Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. New papa Zack Kelly was placed on the Paternity List to celebrate the birth of his child and in his place the Sox called up Tyler Danish to take his place for tonight's game. Congratulations Zack.
As for the game, the good news was the Red Sox beat the crap out of the Texas Rangers. The bad news was they lost Nick Pivetta in the process. Pivetta came off the mound clutching his arm following the top of the third and left the game with the game tied 1-1. Tyler Danish (3-1, 3.90 ERA) and the Boston bullpen stepped up to not allow a run the rest of the game. Offensively the Sox employed a balanced attack to score 9 runs off Dallas Keuchel and the Texas bullpen. Kike Hernandez, Connor Wong and Christian Arroyo all drove in 2 runs apiece. JD Martinez, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers also knocked in a run. Who knows how long Pivetta is out but the Sox won the game 9-1 at Fenway Park.
Pivetta got the ball in the top of the first inning and Marcus Semien doubled to left to start. Corey Seager flied out to left but Nathaniel Lowe walked. It looked like Adolis Garcia grounded into a double play but Rangers manager Tony Beasley challenged that Semien was safe at third. The call was overturned but Jonah Heim took strike three to end the inning. Dallas Keuchel got the ball in the bottom of the first and Tommy Pham got a base hit to left to start. Alex Verdugo forced Pham at second but Xander Bogaerts doubled to center to score Verdugo. Rafael Devers walked but JD Martinez grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Bogaerts drives in a run
Leody Taveras flied out to right to start the top of the second before Kole Calhoun flied out to center. Ezequiel Duran grounded out to short to end the inning. Trevor Story took strike three to start the bottom of the second before Kike Hernandez flied out to center. Christian Arroyo struck out swinging to end the inning.
All of a sudden Pivetta started clutching his arm in the top of the third inning as Bubba Thompson got a base hit to left to start. Thompson took second then moves to third on the Semien grounder to short. Seager got a base hit inside the first base bag to score Thompson to tie the game. Lowe got a base hit to center but Garcia struck out swinging. Heim walked to load the bases but Taveras grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Pivetta had to come out of the game, get carried out on a stretcher, loaded into an ambulance and rushed to Mass General's ICU after 3 innings and 1 run allowed.
Pivetta leaves with injury
Hernandez drives in a run
Connor Wong grounded out to short to start the bottom of the third before Pham grounded out to second. Verdugo struck out swinging to end the inning.
Tyler Danish came in to pitch the top of the fourth and Calhoun grounded out to short to start. Duran grounded out to short but Thompson walked. Thompson was picked off to end the inning. The Sox iced the game in the bottom of the fourth as Bogaerts took strike three to start. Devers got a base hit to right and Martinez walked, but Story struck out swinging. Hernandez doubled to left to score Devers and Arroyo got a base hit to center. Taveras booted the ball to allow both Martinez and Hernandez to score. Wong struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 4-1.
Semien singled to right to start the top of the fifth and that was it for Danish. Matt Strahm came in to pitch and Seager lined out to right. Lowe flied out to center and Garcia popped up to first to end the inning. The Sox iced the game in the bottom of the fifth as Pham grounded out to second to start. Verdugo grounded out to first but Bogaerts walked. Devers doubled to center to score Bogaerts and Martinez singled to center to score Devers, taking second on the throw home. That was it for Keuchel as AJ Alexy came in to pitch to Story. Trevor singled in the hole at short to move Martinez to third and Hernandez doubled home JD to increase the lead. Arroyo lined out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 7-1.
Heim grounded out to third to start the top of the sixth before Taveras struck out swinging. Calhoun struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the sixth as Wong beat out a grounder to short to start.....but wait, Rangers manager Tony Beasley challenged that Wong was out. Sure enough, the umps overturned the call and Pham got a base hit to left. Verdugo took strike three but Bogaerts hit a ball to third. Duran threw the ball away for a single and an error to put both runners in scoring position. Devers walked to load the bases but Martinez grounded out to third to end the inning.
Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Duran popped up to second. Thompson grounded out to second and Semien struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the bottom of the seventh as Story hit one up the elevator shaft to start. Hernandez walked and moved to second on a grounder to short by Arroyo. Wong then belted his first career home run to increase the lead. Pham struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 9-1.
Kaleb Ort came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Seager popped up to third to start. Lowe doubled to left but Garcia lined out to third. Heim popped up to third to end the inning. Charlie Culberson came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Verdugo grounded out to second to start. Bogaerts also grounded out to second and Franchy Cordero pinch hit for Devers. Cordero walked and Martinez got a base hit to left, but Story flied out to left to end the inning.
Eduard Bazardo came in to close out the top of the ninth and Taveras lined out to center to start. Calhoun struck out swinging and Duran grounded out to short to end the game. The Sox had won it 9-1.
Bazardo closes it out
Hero of The Night is Kike Hernandez. His rbi double put the Sox up for good then drove in another run for good measure.
Hero Hernandez
The Good:
Tommy Pham was 2 for 5.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 2 with 2 walks, an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Franchy Cordero walked as a pinch hitter.
JD Martinez was 2 for 4 with a walk, rbi and 2 runs scored.
Nick Pivetta only allowed a run in 3 innings before he left with injury.
Tyler Danish got the win with a scoreless fourth inning.
Matt Strahm tossed 2 scoreless innings.
Ryan Brasier tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
Kaleb Ort pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Eduard Bazardo tossed a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run.
Trevor Story was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Christian Arroyo was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in 2 runs.
Connor Wong was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but hit his first two run homer.
Final Thoughts:
The bad news was the Sox lost Pivetta who hasn't missed a start all season but the good news was THIS is the offense the Sox hoped for after the trade deadline. Yes, losing Eric Hosmer wasn't ideal but the addition of Pham to go with Devers, Bogaerts and Martinez along with the returns of Story and Hernandez gave the Sox a 1-6 as good as anyone. The trade of Christian Vazquez was for the future but the team is in the hands of Connor Wong now. He hit a home run tonight and hopefully it was the first of many. The bullpen stepped up big time in tonight's game after Pivetta left in the third inning. Danish, Strahm tossed 6 scoreless innings to preserve the win. The offense is going to be there but they can't outslug every team, every game. Hopefully Pivetta will be okay because they're going to need him with 29 games remaining. The win improved the Sox to 65-68, 7 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the second wild card. The Sox look to win their fourth game in a row and third against the Rangers tomorrow afternoon when Brayan Bello (0-4) takes on Dennis Santana of Texas. The game begins at 4:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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