It was a great night for Boston sports as the Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat in Game 2 of their NBA East Finals series and Trevor Story had one of the best nights of his career for the Boston Red Sox in a rout of the Seattle Mariners. Story hit two 2 run home runs and a three run bomb to drive in 7 runs singlehandedly. Rich Hill got shelled for four runs to start the game but Tanner Houck ( 4.70 ERA) tossed 4 shutout innings to give the Sox a chance. Story hit a two run shot in the second and another one in the third to tie the game. He drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth and hit his three run shot in the eighth. The Sox had a little trouble in the bullpen with Hiro Sawamura and Ryan Brasier giving up runs but the Sox bats pounded out 16 hits and 12 runs to win this game 12-6 over the Mariners at Fenway Park.
Hill got the ball in the top of the first inning and Adam Frazier grounded out to short to start. Ty France struck out swinging but Julio Rodriguez singled off the glove of Hill. Jesse Winker popped up to third to end the inning. George Kirby got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Kike Hernandez popped up to first to start. Rafael Devers singled to center but JD Martinez flied out to right. A wild pitch moved Devers to second but Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Mariners struck first in the top of the second as Eugenio Suarez doubled off the Monster to start. Luis Torrens took strike three but Abraham Toro singled to left to put runners at the corners. Dylan Moore smashed a 3 run home run all the way to Fort Worth, Texas to put Seattle up early. Steven Souza Jr popped up to second but Frazier walked. France effortlessly doubled to right to score Frazier and Rodriguez ripped a base hit to left to move France to third. Winker popped up to third to end the inning but the Mariners took the lead 4-0.
The Sox fought back in the bottom of the second as Alex Verdugo beat out a roller to third and Trevor Story belted his third home run of the year to cut the lead in half. Bobby Dalbec grounded out to second but Christian Vazquez hit a ground rule double into the right field seats. Jackie Bradley Jr grounded back to the mound but Hernandez walked. Naturally with two men on, Devers grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox still down 4-2.
Tanner Houck replaced Hill for the top of the third and Suarez struck out swinging to start. Torrens grounded out to short and Toro grounded out to first to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the third as Martinez got a base hit to right to start. Bogaerts flied out to center and Verdugo flied out to left, but Story smashed yet another two run home run to tie the game. Dalbec grounded out to short to end the inning with the game tied 4-4.
Moore struck out swinging to open the top of the fourth before Souza went down hacking as well. Frazier grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Vazquez struck out swinging to start. JBJ grounded out to second and Hernandez grounded out to first to end the inning.
France struck out swinging to open the top of the fifth and Rodriguez was frozen for strike three. Winker singled to left but Suarez flied out to right to end the inning. Devers struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fifth but Martinez got a base hit to center. Bogaerts grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Torrens struck out swinging to begin the top of the sixth and Toro grounded out to second. Moore walked but Souza popped up to third to end the inning. Verdugo doubled to center to start the bottom of the sixth and chase Kirby. Sergio Romo came in and the now red hot Story lined a base hit off the glove of Toro into center. Rodriguez' throw to home was way off and Verdugo scored the go-ahead run with Story at second on the error. Dalbec flied out to left but Story swiped third. Vazquez took strike three but JBJ won a 10 pitch battle by doubling to center to score Story with another run. Hernandez flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-4.
John Schreiber came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Frazier lined out to center to start. France grounded out to second and Rodriguez grounded out to short to end the inning. Anthony Misiewicz came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Devers struck out swinging to start. Martinez doubled to center but Bogaerts lined out to center. Verdugo singled to left to move Martinez to third and chase Misiewicz. Wyatt Mills came in to pitch to Story and walked him to load the bases. Dalbec walked to score Martinez and Vazquez got hit with a pitch to score Verdugo. Danny Young came in to face Bradley and walked him to score Story. Hernandez flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-4.
Hiro Sawamura came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Winker struck out swinging to start. Suarez and Torrens stroked back to back base hits before Toro walked to load the bases. Matt Strahm came in to stop the bleeding but walked Moore to score Suarez. Souza took strike three and Frazier popped up to third to end the inning with the Mariners down 9-5.
Devers struck out swinging to earn the hat trick to open the bottom of the eighth but Martinez and Bogaerts got back to back base hits. Verdugo beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners and Story capped off his amazing night with a 3 run bomb into the Monster seats. Dalbec beat out a squibber back to the mound but Vazquez struck out swinging to earn the hat trick and end the inning with the Sox ahead 12-5.
Ryan Brasier came in to close out the top of the ninth and Mike Ford pinch hit for France. Ford watched strike three go by but Rodriguez hit a home run to Saturn to make the crowd boo Brasier. Winker grounded out to short and Suarez flied out to the right field wall to end the game. The Sox had won it 12-6.
Hero of the Night is Trevor Story. He hit 3 home runs, stole a base, walked, drove in 7 runs and scored 5 of his own
The Good:
JD Martinez was 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored.
Alex Verdugo was 3 for 5 with 4 runs scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 rbis.
Tanner Houck got the win with 4 scoreless innings.
John Schreiber tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
The Bad:
Rich Hill got shelled for 4 runs in just 2 innings of work.
Hiro Sawamura was charged with a run in 1/3 of an inning.
Ryan Brasier allowed a home run in the top of the ninth.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4 but walked.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Bobby Dalbec was just 1 for 4 but walked and drove in a run.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but was hit with a pitch and drove in a run.
Matt Strahm allowed an inherited runner to score but none of his own in 2/3 of an inning.
Final Thoughts:
Its only one game against the glorified AAA Seattle Mariners but welcome to the party Trevor Story. THIS was the player the Sox were expecting when they signed him to the $130 million dollar contract and its better late than never. He has been able to walk but not put balls into play, until tonight. It doesn't matter who they're playing, three home runs is still three home runs. What's also encouraging is Tanner Houck stepping up after Rich Hill crapped the bed. Even better news is Bradley and Dalbec both got a hit and Verdugo had 3 big hits. All 9 men got on base at least once and that's the kind of offense that brought them two wins away from the World Series last year. The only drawbacks apart from Hill was Hiro Sawamura having an uncharacteristic off night and Brasier continuing his regression. Its only a matter of time before Connor Seabold is brought up to replace him. Now, in the immortal words of the great Lou Brown "We won last night, and we won today. If we win tomorrow, that's called a winning streak." The Sox have a chance to win 3 in a row for the first time all season, hope they don't screw it up. The win improved the Sox to 16-22, good for 4th place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it 3 in a row overall and two in a row against Seattle tomorrow night when Michael Wacha (3-0, 1.38 ERA) comes off the Injured List to take on Robbie Ray of the Mariners. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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