For six innings it looked like the Boston Red Sox would cruise to an easy victory against the Cleveland Guardians. Rafael Devers hit a three run home run to support Brayan Bello, who tossed 5 innings of 1 run ball. Then Sox manager Alex Cora blew the lead beginning in the top of the seventh when he sent in Richard Bleier, Ryan Brasier and John Schreiber. Andres Gimenez hit a home run off Bleier before Brasier left the bases loaded. Schreiber gave up a 3 run double to Josh Naylor and Kenley Jansen gave up the tying run in the top of the ninth. After Enmanuel Valdez left the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, the Guardians took the lead against Brennan Bernardino in the top of the 10th. Then Christian Arroyo drove home Valdez in the bottom of the tenth and Alex Verdugo drove Christian in to win the game. The Sox had beaten the Guardians 8-7 in ten innings at Fenway Park.
Bello got the ball in the top of the first inning and Steven Kwan lined a base hit past Enmanuel Valdez to start. Amed Rosario grounded into a double play but Jose Ramirez lashed a base hit to right. Josh Naylor struck out swinging on a changeup to end the inning. Plesac got the ball in the bottom of the first and Alex Verdugo doubled high off the Monster on the first pitch. Masataka Yoshida drew a four pitch walk but Justin Turner struck out swinging on a slider. Rafael Devers then crushed his 10th home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Jarren Duran grounded back to the mound and Raimel Tapia popped up to third to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.
The Guardians started the comeback in the top of the second as Josh Bell hit a home run all the way to Scranton to cut the lead. Oscar Gonzalez grounded out to third and Andres Gimenez struck out swinging before Bello blew away Mike Zunino to end the inning with the Guardians down 3-1.
Bello takes Bello deep
Enmanuel Valdez grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the second before Rosario made a great play to rob Christian Arroyo of a hit. Connor Wong stroked a base hit to center but Verdugo grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Myles Straw lined out to center to start the top of the third before Kwan grounded out to second. Rosario struck out swinging on a nasty slider to end the inning. Yoshida slapped a base hit off the Monster but was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. Turner grounded out to short and Devers grounded out to second to end the inning.
Ramirez ripped a base hit to center to start the top of the fourth but was thrown out trying to steal. Naylor blooped a single to right and stole second on the swinging strikeout by Bell. Bello blew away Gonzalez on a 97 mph fastball to end the inning. Duran flied out to the left field warning track to start the bottom of the fourth before Tapia doubled off the Monster. Valdez also doubled off the Monster to score Tapia with another run. Ex-Sox pitching coach Carl Willis had a chat with Plesac and Arroyo ripped a base hit up the middle to score Valdez. Wong dumped a base hit to left to chase Plesac from the game. Xzavion Curry came in and Verdugo moved the runners over with a grounder to first. Yoshida grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 5-1.
Way to go Valdez
Gimenez flied out to left to start the top of the fifth before Zunino grounded out to second. Straw drew a full count walk and Bello started clutching his hand. His index finger was bleeding from a hangnail and Kwan walked. Sox pitching coach Dave Bush sprinted to the mound to tell Bello that Rick & Morty was on in the clubhouse and Brayan got so excited that he got Rosario to ground back to him to end the inning. That was it for Bello who Sox manager Alex Cora didn't want to risk hurting any further. He threw 84 pitches and allowed just 1 run in 5 innings of work.
Turner popped up to center to start the bottom of the fifth before Devers grounded a single up the middle. Duran popped up to third in foul territory but Tapia sliced a base hit to left. Valdez struck out swinging to end the inning.
Richard Bleier came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Ramirez hit a bullet...right to Devers for an out. Naylor beat out a grounder to third but Bell lined out to a running Duran. Gonzalez hit a bullet...also right to Devers to end the inning. Arroyo got a seeing eye single up the middle to start the bottom of the sixth before Wong ripped a base hit to left. Verdugo flied out to center but Arroyo went to third to put runners at the corners. Wong took off for second and Zunino threw the ball away allowing Arroyo to score and Wong to take third. Yoshida hit a bullet but right at Naylor and Turner flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 6-1.
The Guardians stormed back in the top of the seventh as Gimenez bashed a home run off the Pesky Pole to start. That was it for Bleier and Ryan Brasier was brought in to pour gas on the fire. Zunino grounded out to second but Straw walked. Kwan got a base hit to left but Brasier got Rosario to strike out swinging on a good slider. Ramirez walked on four pitches not even close and that was it for Brasier who left the bases loaded for John Schreiber. Naturally Naylor ripped a double down the right field line to clear the bases. Bell grounded out to second to end the inning but the Guardians were back in it down 6-5.
Enyel De Los Santos came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Devers took strike three to start. Duran flied out to left and Tapia grounded out to second to end the inning.
Josh Winckowski came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Will Brennan pinch hit for Gonzalez. Brennan grounded out to second, Gimenez grounded out to first and Zunino grounded out to third to end the inning. James Karinchak came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Valdez flied out to right to start. Arroyo walked but Wong took strike three. Verdugo flied out to left to end the inning.
Kenley Jansen came in to close out the top of the ninth but Straw whacked a base hit to right to start. Straw stole second as Arroyo had to eat a ball by Kwan to make sure he didn't go to third. Rosario took strike three but Ramirez got a base hit to center to score Straw. Naylor flied out to left and Bell flied out to right to end the inning with the game tied 6-6.
Eli Morgan came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Yoshida popped up to short to start. Turner singled to right but was forced at second by Devers. Duran singled to right to move Devers to third and Tapia walked to load the bases. With a chance to win....Valdez flied out to right to end the inning.
Naturally the Guardians scored in the top of the tenth with Brennan Bernardino now on the mound. Gabriel Arias ran for Bell at second but Brennan grounded out to third to start. Gimenez struck out swinging but Zunino ripped a base hit to left to score Arias with the go-ahead run. Straw singled off the glove of Valdez but Kwan struck out swinging to end the inning with the Guardians up 7-6.
The Sox answered in the bottom of the tenth against closer Emmanuel Clase with Valdez starting at second base. Arroyo smashed a base hit to center to score Valdez with the tying run. Wong dropped down a bunt to move Arroyo to second and Christian took third on a passed ball by Zunino. Verdugo slapped a base hit through the pulled in infield at short to score Arroyo with the winning run. The Sox had won it 8-7 in 10 innings.
Hero of the Night is Christian Arroyo. He knocked in the tying run and scored the winning run.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 6 with an rbi and a run scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 5 with a 3 run homer.
Raimel Tapia was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Connor Wong was 3 for 4 with a stolen base.
Brayan Bello tossed 5 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out six.
Josh Winckowski tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Richard Bleier allowed a run in a full inning of work.
Ryan Brasier was charged with 3 runs in 2/3 of an inning.
Kenley Jansen allowed a run in the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
Masataka Yoshida was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored.
Justin Turner was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 5.
Enmanuel Valdez was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but drove in a run and scored twice.
John Schreiber allowed 3 inherited runners to score in 1/3 of an inning.
Brennan Bernardino got the win by allowing a ghost runner to score in the tenth inning.
Final Thoughts:
Can't say the 2023 Red Sox aren't fun to watch. They may be frustrating like blowing a 6-1 lead with 9 outs to go but winning the game anyway at least shows they have balls. Bello looked good for the first time all season but the offense breaking out for 16 hits was a big help. There's absolutely no excuse for Brasier to be on the roster anymore. He's washed up and everyone knows it. They got Jake Faria and Ryan Sherriff in Worcester that can do what he and Kaleb Ort are doing. Brasier was nails in 2018 but that was 5 years ago. Schreiber is also becoming a concern because he was sitting at 97 last year and he's down to 95 this year. The Sox may be a .500 team but at least they're watchable. Hopefully the bottom of the offense, namely Duran and Yoshida can keep producing to help Verdugo, Turner and Devers. Once Trevor Story comes back, that could be a deadly 1-6 if Yoshida can continue to learn how to hit ML pitching. All in all a walkoff win is always fun and hopfully the Sox can keep the momentum going. The Sox end the month of April tomorrow afternoon in the rubber game against the Guardians. Chris Sale (1-2, 8.22 ERA) looks to bounce back against Logan Allen of Cleveland. The game begins at 1:35 PM.
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