Holy sheep turds what the hell was THAT ninth inning? For eight innings the Boston Red Sox thoroughly dominated the NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals on both sides of the ball. Michael Wacha (5-1, 2.28 ERA) held the Cards to just 1 run before being yanked too early in the sixth inning. That almost proved fatal but I'll get to that in a moment. Offensively the Sox responded after their dud last night as Trevor Story knocked in two big runs and the team rallied for three runs in the seventh inning to put the Sox up big. Forced to go to the bullpen early, the tag team of John Schreiber and Matt Strahm had to be used in the middle innings rather than the end. The Cardinals then rallied for four runs in the ninth inning against the normally lights out Austin Davis and Tanner Houck. With the tying run at second base, Houck caught Paul Goldschmidt looking to end the game. The Sox had held on to win 6-5 at Fenway Park.
Wacha got the ball in the top of the first inning and Tommy Edman took strike three to start. Brendan Donovan grounded back to the mound and Paul Goldschmidt struck out swinging to end the inning. Wainwright got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Jarren Duran greeted him with a triple into the right field corner. Rafael Devers was plunked to put runners at the corners but naturally JD Martinez banged intona double play to score Duran but kill the rally. Xander Bogaerts took strike three to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
The lead lasted eight seconds in the top of the second as Nolan Arenado hit a home run to Jupiter to instantly tie the game. Nolan Gorman struck out swinging, Tyler O'Reilly grounded out to third and Dylan Carlson popped up to third to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Alex Verdugo struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Trevor Story took strike three. Franchy Cordero struck out swinging to end the inning.
Harrison Bader grounded out to second to start the top of the third and Andrew Knizner grounded out to short, but Edman got a base hit to center. Donovan struck out swinging to end the inning. Christian Vazquez flied out to right to start the bottom of the third and Jackie Bradley Jr went down hacking, but Duran walked. Devers lined out to left to end the inning.
Goldschmidt grounded out to second to start the top of the fourth but Arenado singled to left. Gorman hit a bullet to Cordero who doubled off Arenado to end the inning. Martinez got a base hit to center to open the bottom of the fourth and Bogaerts doubled to center. Naturally Verdugo grounded back to the mound but Story finally contributed with a base hit to right to score both runners. Cordero forced Story at second and Vazquez forced Franchy at second to end the inning with the Sox on top 3-1.
The Cardinals threatened in the top of the fifth although O'Neill lined out to left to start. Carlson got a base hit to left and Duran failed to catch a fly ball by Baddler but Knizner lined out to center. Edman grounded out to second to end the inning. JBJ lined out to short to start the bottom of the fifth and Duran popped up to short. Devers got a base hit to right and stole second, but Martinez grounded out to third to end the inning.
Donovan struck out swinging to start the top of the sixth but Goldschmidt singled to right. Arenado walked and Sox manager Alex Cora had seen enough of Wacha after just 16 outs on 88 pitches. John Schreiber came in and Gorman lined out to center. O'Neill struck out swinging to end the inning. This would prove to be a mistake as going to the bullpen early almost cost the Sox after Wacha was out one out into the sixth inning.
Bogaerts got a base hit to left to start the bottom of the sixth but. Verdugo hit into a double play. Story lined out to right to end the inning.
Carlson walked to begin the top of the seventh but Bader grounded into a double play. Matt Strahm came in to pitch to Knizner and Andrew popped up to second to end the inning. Cordero tried to start a rally with a double to left to start the bottom of the seventh and moved to third on the grounder to second by Vazquez. That was it for Wainwright as TJ McFarland came in to pitch to Bradley. JBJ stepped up with a base hit to center to score Cordero with another run. For the second night in a row Sox manager Alex Cora pitch hit Bobby Dalbec for Duran, only this time Dalbec got a double to center. Devers iced the game with a base hit to left to score both runners and chase McFarland. Nick Wittgren came in to pitch and Martinez struck out swinging but Bogaerts beat out a roller to third. Verdugo took strike three to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-1.
Edman flied out to center to start the top of the eighth but Donovan walked. Goldschmidt flied out to left and Arenado popped up to first to end the inning. Story took strike three again to start the bottom of the eighth before Cordero grounded out to first. Vazquez lined out to right to end the inning.
Austin Davis came in to close out the top of the ninth and Juan Yepez pinch hit for Gorman. Yepez flied out to center and O'Neill grounded out to second when the wheels completely fell off. Carlson doubled to center and Bader tripled into the centerfield triangle to score him. Knizner was plunked and that was it for Davis. Tanner Houck came in to close out the game but Edman doubled to left to score Bader and Donovan doubled to left to score both runners, putting the tying run at second. Somehow Houck caught Goldschmidt looking to end the game. After all that, the Sox had won it 6-5.
Hero of the Night is Rafael Devers. His two run single was the difference in the game.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 1 for 2 with a walk and a run scored.
Bobby Dalbec singled and scored a run as a pinch hitter.
Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 4 with a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.
Michael Wacha got the win by going 5 1/3 innings and allowing just 1 run. He allowed 6 hits and struck out 5.
John Schreiber tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Matt Strahm pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4.
Austin Davis allowed 3 runs in the top of the ninth.
Tanner Houck allowed two inherited runners to score and one of his own in the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Trevor Story was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in two runs.
Franchy Cordero was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
That was almost an epic disaster but a win is a win. Up until the ninth inning that was a dominant effort by the Sox against a good Cardinals team. Wacha was yanked early but he looked pretty good again while he was in there. The good news was the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays both lost so the Sox gained ground on both of them. Devers and Story pitched in big time which was much needed after their errors cost the Sox in yesterday's game. The bullpen work of Strahm and Schreiber are setting up to be a good one-two punch and the biggest surprise is Schreiber. He never threw over 92 when he was with Detroit and now he's hitting 97 on the gun. Davis and Houck are usually lights out so let's just hope this was a minor hiccup that the Sox thankfully got past. Another encouraging sign is Duran out of the leadoff spot. He could be the next Johnny Damon/Jacoby Ellsbury speedster if he can consistently hit and get on base. I don't know why Cora keeps pinch hitting for him late with Dalbec but at least that worked out this time. All in all apart from the ninth inning it was a good win against a good team and the Sox need to at least take two of three to show they can beat good teams as well as the dregs of the AL West. The win improved the Sox to 35-30, just a half game behind the Rays for third place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it two in a row against St. Louis tomorrow night when Kutter Crawford (1-1, 5.74 ERA) gets the start against Dakota Hudson of St. Louis. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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