It was good news all around for the city of Boston tonight. The Boston Celtics defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 6 of their second round NBA playoff series and the Boston Red Sox laid waste to the bungholes of the Texas Rangers. Nick Pivetta (1-4, 5.08 ERA) tossed his best game of the season for Boston, holding the Rangers to a single run in 7 dominating innings. The bats that have been historically bad to start the year sprang to life tonight against Dane Dunning. The Sox took a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning when they pushed four runs across the plate to put the game out of reach. Nearly everyone on the roster had at least one hit while Xander Bogaerts and JD Martinez led the offensive explosion. Maybe the Sox are coming out of their funk as they blasted the Rangers 7-1 at Globe Life Field.
Dunning got the ball in the top of the first inning and Kike Hernandez walked to start. Rafael Devers grounded back to the mound to move Hernandez to second but JD Martinez struck out swinging. Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging to continue Boston's ineptitude with runners in scoring position and end the inning. Pivetta got the ball in the bottom of the first and Brad Miller grounded out to short to start. Marcus Semien popped up to second and Corey Seager grounded out to second to end the inning.
Alex Verdugo grounded out to short to start the top of the second before Trevor Story grounded out to third. Franchy Cordero took strike three to end the inning. Adonis Garcia grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second but Kole Calhoun singled to right. Jonah Heim and Nathaniel Lowe both flied out to left to end the inning.
Christian Vazquez grounded out to short to start the top of the third before Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to center. Hernandez walked again before taking second on a wild pitch and scoring on the base hit to left by Devers. Martinez flied out to right to end the inning but the Sox took the lead 1-0.
Nick Solak flied out to center on the first pitch of the bottom of the third before Andy Ibanez also flied out to center. Miller completed the trifecta by also flying out to center to end the inning.
Bogaerts grounded back to Dunning on the first pitch of the top of the fourth before Verdugo struck out swinging. Story got a base hit to left but Cordero flied out to left to end the inning. Semien flied out to center on the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth and Seager grounded out to first. Garcia lined out to left to end the inning with Pivetta at just 40 pitches.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fifth as Vazquez flied out to right to start. JBJ lined out to second and Hernandez struck out swinging to end the inning. Calhoun struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fifth before Heim took strike three. Lowe got a base hit to left but Solak forced him at second to end the inning.
Devers took strike three to start the top of the sixth but Martinez got a base hit to left. Bogaerts beat out a roller to short and Verdugo doubled off the right field wall to score Martinez to increase the lead. Story hit a sac fly to right to score Martinez and Cordero doubled to right to score Verdugo with another run. That was it for Dunning as Brett Martin came in to pitch only to uncork a wild pitch to move Cordero to third. Vazquez stepped up with a single to right to score Cordero but JBJ flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-0.
Ibanez grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the sixth but Miller drew a walk. Semien flied out to right but Vazquez threw the ball away on a Miller steal attempt, allowing him to go to third on the error. Seager struck out swinging after a 12 pitch at bat to end the inning.
Old pal Garrett Richards came in to pitch the top of the seventh and he hit Hernandez to start Devers forced Hernandez at second and Martinez hit a ground rule double into the stands. Bogaerts ripped a base hit to left that scored both runners but Xander was thrown out at second. Bobby Dalbec pinch hit for Verdugo who apparently hurt his foot and struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 7-0.
Pivetta returned for the bottom of the seventh and Garcia struck out swinging. Calhoun tripled past the diving Hernandez but Heim lined out to first. A wild pitch scored Calhoun but Lowe grounded out to first to end the inning. Pivetta had only thrown 85 pitches but was done for the night with such a large lead. He was outstanding, tossing 7 innings of 1 run ball while holding Texas to just 3 hits.
Story flied out to center to start the top of the eighth and Cordero struck out swinging. Vazquez lined out to left to end the inning. Kutter Crawford came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Solak lined out to right to start. Ibanez flied out to center and Miller grounded out to second to end the inning.
Josh Sborz came in to pitch the top of the ninth and JBJ grounded out to short to start. Hernandez got a base hit to right but Devers flied out to left. Martinez walked but Bogaerts took strike three to end the inning. Semien popped up to Story to start the bottom of the ninth but Seager walked. Garcia struck out swinging but Calhoun singled to right. Heim hit one up the elevator shaft to end the game. The Sox had won it 7-1.
Hero of the Night is Nick Pivetta. He tossed 7 innings and allowed just one run off 3 hits.
The Good:
Kike Hernandez was 1 for 2 with a hit by pitch, 2 walks and a run scored.
JD Martinez was 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Alex Verdugo was 1 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.
Trevor Story was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Kutter Crawford tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Bobby Dalbec struck out in his only at-bat.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but drove in a run and scored a run.
Franchy Cordero was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run and scored a run.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 with an error but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
This was the kind of game the Sox have needed for weeks. The offense contributing from top to bottom and great starting pitching to save the much maligned bullpen. Apart from JBJ and Bobby Dalbec, everyone got on base at least once. As I've said for weeks, Verdugo, Vazquez and Story are too good to hit THAT bad and as soon as Jarren Duran is ready, JBJ and or Hernandez may be riding the bench. The offense should be able to sort itself out but the key will be the pitching. The Sox desperately need Garrett Whitlock in the closer's role but if Pivetta, Nathan Eovaldi, Tanner Houck and whoever's left can deliver good outings, they wouldn't need to rely on the bullpen so much. Hopefully the Sox can take advantage of bad pitching and climb their way back into the AL East race. The New York Yankees are red hot right now but even the 2018 Red Sox crashed and burned at one point. The Sox need to get back to .500 before its too late to make a run. The win improved the Sox to 12-20, good for last place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the Rangers tomorrow night in Texas. The Sox have no idea who's pitching while the Rangers are starting with Glenn Otto. The game begins at 7:05 PM Eastern time at Globe Life Field.
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