogaerts joining the 30 homer and 50 double club. Bogaerts cracked his 50th double in tonight's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. The offense as a whole attacked old buddy Clay Buchholz, took advantage of 3 errors by the inexperienced Jays defense and finally got back in the win column with a 7-4 victory at the Skydome.

                                                     Evil Morty approves of the win

Buchholz cruised in the top of the first inning as Mr. Mookie Betts flied out to left to begin. Brock "The Hitman" Holt flied out to left and Xander Bogaerts flied out to center to end the inning. Jhoulys Chacin got the "start" for the Sox in the bottom of the first inning and Bo Bichette flied out to center to begin. Cavan Biggio struck out swining and Vladimir Guerrero Jr grounded out to short to end the inning.

The Sox broke through in the top of the second inning when JD Martinez walked to begin. Andrew Benintendi swung at air but Mitch Moreland got a base hit to left. Jackie Bradley Jr whiffed but Marco Hernandez doubled home both runners. Juan Centeno grounded out to first to end the inning but the Sox were up 2-0.

                                                      Moreland comes around to score

Chacin got the pain in the ass Rowdy "Roddy" Tellez to freeze for strike three to start the bottom of the second. Justin Smoak took strike three but Randal Grichuk doubled to left. Reese McGuire walked but Billy McKinney flied out to right to end the inning. Good work Chacin for what its worth.

                                                           2 and out for Chacin

The Sox got another one in the top of the third although Mr. Mookie popped up to first to start. Holt popped up to third but Bogaerts doubled to right. Martinez doubled home Bogaerts to increase the lead but Benintendi grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.

                                                        Tough day for Clay

Chacin ran out of gas in the bottom of the third although Derek Fisher flied out to center to start. Bichette doubled to left and Biggio walked, but Guerrero Jr flied out to left. That was it for Chacin as Darwinzon Hernandez came in to catch Tellez looking to end the inning.

The doubles parade continued in the top of the fourth although Moreland struck out swinging to start. JBJ doubled to center but Hernandez whiffed. Centendo singled home JBJ for his first rbi of the season. Mr. Mookie singled to third but Holt grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-0.

                                                               First rbi this year for Centeno

Josh Taylor came in for the bottom of the fourth and Smoak flied out to left to begin. Grichuk whiffed and McGuire grounded out to second to end the inning.

Brock Stewart replaced Buchholz for the top of the fifth and Bogaerts grounded out to third to start. Martinez walked before Benintendi lined out to left. Moreland flied out to left to end the inning. Brian Johnson came in for the bottom of the fifth and Anthony Alford pinch hit for McKinney. Alford flied out to left and Fisher grounded out to first, but Bichette walked. Biggio tripled home Biggio to chase Johnson. Ryan Brasier came in and Guerrero Jr singled home Biggio to cut the lead in half. Tellez grounded into a force to end the inning with the Jays down 4-2.

                                                    Jays are back in it

Buddy Boshers came in for the top of the sixth and JBJ took strike three to start. Hernandez flied out to left and Centeno grounded out to first to end the inning. Andrew Cashner came in for the bottom of the sixth and Smoak popped up to short to begin. Grichuk grounded back to the mound and McGuire popped up to short to end the inning.

The Sox iced the game in the top of the seventh against Jordan Romano. Mr. Mookie singled to left and Holt singled to right. Alford threw the ball away which allowed Betts to score and put Holt at second. Bogaerts singled home Holt to increase the lead. Martinez whiffed to chase Romano. Thomas Pannone came in and Benintendi banged into a double play to end the inning with the Sox up 6-2.

                                                 Holt scores a run

Marcus Walden came in for the bottom of the seventh and hit Alford, but he was erased on the force by Fisher. Bichette flied out to right but Biggio singled to left. Guerrero Jr whiffed to end the inning.

The Sox did nothing in the top of the eighth as Moreland grounded out to short to start. JBJ and Hernandez both whiffed to end the inning. Matt Barnes came in for the bottom of the eighth and Tellez whiffed to start. Smoak walked but Grichuk struck out swinging. McGuire walked and Alford singled to load the bases. Fisher walked in a run to re-load the bases, cut the lead in half, and chase Barnes. Brandon Workman came in and got Bichette to fly out to right to end the inning with the Jays down 6-3.

The Sox got the run back in the top of the ninth as Centendo lined out to right to begin. Fisher dropped a routine pop up by Betts which allowed Mookie to make it all the way to third. Fisher then lost Holt's pop up in the lights and it dropped in for a hit to score Betts. Bogaerts flied out to right and Martinez grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 7-3.

Mercifully the game concluded in the bottom of the ninth as Biggio singled to right to begin. Guerrero Jr grounded out to third to advance Biggio to second and he took third on a passed ball. Tellez scored Biggio with a sac fly but Smoak went down swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 7-4.

                                                  Another win



Hero of the Night is Brock Holt. He drove in 2 of the runs including the kill shot in the 9th inning

                                                Hitman Hero



The Good:

Mookie Betts was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a stolen base.

Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.

JD Martinez was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, an rbi and a run scored.

Jhoulys Chacin tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

Darwinzon Hernandez struck out the only man he faced.

Josh Taylor pitched a scoreless 4th inning.

Andrew Cashner pitched a scoreless 6th inning.

Marcus Walden pitched a scoreless 7th inning.



The Bad:

Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.

Brian Johnson allowed two runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Matt Barnes allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning.



The Ugly:

Mitch Moreland was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.

Jackie Bradley was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but scored a run.

Marco Hernandez was just 1 for 4 and the one hit drove in 2 runs.

Juan Centeno was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run

Ryan Brasier allowed an inherited runner to score in 1/3 of an inning.

Brandon Workman allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings but earned his 12th save.




Final Thoughts:

15 games of torture remaining in this miserable season. Now that the games are essentially worthless, the games are becoming unbearable. The 400 pitching changes, endless commercials, stepping out in between pitches, its all too painful. Even though the Sox won, it meant almost nothing. Good for Centeno to get his first rbi of the year and Bogaerts to join the 30-50 club, but apart from that its a waste of time. It should never have come to this if Dave Dombrowski properly prepared for possibly losing a few starters. The less said about this season the better. The win improved the Sox to 77-70, too many games out of wild card contention. After an off-day tomorrow, the Sox are back in action Saturday on the road in Philadelphia. Eduardo Rodriguez goes for the Sox up against Phillies ace Tommy Nola at 7:05 PM at Citizen Banks Park.