Before the game the Boston Red Sox sent Josh Winckowski back to Worcester. He made one mistake to Rougned Odor in his start yesterday and definitely needs more seasoning. No sense having him take one loss after another on this year's MLB team the way things are going.
It was a great day in Boston sports as the Boston Celtics eliminated the Miami Heat in Game 7 of their NBA East Finals series and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles. After scoring just 7 runs in 18 innings in yesterday's doubleheader, the offense pounded out 15 hits in 12 runs against the hapless Baltimore Orioles in today's game. The Sox hit five home runs early and often to put this game away early. Meanwhile Nick Pivetta (4-4, 3.95 ERA) won his fourth game in a row as he tossed 6 innings of 1 run ball to hold the O's down. Bobby Dalbec, Franchy Cordero, Rafael Devers, Christian Arroyo and Kike Hernandez all went yard for the Red Sox. Xander Bogaerts knocked in two runs of his own and the Sox survived a ninth inning hiccup by Phillips Valdez to win this one easily, 12-2 at Fenway Park.
Pivetta got the ball in the top of the first inning and Cedric Mullins grounded out to second to start. Trey Mancini doubled to left but Anthony Santander lined out to left. Ryan Mountcastle grounded out to short to end the inning. Zimmermann got the ball in the bottom of the first and Kike Hernandez lined out to center to start. Rafael Devers grounded out to first but JD Martinez got a base hit to center. Xander Bogaerts flied out to left to end the inning.
Adley Rutschman flied out to center to start the top of the second and Rougned Odor struck out swinging. Ramon Urias flied out to center to end the inning. Trevor Story flied out to center to start the bottom of the first but Christian Vazquez doubled to left. Bobby Dalbec then belted his third home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Christian Arroyo grounded out to third but Franchy Cordero followed with his second home run of the season to increase the lead. Hernandez grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
Robinson Chirinos struck out swinging to start the top of the third but Jorge Mateo doubled to left. Mullins took strike three but Mancini walked. Santander walked to load the bases but Mountcastle lined out to right to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the third as Devers clobbered his 11th home run of the season to increase the lead. Martinez struck out swinging but Bogaerts doubled to left. Story walked and Bogaerts took third on a wild pitch, but Vazquez grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-0.
Rutschman walked to start the top of the fourth but Odor popped up to third and Urias hit into a double play to end the inning. The Sox poured it on in the bottom of the fourth as Dalbec flied out to center to start. Arroyo joined the homer parade with his 3rd moonshot of the season. Cordero lined out to center but Hernandez smashed his fourth home run the season as well. Devers struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-0.
Chirinos struck out swinging to start the top of the fifth and Mateo grounded out to short. Mullins doubled to left and scored when Arroyo dropped a pop up by Mancini. Santander grounded out to short to end the inning with the O's down 6-1.
Cody Sedlock made his ML debut on the mound in the bottom of the fifth and Martinez was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to start. Bogaerts singled in the hole at second but Story struck out swinging. Vazquez doubled to right to score Bogaerts and increase the lead and took third on an error by Odor. Dalbec grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-1.
Naturally Mountcastle got a base hit to center to start the top of the sixth but Rutschman struck out swinging. Odor flied out to left and Urias hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. Pivetta had thrown 106 pitches and held the O's to just one run in 6 solid innings. He allowed just 5 hits and walked 3.
Arroyo took strike three to start the bottom of the sixth and Cordero went down hacking. Hernandez grounded out to third to end the inning.
Tanner Houck came in to pitch the top of the seventh with Jackie Bradley Jr now in right field. Chirinos popped up to second but Mateo lined one past Houck for a base hit. Mullins grounded into a double play to end the inning. Devers flied out to center to start the bottom of the seventh but Martinez singled to center. Bogaerts flied out to left and Story flied out to center to end the inning.
Houck returned for the top of the eighth with Kevin Plawecki taking over behind the plate. Mancini singled to left to start but Santander lined out to center. Mountcastle hit into a double play to end the inning. Plawecki walked to start the bottom of the eighth and Dalbec singled to center. JBJ singled to right to load the bases and Cordero doubled to right to score Plawecki and Dalbec. That was it for Sedlock as Marcos Diplan came in to pitch to Hernandez. Kike struck out swinging but Devers walked to load the bases. Martinez walked to score JBJ and Bogaerts doubled home Cordero and Devers. Story took strike three but Plawecki walked to reload the bases. Dalbec took strike three to end the inning with the Sox ahead 12-1.
Phillips Valdez came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Rutschman walked to start. Ryan McKenna pinch hit for Odor and was plunked, but Urias struck out looking. Chris Owings pinch hit for Chirinos and hit a double play ball to second. Story flipped to Bogaerts for the out and Xander spiked the ball like a football and did a dance for an error to score Rutschman. A wild pitch moved Owings to second but Mateo took strike three to end the game. The Sox had won it 12-2.
Hero of the Night is Bobby Dalbec. His two run homer set the tone for the day and matched Baltimore's entire output.
The Good:
JD Martinez was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a walk.
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.
Kevin Plawecki walked twice and scored a run.
Christian Arroyo was 1 for 3 with a home run.
Jackie Bradley Jr singled and scored in his only at-bat.
Franchy Cordero was 2 for 4 with a home run, 3 total rbis and 2 total runs scored.
Nick Pivetta earned the win by tossing six innings of 1 run ball. He allowed 5 hits and struck out 5.
Tanner Houck tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Phillips Valdez allowed a run in the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but the one hit was a home run.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked, hit a home run and scored two runs.
Trevor Story was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Now that's more like it. Beating up on the hapless O's doesn't accomplish much but a win is a win. The most encouraging signs are guys like Cordero, Vazquez and Hernandez getting hot and starting to hit home runs more frequently. Cordero had been a colossal failure since the Sox traded Andrew Benintendi for him last February but he's picked it up this past month for sure. The only piece of the puzzle that needs to pick it up is Alex Verdugo, he's too good to continue to hit this badly. Pivetta won his fourth straight start and the fact Sox manager Alex Cora is letting guys go longer into the games might be signs that he's learned his lesson from past mistakes. Again, the Sox are supposed to beat up the Orioles so its not that exciting but at least they're another step closer in getting out of the hole they dug themselves in after April. The win improved the Sox to 23-25, good for 4th place in the AL East. The Sox look to take the fifth and final game of this series tomorrow night when Rich Hill (1-2, 3.86 ERA) takes on Tyler Wells of Baltimore. The game begins at 7:30 PM at Fenway Park.
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