Eovaldi got the ball in the top of the first inning and Kepler grounded out to second to start. Luis Arraez singled to center but Nelson Cruz banged into a double play to end the inning. Perez cruised in the bottom of the first as Mr. Mookie Betts grounded out to second to start before Xander Bogaerts was rung up for strike three. Rafael Devers popped up to second to end the inning.
Eovaldi struck out Eddie Rosario swinging to open the top of the second but Miguel Sano walked. Mitch Garver whiffed and Jake Cave lined out to left to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as JD Martinez grounded out to third to start. Christian Vazquez flied out to left and Andrew Benintendi grounded out to third to end the inning.
CJ Cron whiffed to start the top of the third before Jonathan Schoop lined out to right. Kepler grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the third as Sam Travis grounded out to third to start. Gorkys Hernandez grounded out to second and Brock "The Hitman" Holt flied out to right to end the inning.
Eovaldi cruised in the top of the fourth as Arraez grounded back to the mound to begin. Cruz also grounded back to the mound before Rosario flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the fourth as the red hot Mr. Mookie belted his 26th home run of the season to begin. Bogaerts and Devers both grounded out to short and Martinez lined out to right to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 1-0.
The Twins answered in the top of the fifth due to Eovaldi's wildness. Sano, Garver and Cave all walked in order to load the bases with no one out. Eovaldi sacrificed a run when he got a double play from Cron and Schoop lined out to right to end the inning. The Twins had tied it 1-1 without getting a hit in the inning. That was it for Eovaldi as Sox manager Alex Cora decided once again that this game wasn't important enough to stretch a starter. Eovaldi looked great in his 5 innings of work though.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the fifth as Vazquez popped up to first to start. Benintendi drew a walk but Travis banged into a double play to end the inning.
Marcus Walden came in for the top of the sixth and Kepler grounded out to first to start. Arraez walked but Cruz grounded into a double play to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the sixth as Hernandez grounded out to short to start. Holt grounded out to third but Mr. Mookie doubled to center. Bogaerts walked but Devers grounded out to first to end the inning.
Andrew Cashner came in to crap his pants in the top of the seventh inning. Rosario flied out to center but Sano walked. Garver walked but Cave whiffed. Cron walked and that was it for Cashner. Got the first two outs but walked the bases loaded. Matt Barnes came in and Willians Astudillo pinch hit for Schoop. Naturally Astudillo dumped a base hit to right that scored Sano to put the Twins up for good. Kepler whiffed to end the inning but the Twins were up 2-1.
The Sox were 3-61 when trailing after 6 innings and that number didn't change as Trevor May effortlessly shut down the Sox in the bottom of the seventh. Martinez whiffed before Vazquez lined out to center. Benintendi grounded out to second to end the inning.
Barnes shut down the Twins in the top of the seventh as Arraez grounded out to second to start. Cruz grounded out to second and Rosario whiffed to end the inning. Tyler Duffey came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Jackie Bradley Jr pinch hit for Travis. Naturally JBJ whiffed and Mitch Moreland pinch hit for Hernandez...only to fly out to left. Holt whiffed to end the inning.
Colten Brewer came in for the top of the ninth and Sano lined out to right to begin. Garver walked and Cave hit a routine grounder to Moreland. Mitch picked the ball up and sung showtunes holding the ball like a microphone for an error. Byron Buxton pinch ran for Garver but Cron banged into a double play to end the inning. The Twins were going to win the game with just 2 hits. Jason Castro came in to catch with Sergio Romo on the mound for the bottom of the ninth. Mr. Mookie popped up to first but Bogaerts singled to left. Devers beat out a double play ball and Martinez jacked one deep to left. The ball hit high off the Monster and Devers tried to score from first. Rosario fired a bullet to the plate....YOU'RE OUT OF THERE!!! Devers was out and the Sox had lost not only the game but any hope of the post-season, 2-1.
Jackass of the Night is Andrew Cashner. He put the go-ahead run on which turned out to be the difference in the game.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with a solo home run.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Nathan Eovaldi tossed 5 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 3.
Marcus Walden pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Colten Brewer pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 and was thrown out at the plate to end the game.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3.
Sam Travis was 0 for 2.
Jackie Bradley Jr struck out as a pinch hitter.
Gorkys Hernandez was 0 for 2.
Mitch Moreland flied out as a pinch hitter.
Brock Holt was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Matt Barnes allowed the go-ahead run to score but pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 2 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
So much for the playoffs. The Sox have been almost an embarrassment this season. The facrlt they've only come back THREE times when trailing late shows you how gutless they are. Teams like the New York Yankees win in the late innings all tne time, as does the Twins. Quite simply they just dont have the fire this year that they had in 2018. Maybe watching the playoffs from their couches while Yankee fans laugh at them will inspire them to come out next year with the same fire they had in 2018. The loss dropped the Sox to 75-65, 6.5 games behind the Oakland A's for the second wild card spot. The Sox now have to face the New York Yankees in a 3 game set that should take them out of contention once and for all. The Yankees send out Domingo German and the Sox sent out....Jhoulys Chacin. Yeah,....the loss begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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