The Sox wasted no time getting to Jordan Lyles in the top of the first inning. Tommy Pham walked to start before Alex Verdugo singled to center. Xander Bogaerts was hit with a pitch and Rafael Devers smashed a grand slam to put the Sox up big early. Trevor Story struck out swinging, JD Martinez grounded back to the mound and Christian Arroyo lined out to third to end the inning with the Sox up 4-0.
Wacha got the ball in the bottom of the first and Cedric Mullins struck out swinging to start. Adley Rutschman grounded out to short but Anthony Santander got a base hit to center. Ryan Mountcastle flied out to center to end the inning.
Kike Hernandez grounded out to third to start the top of the second before Kevin Plawecki got a base hit to left. Pham got hit with a pitch and both runners moved over on the Verdugo grounder to first. Bogaerts flied out to right to end the inning. Jesus Aguilar grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second and Gunnar Henderson grounded out to first. Ramon Urias grounded out to third to end the inning.
Kike Hernandez grounded out to third to start the top of the second before Kevin Plawecki got a base hit to left. Pham got hit with a pitch and both runners moved over on the Verdugo grounder to first. Bogaerts flied out to right to end the inning. Jesus Aguilar grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second and Gunnar Henderson grounded out to first. Ramon Urias grounded out to third to end the inning.
Devers lined out to left to start the top of the third and Story flied out to center. Martinez grounded out to first to end the inning. Austin Hays lined out to short to begin the bottom of the third before Jorge Mateo flied out to right. Mullins hit a home run all the way to Cameroon to cut the lead and Rutschman struck out swinging to end the inning with the O's down 4-1.
The Sox broke it open in the top of the fourth as Arroyo flied out to right to start. Hernandez doubled to left and Plawecki doubled to right to score Enrique. Pham flied out to right but Verdugo singled to right to score Plawecki. Bogaerts got a base hit to center to chase Lyles. Keegan Akin came in and Devers singled to center to score Verdugo. Story got a base hit to right to score Bogaerts but Devers was thrown out at third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-1.
Suddenly Tommy Pham keeled over in the dugout, had to be carried out on a stretcher, loaded into an ambulance and rushed to the local ICU with Abraham Almonte taking over for him. Santander struck out swinging to start and Mountcastle flied out to center. Aguilar popped up to second to end the inning.
Martinez doubled to left to start the top of the fifth and Arroyo clocked his 6th home run of the season to increase the lead. Hernandez singled to right but Plawecki lined out to short and Almonte grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox up 10-1.
The O's rallied in the bottom of the fifth as Henderson singled to center to start. Urias doubled to left but Hays lined out to second. Mateo hit a sac fly to left to score Henderson and Mullins singled to left to score Urias. Rutchsman struck out swinging to end the inning with the O's down 10-3.
Verdugo popped up to short to start the top of the sixth but Bogaerts walked. Devers struck out swinging and Joey Krehbiel came in to pitch to Story. Story struck out swinging to end the inning. Wacha returned for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth as Santander flied out to left to start. Mountcastle singled down the third base line but Aguilar struck out swinging. Henderson flied out to right to end the inning. Wacha had allowed 3 runs in 6 innings off 6 hits.
Martinez got a base hit to left to start the top of the seventh but Arroyo struck out swinging. Hernandez lined out to center and Plawecki grounded out to second to end the inning. Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Urias struck out swinging to start. Hays lined out right and it looked like Mateo beat out a grounder to short...not so fast! Sox manager Alex Cora challenged that Mateo was out and the call was overturned to end the inning.
Yennier Cano came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Almonte singled to center to start. Verdugo and Bogaerts both struck out swinging but Devers singled to center. Story got a base hit to left to score Almonte with another run. Martinez struck out swinging to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 11-1.
Matt Strahm came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth as Mullins struck out swinging to start. Rutschman grounded out to third and Ryan McKenna pinch hit for Santander. McKenna hit a routine pop up to second but Story put his glove on his right hand to make the catch and dropped it for an error. Mountcastle got a base hit to left to score McKenna and Aguilar popped up to second to end the inning with the O's down 11-4.
The floodgates opened in the top of the ninth with Terrin Vavra now at second base. Arroyo grounded back to the mound but Hernandez singled to center. Plawecki walked and Almonte got a base hit to right to score Hernandez. Verdugo grounded out to first to move the runners over and rookie Triston Casas pinch hit for Bogaerts and walked to load the bases. Connor Wong pinch hit for Devers and beat out a grounder to third to score Plawecki. Story walked with the bases loaded to score Almonte and Kyle Stowers came in to play right while McKenna himself took over on the mound. Martinez walked home Casas and Arroyo got a base hit to left to score Wong. Hernandez singled to right to score Story but Plawecki grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 17-4.
Eduard Bazardo came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Henderson flied out to left to start. Vavra got a base hit to left but Hays popped up to first, Mateo lined out to right to end the game. The Sox had won the game 17-4.
Hero of The Night is Rafael Devers. His first inning grand slam set the tone and the Sox never looked back.
Grand slam Hero
The Good:
Tommy Pham walked, was hit with a pitch and scored before leaving the game.
Abraham Almonte was 2 for 3 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 6 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch, walk and 2 runs scored.
Triston Casas walked and scored a run as a pinch hitter.
Connor Wong singled, drove in a run and scored a run as a pinch hitter.
Trevor Story was 2 for 5 with a walk, 3 rbis and a run scored.
JD Martinez was 2 for 5 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Christian Arroyo was 2 for 6 with a home run and 3 total rbis.
Kike Hernandez was 4 for 6 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Kevin Plawecki was 2 for 5 with a walk, rbi and 2 runs scored.
Michael Wacha got the win by tossing 6 innings of 3 run ball. He allowed 6 hits and struck out 5.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Eduard Bazardo pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Matt Strahm allowed an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth.
Final Thoughts:
This season has been a disaster but the Sox bats showed why they had one of the best offenses on paper. For one game anyway they lit up the O's the way they should have all season. Too bad Pham had to leave but Abraham Almonte had a heck of a game off the bench. The only real blemishes was Story's error and Mullins' home run. Wacha pitched another gutty game and its a shame he didn't last all year or else he might have had 17-20 wins. The Sox would have been better off if he pitched all year because they took a beating this year. The Sox aren't mathematically eliminated yet but its only a matter of time. Their June and July freefall proved to be fatal in the end. The only question is if the Sox pony up the cash to fix it in the off-season. Bogaerts, Martinez and Nathan Eovaldi are all free agents and the Sox are gonna need one if not two of them. The win improved the Sox to 68-72, good for last place in the AL East. The Sox look to take the series tomorrow afternoon against the Orioles when Rich Hill (6-6) takes on Kyle Bradish of Baltimore. The game begins at 1:05 PM at Camden Yards.
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