Before the game the Boston Red Sox made some roster moves. Christian Arroyo was placed on the Covid List and Phillips Valdez was sent down to Worcester. In theory places the Sox called up Josh Winckowski to start tonight's game and Jarren Duran to hit leadoff. Also the Baltimore Orioles claimed Jonathan Arauz off waivers so he's gone.
As for the game, it was another massacre of the pathetic Oakland A's by the Red Sox. Rafael Devers and Alex Verdugo led a 13 hit attack against James Kaprielian and the A's bullpen. Meanwhile Sox rookie Josh Winckowski tossed 5 shutout innings to earn his first career win. Xander Bogaerts and Trevor Story also drove in runs to put the exclamation point on the beating. The Sox bullpen allowed just 1 run in the last 4 innings as the Sox won their third straight game 10-1 at Fenway Park.
Winckowski got the ball in the top of the first inning and Tony Kemp walked to start. "Razor" Ramon Laureano forced Tony at second and Seth Brown flied out to left. Christian Bethancourt struck out swinging to end the inning. Kaprielian got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jarren Duran grounded out to second to start. Rafael Devers and JD Martinez walked before Xander Bogaerts singled to left to load the bases. Alex Verdugo grounded out to second but Devers scored to put the Sox on top. Trevor Story walked to reload the bases and Franchy Cordero lined out to right to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Stephen Vogt struck out swinging to start the top of the second before Elvis Andrus grounded out to short. Sean Murphy blooped a base hit to center but Luis Barrera grounded out to second to end the inning. Kevin Plawecki grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second but Jackie Bradley Jr ripped a base hit to right. Duran flied out into the left field corner but Devers pounded his 16th home run of the season into the bullpen to increase the lead. Martinez flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.
Jonah Bride grounded out to first to start the top of the third and Kemp grounded out to short. Laureano doubled to right but Brown popped up to short to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the third as Bogaerts doubled to left to begin. Verdugo ripped a base hit to center to score Xander but Story took strike three. Cordero struck out swinging but Plawecki walked. JBJ grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-0.
Bethancourt grounded out to short to start the top of the fourth before Vogt struck out swinging. Andrus grounded out to short to end the inning. Duran walked to tart the bottom of the fourth before Devers also drew a walk. Martinez flied out to right to move Duran to third and Jarren scored on the sac fly by Bogaerts. Verdugo got a base hit to left and Story hit a roller to the mound....THROWN AWAY BY KAPRIELIAN! Devers scored and that was it for Kaprielian as AJ Puk came in to pitch to Cordero. Franchy popped up to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-0.
Murphy grounded out to third to start the top of the fifth and Barrera grounded out to second. Bride and Kemp stroked back to back singles but Laureano grounded out to first to end the inning. Despite throwing just 79 pitches, Sox manager Alex Cora yanked Winckowski after 5 shutout innings. He allowed just 4 hits and a walk while striking out 3 batters.
lawecki grounded out to second to start the bottom of the fifth but JBJ beat out a roller to third. Duran struck out swinging but Devers forced JBJ at second to end the inning.
Jake Diekman came in to pitch the top of the sixth inning and Brown struck out swinging to start. Bethancourt flied out to center but Matt Davidson pinch hit for Vogt. Naturally Davidson hit a home run all the way to Coney Island to break up the shutout. Andrus grounded out to third to end the inning with the A's down 6-1.
Davidson goes yard
Domingo Acevedo came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Martinez walked to start. Bogaerts hit one up the elevator shaft but Verdugo pounded his first home run since April 16th to increase the lead. Story popped up to Kemp and Cordero flied out to deep center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-1.
Hiro Sawamura came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Murphy singled to center to start. Barrera forced Murphy at second and Bride got a base hit to left to move Luis to third. Kemp grounded into a double play to end the inning. Sam Moll came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Plawecki struck out swinging to start. JBJ went down hacking and Duran completed the trifecta by swinging at air to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Laureano struck out swinging to start. Brown grounded out to second and Bethancourt struck out swinging to end the inning. Lou Trivino came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Devers grounded back to the mound to start. Martinez doubled to left and Bogaerts doubled to center to score JD. Verdugo lined out to left but Story singled to right to score Bogaerts. Cordero singled to center to move Story to third but Plawecki struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 10-1.
Tyler Danish came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Davidson grounded out to short to start. Andrus flied out to left and Murphy was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to end the game. The Sox had won it 10-1.
Hero of the Night is Alex Verdugo. He drove in 4 big runs including his first home run since April to lead the charge.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with 2 walls, a 2 run homer and 3 total runs scored.
JD Martinez was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 4 with 2 rbis and 2 runs scored.
Trevor Story was 2 for 4 with a walk and an rbi.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Josh Winckowski got his first ML win by pitching 5 shutout innings. He allowed 4 hits and struck out 3.
Hiro Sawamura pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Tyler Danish pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Jake Diekman allowed a run in the sixth inning.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked and scored a run.
Franchy Cordero was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Kevin Plawecki was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Thank goodness for the AL West. The Sox are now 10-2 against them on the season amd the A's are pretty much in a free-fall this year and it would be imperative for the Sox to sweep them considering the other four AL East teams are playing each other. Winckowski looked a lot better tonight and he only walked one batter which was the first of the game. Josh is supposed to be a sinkerballer with good command and he showed it tonight. Best case scenario is he's the next Derek Lowe just two inches shorter. Verdugo had a breakout game and hopefully that continues moving forward. The Tampa Bay Rays lost to the New York Yankees so the Sox picked up another game on them. The key to the season will be July 4th to the 24th with 17 straight games against the Toronto Blue Jays, Yankees and Rays. Getting a closer by then would be nice. The win improved the Sox to 34-29, 1.5 games behind the Rays for third place in the AL East. The Sox look to sweep the A's and win their fourth straight game tomorrow afternoon when Rich Hill (2-3, 4.38 ERA) takes the mound against Pete Blackburn of the A's. The game begins at 1:35 PM at Fenway Park.
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