Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. After getting hit in the hand twice in a week, the Sox finally put Christian Arroyo on the Injured List. In his place the Sox called up infielder Jonathan Arauz who made his ML debut last year with the Red Sox. Hope Christian's hand improves because he was the spark they needed at second base when he went down.
As for the game, the Sox have a lot of warts on the team but are finding ways to win right now. "The Undefeated" Nick Pivetta (5-0, 3.19 ERA) continued his unbeaten strike with 6 solid innings to earn his fifth win of the season. Rafael Devers tied the game with a home run in the second inning and put the Sox ahead for good in the sixth with a two run double. Hunter Renfroe made a great jumping catch in the first inning and hit the big insurance home run in the top of the seventh. Josh Taylor and Matt Barnes each tossed scoreless innings to nail down the win. The Sox have some injury and incompetence issues but they've won their fourth straight game 4-3 at Camden Yards.
Dean Kremer got the start for Baltimore and Marwin Gonzalez led off by taking strike three to start. Alex Verdugo struck out swinging and JD Martinez popped up to Pat Valaika to end the inning. The O's wasted no time getting to Pivetta in the bottom of the first inning although Cedric Mullins was robbed at the wall of a double by Hunter Renfroe with a leaping catch to start. Austin Hays flied out to right but Trey Mancini and DJ Stewart worked back to back full count walks. Ryan Mountcastle singled home Mancini to give the O's the lead. Freddy Galvis lined out to right to end the inning with the O's ahead 1-0.
The Sox instantly fought back in the top of the second as Xander Bogaerts flied out to center to start. Rafael Devers mashed his eighth home run of the season to tie the game but Hunter Renfroe hit one up the elevator shaft. Bobby Dalbec flied out to right to end the inning but the game was tied 1-1.
Pedro Severino grounded out to short but needed 10 pitches to do it to begin the bottom of the second. Rio Ruiz flied out to left and Valaika flied out to right in just 6 pitches to end the inning.
Franchy Cordero grounded out to short to start the top of the third before Kevin Plawecki popped up to first. Gonzalez singled off the glove of Galvis but got picked off first to end the inning. Mullins tried to catch the Sox asleep with a bunt to start the bottom of the third but the alert Devers snuffed it out. Hays grounded out to short and Mancini grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as Verdugo flied out to left to start. Martinez grounded out to third but Bogaerts walked. Devers struck out swinging to end the inning. Stewart grounded out to short to start the bottom of the fourth before Mountcastle struck out swinging. Galvis singled to right but Severino popped up to short to end the inning.
Renfroe popped up to second to start the top of the fifth but Dalbec doubled to center. Dalbec moved to third on the liner to Kremer by Cordero but Plawecki flied out to left to end the inning. The O's struck back in the bottom of the fifth although Ruiz flied out to right to start. Valaika grounded out to second but Mullins hit a home run all the way to Nebraska to give the O's the lead. Hays hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning with the O's ahead 2-1.
The Sox fought back in the top of the sixth when Gonzalez singled to center to start. Verdugo got a base hit to right and that was it for Kremer. Adam Plutko came in and walked JD Martinez to load the bases, but struck out Bogaerts swinging. Devers put the Sox on top with a double to right to score Gonzalez and Verdugo. Renfroe failed to get a run in when he grounded out to short and Dalbec also grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-2.
Pivetta came back for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth. Mancini grounded out to third but Stewart walked. Ryan McKenna pinch ran for Stewart and took second when Pivetta threw a pickoff throw away. Nick recovered to strike out Mountcastle swinging and to get Galvis to line out to center to end the inning. Pivetta went 6 strong innings and allowed just 2 runs, good work Nick.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the seventh with Paul Fry in to pitch. Cordero tried to bunt his way on but Fry snuffed it out. Plawecki hit a pop up to right DROPPED BY MCKENNA! The ball fell in and Gonzalez made McKenna pay with a base hit to center. Verdugo beat out a double play ball and Martinez walked to load the bases but Bogaerts lined out to third on a 3-1 count to end the inning. Josh Taylor came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and naturally walked Severino to start. Somehow Taylor got Ruiz to hit a bullet to Gonzalez who doubled Severino off first for the double play. Naturally Valaika walked but shockingly Mullins struck out swinging to end the inning.
Devers popped up to short to start the top of the eighth and chase Fry from the game. Cole Sulser came in and Renfroe atoned from his earlier misfire with an absolute bomb to dead center to increase the lead. Dalbec popped up to first and Cordero struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-2.
Adam Ottavino came in for the bottom of the eighth and promptly hit Hays to start. Hays moved to second on a grounder to the mound by Mancini and to third on a grounder to third by McKenna. Mountcastle cut the lead with a double to left to score Hays and a wild pitch moved him to third. Galvis grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox still ahead 4-3.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the ninth as Plawecki flied out to center to start. Gonzalez struck out swinging and Verdugo went down hacking to end the inning. Matt Barnes came in to close out the bottom of the ninth with Christian Vazquez behind the plate. Severino popped up to second on the first pitch and Ruiz grounded out to first two pitches later. Valaika took strike three to end the game and the Sox had won it 4-3.
Hero of the Night is Rafael Devers. He drove in 3 huge runs to outscore Baltimore by himself.
The Good:
Marwin Gonzalez was 3 for 5 with a run scored.
JD Martinez walked twice in four plate appearances.
Nick Pivetta eanred the win/tossed 6 solid innings of 2 run ball.
Josh Taylor pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Matt Barnes earned his eighth save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Franchy Cordero was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Kevin Plawecki was 0 for 4.
Adam Ottavino allowed a run in the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Hunter Renfroe was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a home run.
Bobby Dalbec was just 1 for 4.
Honorable Mention:
Christian Vazquez caught the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
After the slugfests lately, this one was more of a grinder and the Sox still found a way to come out on top. Pivetta didn't dominate the game and the relievers looked hittable but the Sox did just enough on the defensive side to win. Devers has been on a tear lately and him stepping up today on a day where Bogaerts and Martinez didn't drive in any runs was big. Sox GM Chaim Bloom looks like a genius now with Pivetta now at 7-0 since coming to Boston, Connor Seabold looking like a stud in the minors and Brandon Workman recently signed back. Apart from Adam Ottavino, Kevin Plawecki and Franchy Cordero, the Sox looked pretty good today. Cordero's days are numbered with Danny Santana almost fully healthy in Worcester and top prospect Jarred Duran lighting it up the last few days. The Sox shouldn't rush Duran's development but if he continues to hit like that and Cordero continues to hit like this, he'll be in Boston sooner rather than later. The win improved the Sox to 22-13, 3 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox look to sweep the Orioles for their fifth straight win when Martin Perez (0-2, 4.40 ERA) looks for his first win of the season against Jorge Lopez of the Orioles. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Camden Yards.
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