As for the game, thank God the Sox are playing someone other than the AL East. The Sox bats were mostly silent against the Cleveland Guardians but their bats were even worse against Nick Pivetta and the Boston bullpen. Yolmer Sanchez drove in Jackie Bradley Jr to put the Sox up first in the third inning but Jose Ramirez tied it with a base hit in the fifth. Alex Verdugo and Christian Vazquez drove in runs in the bottom of the sixth to make a winner out of John Schreiber (3-1, 1.50 ERA). Garrett Whitlock slammed the door in the final two innings as the Sox snapped their losing streak with a 3-1 win at Fenway Park.
Pivetta got the ball in the top of the first inning and Steven Kwan popped up to third to start. Amed Rosario flied out to right and Jose Ramirez grounded out to short to end the inning. Zach Plesac got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Jarren Duran struck out swinging to start. Rob Refsnyder lined out to first and Alex Verdugo lined out to center to end the inning.
Josh Naylor grounded out to short to start the top of the second but Franmil Reyes got a base hit to left. Andres Gimenez got a base hit to left but Nolan Jones went down hacking. Austin Hedges also struck out swinging to end the inning. Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Christian Vazquez grounded out to short. Franchy Cordero walked and Bobby Dalbec forced him at second to end the inning.
Myles Shaw singled to left to start the top of the third before Kwan flied out to right. It looked like Rosario grounded into a double play but Guardians manager Terry Francona challenged that Rosario was safe. The call was overturned and Amed was ruled safe but Ramirez struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the third as Jackie Bradley Jr doubled to center to begin. Yolmer Sanchez got a base hit to left to score Bradley but was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. The rains came and delayed the game but when action resumed, Duran popped up to second. Refsnyder grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Naylor walked to start the top of the fourth but Reyes struck out swinging. Gimenez walked and both runners moved over on the Jones grounder to first. Hedges grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Ramirez booted a grounder by Verdugo to start the bottom of the fourth before Bogaerts flied out to right. A wild pitch moved Verdugo to second but Vazquez grounded out to third. Cordero walked but Dalbec took strike three to end the inning.
The Guardians struck back in the top of the fifth as Straw got a base hit to center to start. Kwan also got a base hit to left but Rosario grounded into a double play. Ramirez beat out a roller down the third base line to score Straw to tie the game. Naylor grounded out to second to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
JBJ grounded out to short to start the bottom of the fifth before Sanchez grounded out to second. Duran struck out swinging to end the inning.
Reyes struck out swinging to begin the top of the sixth and Gimenez went down hacking as well. Jones walked and Hedges singled to left to chase Pivetta from the game. Pivetta tossed 5 2/3 innings of 1 run ball allowing 7 hots and 3 walks. John Schreiber came in and got Straw to force Hedges to end the inning.
The Sox took command in the bottom of the sixth as Refsnyder walked to start. Verdugo hot a rocket off the Monster and Kwan fell down trying to field it, allowing Refsnyder to score. Plesac left the game and Trevor Stephan came in to pitch to Bogaerts. Xander lined a base hit to right and Vazquez singled to center to score Verdugo. Cordero and Dalbec struck out swinging and Sam Hentges came in to face Bradley. JBJ flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-1.
Schreiber returned for the top of the seventh and Kwan grounded out to short to start. Rosario struck out swinging but Ramirez singled to right. Naylor struck out swinging to end the inning. Sanchez grounded out to third to start the bottom of the seventh but Duran singled in the hole at short. James Karinchak came in to pitch to Refsnyder and Rob struck out swinging. Verdugo flied out to left to end the inning.
Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Reyes swung at air to start. Both Gimenez and Jones grounded out to short to end the inning. Bogaerts watched strike three go by to start the bottom of the eighth and Vazquez also left the bat on his shoulder for strike three. Cordero whiffed to end the inning.
The Lock returned to close out the top of the ninth and Owen Miller pinch hit for Hedges. Miller took strike three and Straw lined out to right. Kwan popped up to short to end the game. The Sox had won it 3-1.
Sox win
Hero of The Night is Alex Verdugo. He drive in the go-ahead run uh the sixth inning.
Alex Hero
The Good:
Franchy Cordero walked twice in four plate appearances.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Yolmer Sanchez was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Nick Pivetta tossed 5 2/3 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed 7 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6.
John Schreiber got the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Garrett Whitlock got the save with 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Rob Refsnyder was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run
Final Thoughts:
Now that the Toronto Blue Jays left town, maybe the Sox can win a few games. They can't beat the AL East but they can beat anyone else apparently. This was a gutty win as the offense once again did almost nothing but the pitching held up big time. Pivetta, Schreiber and Whitlock got the job done and if Chris Sale didn't get hurt, Sox fans would be feeling better about their chances in the second half. The Sox are better off selling at the deadline next week and rumors are they just might. They still could add a few pieces but if they can't beat the AL East, what's the point? Still, gotta win the games they got now and tonight they did just that. The win improved the Sox to 49-48, 17 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East and 4.5 games behind the Blue Jays for the wild card. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the Guardians tomorrow night when Josh Winckowski (3-4) takes on Bryan Shaw of Cleveland. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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