Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Kutter Crawford was sent down to Worcester and James Norwood was activated to take his spot. This is pretty much rearranging the chairs on the Titanic.
As for the game, thank goodness for Nick Pivetta (7-5, 3.31 ERA). With the Boston bats on a relatively cold streak and the bullpen a total mess, Pivetta has been a godsend to the Sox pitching staff. Pivetta held the NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals to just 1 run in 7 innings of work. Offensively the Sox got a home run from Trevor Story, a JBJ rbi single, a Rob Refsnyder rbi single and a Christian Vazquez three run homer. Once again the Cards rallied in the ninth for three runs off Tyler Danish but Tanner Houck slammed the door by striking out Brandon Donovan to end the game. The Sox took another step closer to the first wild card spot with a 6-4 win at Fenway Park.
Pivetta got the ball in the top of the first inning and Tommy Edman walked on four pitches not even close. Edman moved to second on the grounder to second by Brendan Donovan and Paul Goldschmidt flied out to right. Nolan Arenado struck out swinging to end the inning. Andre Pallante got the ball in the bottom of the first and Rob Refsnyder was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to start. Rafael Devers grounded out to third and JD Martinez struck out swinging to end the inning.
Tyler O'Neill grounded out to short to start the top of the second but Dylan Carlson walked. Albert Pujols struck out swinging but a wild pitch moved Carlson to second. Harrison Bader walked but Ivan Herrera struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second although Xander Bogaerts struck out a to start. Alex Verdugo grounded out to short but Trevor Story launched his tenth home run of the season to put Boston on top. Christian Vazquez popped up to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Edman walked again to start the top of the third but Donovan flied out to left. Goldschmidt flied out to right but a wild pitch moved Edman to second. Arenado grounded out to short to end the inning. Jackie Bradley Jr lined out to left to start the bottom of the third and Bobby Dalbec flied out to right. Refsnyder grounded out to second to end the inning.
O'Neill singled to left to start the top of the fourth but Carlson flied out to left. O'Neill stole second but Pujols struck out swinging. Bader dropped a base hit to left to score O'Neill and tie the game. Bader took second on the throw home and swiped third but Herrera struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Devers got a base hit to center to start the bottom of the fourth but Martinez banged into a double play. Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning.
Edman struck out swinging to start the top of the fifth before Donovan grounded out to second. Goldschmidt doubled to center but Arenado popped up to second to end the inning. Verdugo lined a base hit to center to start the bottom of the fifth before taking second on a wild pitch. Story grounded out to third and Vazquez lined out to right but JBJ lined a base hit up the middle to score Verdugo. Dalbec struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 2-1.
O'Neill singled to center to start the top of the sixth before Carlson flied out to right. Pujols struck out swinging for the third time and O'Neill was thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning. Refsnyder lined out to second to start the bottom of the sixth but Devers was hit by a pitch. Martinez struck out swinging but Bogaerts walked on four pitches to chase Palante. Genesis Cabrera came in to pitch and Verdugo walked to load the bases, but Story popped up to second to end the inning.
Bader struck out swinging to start the top of the seventh and Herrera took strike three. Edman took strike three to end the inning. Pivetta threw 108 pitches and tossed 7 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed just 4 hits and struck out 10.
Vazquez tried to start a rally with a double to right to start the bottom of the seventh. Vazquez grounded out to first to move Christian to third but Dalbec struck out swinging. Refsnyder stepped up with a base hit to center to score Vazquez and increase the lead. Devers walked on four pitches and Drew VerHagen was brought in to face Martinez. JD struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-1.
John Schreiber was brought in for the top of the eighth and Donovan struck out swinging to begin. Goldschmidt and Arenado both struck out swinging to end the inning. Bogaerts took strike three to start the bottom of the eighth but Verdugo got a base hit to left. Story walked and a wild pitch moved both runners over. Vazquez iced the game with a 3 run bomb to increase the lead. JBJ lined out to first but Dalbec singled to center. Refsnyder struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-1.
Tyler Danish came in to mop up the top of the ninth and O'Neill doubled to center to start. Edmundo Sosa ran for O'Neill and moved to third on the grounder to first by Carlson. Nolan Gorman pinch hit for Pujols and drew a walk. Bader flied out to left and Juan Yepez pinch hit for Herrera. Naturally Yepez hit a home run to South Korea to cut the lead. Sox manager Alex Cora brought in Tanner Houck to close it out Devers threw a grounder by Edman away for an error to bring the tying run to the plate. Donovan struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 6-4.
Hero of The Night is Christian Vazquez who's 3 run homer was the difference in the game.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 1 for 2 with a hit by pitch and a walk.
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Trevor Story was 1 for 3 with a walk, home run and 2 runs scored.
Nick Pivetta earned the win by tossing 7 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed 4 hits and struck out 10.
John Schreiber pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Tanner Houck got the save by getting the final out of the ninth inning.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Tyler Danish allowed 3 runs in the top of the ninth.
The Ugly:
Rob Refsnyder was just 1 for 5 but drove in a run.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Bobby Dalbec was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Final Thoughts:
Now THAT was impressive. New York Yankee fans are laughing at how the Sox can't beat "good" teams but the Sox just beat the NL Central leading Cards two out of three. Pivetta is doing the opposite of last year where he started 7-0 only to finish 9-8. This year he started 0-4 and now he's 7-5. Schreiber continues to be this season's Ryan Brasier and Houck could possibly be the closer moving forward. Its a good thing guys like Vazquez and Story stepped up because Bogaerts and Martinez have hit a bit of a funk. Up until the middle of May if Bogaerts and Martinez weren't hitting they were as good as dead. The Sox are continuing to rise up the American League ladder and they're about 2 pitchers away from being one of the best teams in the league. They should be getting their starters back soon and they can always trade one of their many prospects for an experienced late inning relief pitcher. All in all things are looking up and beating the Cardinals was a step in the right direction. The win improved the Sox to 36-31, good for fourth place in the AL East. The Sox now welcome the Detroit Tigers in for a three game set beginning tomorrow night. Josh Winckowski (1-1, 4.50 ERA) gets the start for the Sox against Alex Faedo of Detroit. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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