It's about time the duo of Christian Arroyo and Alex Verdugo woke up for the Boston Red Sox. After battling injuries and ineffectiveness, Arroyo stepped up big with 3 rbis off 3 hits. Verdugo has been in a season long regression but has broken out of it by going 3 for 3 with 2 walks in tonight's game against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates. Arroyo and Verdugo are now both hitting .280 after spending most of the season below .250. On the other side of the ball Rich Hill (5-5, 4.68 ERA) survived a shaky start to go 5 innings while holding the punchless Pirates to just two runs. Aiding the duo was the unlikely trio of Rob Refsnyder, Kevin Plawecki and Kike Hernandez who all drove in runs as well. Ryan Brasier and Hiro Sawamura combined to toss 3 shutout innings with 4 strikeouts. The Pirates got a run in the ninth against Jeurys Familia but it wasn't enough as the Sox won their third game in a row and second straight against Pittsburgh 8-3 at PNC Park.
Pirates starter Roansy Contreras dominated the top of the first as Tommy Pham hit a weak pop up to right to start. Rafael Devers popped up weakly to second and Xander Bogaerts grounded out softly to second to end the inning. The Pirates wasted no time getting to Hill in the bottom of the first as Kevin Newman hit a rocket to left to start. Bryan Reynolds hit a home run all the way to Philadelphia to put the Pirates up just like that. Michael Chavis grounded out to short, Ben Gamel struck out swinging and Kevin Padlo flied out to center to end the inning with the Pirates ahead 2-0.
The Sox answered in the top of the second as Alex Verdugo got a base hit to left and shockingly JD Martinez drew a walk. Eric Hosmer weakly popped up to left but Christian Arroyo doubled to right to score both runners to tie the game. Reese McGuire got a base hit to left to put runners at the corners and Kike Hernandez drilled a base hit to right to score Arroyo. McGuire went to third on the hit and a wild pitch moved Hernandez to second, but Pham struck out swinging. Devers was intentionally walked to load the bases for Bogaerts and Xander naturally struck out swinging to kill the rally with the Sox barely ahead 3-2.
Hill recovered in the bottom of the second as Rodolfo Castro grounded out to short to start. Greg Allen and Bligh Madris both struck out swinging to end the inning.
Verdugo walked to start the top of the third before moving to second on a wild pitch. Martinez walked again but naturally Hosmer popped up weakly to left and Arroyo banged into a double play to end the inning. Jason Delay grounded out to short to start the bottom of the third before Newman also grounded out to short. Reynolds flied out to center to end the inning.
Verdugo drives in a run
Good work by Hill
Another run scored
Sawamura gets it done
Plawecki with the killshot
Sox win
Hero Arroyo
Reese McGuire was 1 for 3.
Rob Refsnyder walked and drove in a run as a pinch hitter.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 but walked.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as McGuire lined out to left to start. Hernandez and Pham both lined out to right to end the inning. Hill cruised in the bottom of the fourth as Chavis grounded out to short to start. Gamel flied out to left and Padlo hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fifth although Devers flied out to left to start. Bogaerts got a single to center and Verdugo doubled down the right field line to score Xander with another run. Martinez hit one up the elevator shaft and Hosmer popped up to right AGAIN to end the inning with Boston ahead 4-2.
Hill kept rolling in the bottom of the fifth although Castro ripped a base hit to right to start. Allen forced Castro at second and Madris struck out swinging before Delay grounded out to third to end the inning. Despite throwing just 57 pitches, Sox manager Alex Cora felt Hill had done enough. Apart from one mistake to Reynolds he was solid for 5 innings. He allowed just 3 hits and struck out 4.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the sixth as Arroyo grounded out to second to start. McGuire also grounded out to second and Hernandez struck out swinging to end the inning. Ryan Brasier dominated the bottom of the sixth as Newman, Reynolds and Chavis all went down hacking in short order.
Duane Underwood Jr relieved Conteras in the top of the seventh and Pham grounded out to second to start. Devers flied out to center and Bogaerts flied out to center to end the inning. Hiro Sawamura came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and naturally Hosmer booted a grounder by Gamel for an error to start. Thankfully Padlo hit into a double play and Castro struck out swinging to end the inning.
Verdugo tried to start a rally with a base hit to right to begin the top of the eighth but Martinez flied out to center. Eric Stout came in to pitch to Hosmer and Eric responded with a base hit to left. Arroyo poked a base hit to left and Sox manager Alex Cora pinch hit Rob Refsnyder for McGuire. The gamble worked as Refsnyder drew an 8 pitch, full count walk to score Verdugo. Hernandez struck out swinging and Pham forced Hosmer at home to end the inning with the Sox only up 5-2.
Cora did something out of character and sent Sawamura back out for the bottom of the eighth with Kevin Plawecki now behind the plate and Hiro responded by getting Allen to ground out to second to start. Madris lined out to second and Delay grounded out to short to end the inning. Good work by Sawamura.
Yohan Ramirez came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Devers led off with a double to center. Bogaerts grounded out to second but Verdugo drew a walk. Martinez walked to load the bases but once again Hosmer could do nothing but force Devers at home. Arroyo iced the game by smashing a base hit off the glove of Padlo to score Verdugo with another run. Plawecki made it a laughter with a base hit to right to score Martinez and Hosmer but Hernandez struck out swinging to end the inning with the game pretty much over, 8-3 Red Sox.
Jeurys Familia made his Red Sox debut to mop up the bottom of the ninth and Newman grounded out to short to start. Suddenly the Pirates sprang to life as Reynolds effortlessly singled to left, Chavis easily doubled to center and Gamel laughed as he ripped a base hit to center to score Reynolds. Both runners moved over on the Padlo grounder to third but Castro took strike three to end the game. The Sox had won it 8-3.
Hero of the Night is Christian Arroyo. He went 3 for 5 and drove in 3 runs including the game tying runs.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 3 for 3 with 2 walks, an rbi and 3 runs scored.
JD Martinez walked 3 times and scored twice in 5 plate appearances.
Reese McGuire was 1 for 3.
Rob Refsnyder walked and drove in a run as a pinch hitter.
Kevin Plawecki singled and drove in 2 runs in his only plate appearance.
Rich Hill got the win by tossing 5 innings of 2 run ball. He allowed just 3 hits and struck out 4.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Hiro Sawamura pitched two scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Tommy Pham was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Jeurys Familia allowed a run in the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Eric Hosmer was just 1 for 5 with an error but scored a run.
Kike Hernadez was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Its too bad it took until the middle of August for the role players to step up but better late than never. If Arroyo and Verdugo hit to their potential all season the Sox wouldn't be this far out of the playoff push. Then again if Alex Cora was willing to let his relievers go multiple innings when they were throwing gas, maybe they wouldn't have blown a thousand saves to this point. Beating up the Pirates isn't too exciting although this one feels like an accomplishment after what happened last night. For those that don't know, during the Red Sox broadcast last night Dennis Eckersley ripped the Pirates organization a new one for being cheap bastards that trot out bums night after night, year after year. A lot of people in Pittsburgh agreed but there were some that were mad, including some of the players. The fact the Sox stomped them anyway shows they may actually have the killer instinct after all. The Sox also got some good news from their farm as Triston Casas got a walkoff hit for Worcester, Marcello Mayer hit a go-ahead 3 run 8th inning home run for Greenville and James Paxton will be starting his rehab for the Florida Complex Red Sox soon. The Sox have some decisions to make regarding the roster when certain guys get back from injury but none of that is going to matter unless they can prove they can hang with the AL East beginning Friday night. The good news for the Sox is the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees stunned the Tampa Bay Rays with a walkoff 10th inning grand slam so the Sox gained ground on both of the losers. The win improved the Sox to 59-59, 4 games behind the Jays for the third wild card spot. The Sox look for a series sweep tomorrow night against the Pirates when they send Josh Winckowski (5-5, 4.69 ERA) up against JT Brubaker of Pittsburgh. The game begins at 7:05 PM at PNC Park.
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