Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Tyler Danish was placed on the Injured List with a forearm strain and the Sox called 29 year old journeyman reliever Michael Feliz. His best year was 3 years ago with the Pittsburgh Pirates and now he most likely will be pitching against the New York Yankees. Too bad about Danish, maybe Sox manager Alex Cora shouldn't have had him throw 4 innings in 2 days.
As for the game, one of Rafael Devers' best game of his whole career was wasted due to the rest of his team being choke artists against the AL East frontrunning New York Yankees. Rookie Josh Winckowski (3-3, 4.35 ERA) got lit up for 6 runs in 5 innings including a 5 run third inning highlighted by a Josh Donaldson. Devers singlehandedly kept the Sox in the game, belting a 2 run home run and later a 3 run blast against Gerrit Cole. The Sox bullpen admirably stepped up to shut the Yankees down the remaining four innings but unfortunately the Yankees bullpen was equally as tough. The trio of Wandy Peralta, Michael King and Clay Holmes slammed the door as the Yankees had won the opener 6-5 at Fenway Park.
Winckowski got the ball in the top of the first inning and DJ LeMahieu flied out to center to start. Gleyber Torres lined out to right and Matt Carpenter popped up to second to end the inning. Cole got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Jarren Duran struck out swinging to start. Rafael Devers walked but JD Martinez struck out swinging. Xander Bogaerts flied out to right to end the inning.
Giancarlo Stanton popped up to first to start the top of the second before Josh Donaldson got a base hit to center. Aaron Hicks forced Josh at second but Jose Trevino walked. Isiah Kiner forced Trevino at second to end the inning. Alex Verdugo popped up to third to start the bottom of the second but Trevor Story ripped an opposite field single to right. Franchy Cordero banged into a double play to end the inning.
Joey Gallo walked to start the top of the third before taking second on the LeMahieu grounder to short. Torres got a base hit to right to put runners at the corners before swiping second. Somehow Carpenter popped up to short but Stanton walked to load the bases. Donaldson laughed as he hit a grand slam all the way to Cuba to end the game early. Hicks put the exclamation point on with a home run all the way into the Charles River before Trevino flied out to right to end the inning with the game over 5-0.
The Sox struck back in he bottom of the third as Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to second to start. Kevin Plawecki got a lucky hit to center but Duran struck out swinging . Devers launched his 18th home run if the season to cut the lead but Martinez flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox down 5-2.
Kiner grounded out to third to start the top of the fourth but Gallo and LeMahieu walked. Torres took strike three and Carpenter went down hacking to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Bogaerts struck out swinging to start. Verdugo grounded out to short and Story grounded out to first to end the inning.
Stanton grounded out to second to start the top of the fifth and Donaldson grounded out to short. Hicks tripled into the right field corner and the whole world laughed as Cordero dropped a 20 foot pop up by Trevino for a "double" to score Hicks. Kiner grounded out to third to end the inning with the Yankees up 6-2. Winckowski was hammered for 6 runs in just 5 innings. The grand slam was the difference in the game.
Cordero tried to make up for the error with a double to center to start the bottom of the fifth but only moved to third on the squibber in front of the plate by JBJ. Plawecki walked but naturally Duran struck out swinging. Devers then shocked the world with a 3 run bomb to cut the lead. Martinez walked to put the tying run on but Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 6-5.
Matt Strahm came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Gallo struck out looking to start. LeMahieu struck out swinging and Torres flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the sixth as Verdugo grounded out to short to start. Story took strike three and Cordero grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Carpenter struck out swinging to start the top of the seventh and John Schreiber came in to pitch to Stanton. Giancarlo struck out swinging and Donaldson took strike three to end the inning. Wandy Peralta came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Rob Refsnyder pinch hit for Bradley. Refsnyder struck out swinging and Plawecki flied out to right. Duran earned the golden sombrero by striking out swinging to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Hicks popped up to Cordero in foul territory to start. Trevino grounded back to the mound and Kiner grounded out to second to end the inning. Devers grounded out to third to start the bottom of the eighth and Michael King was brought in to face Martinez. JD struck out swinging but Bogaerts walked to put the tying run on. Verdugo grounded out to first to end the inning.
Austin Davis came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Gallo's bunt attempt was snuffed out by Cordero to start. LeMahieu grounded out to third but Torres got a base hit to center. Carpenter popped up to second to end the inning. Clay Holmes came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Story popped up to second to start. Cordero struck out swinging and Refsnyder grounded back to the mound to end the game. The Yankees had won it 6-5.
Jackass of the Night is Josh Winckowski. He allowed 6 runs in just 5 innings to put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 2 for 3 with a walk, 2 home runs and 5 total rbis.
Kevin Plawecki was 1 for 2 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Mat Strahm tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
John Schreiber got the final two outs of the seventh inning.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Austin Davis pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with a golden sombrero of 4 strikes out.
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 2.
Rob Refsnyder was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Trevor Story was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Franchy Cordero was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Its been that kind of year for Boston as on a night when their bullpen shines, their starter got hammered. They score 5 runs but give up 6. Cole was hittable tonight and everyone but Devers actually hit him. Only Plawecki, Cordero and Story managed to get hits off Cole besides Devers and Winckowski giving up that grand slam turned out to be the difference in the game. Once again it shows that the Sox can't compete in the AL East. Like its been mentioned all week, they just fall apart when it matters against the teams that matter. Its just going to get worse unless the Sox make a stand. Not having some of their best pitchers doesn't help but what they have now needs to step up. The less said of this worthless disaster, the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 45-38, 0.5 games behind the Rays for the first wild card spot. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow night against the Yankees when Connor Seabold is expected to make the start for Boston after Michael Wacha is placed on the Injured List. Nestor Cortes goes for the Yankees and the game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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