It was good news all around as the Boston Celtics defeated the Atlanta Hawks in Game 2 of their first round NBA playoff series and the Boston Red Sox walked off the Minnesota Twins. Well, that was weird. For seven innings it looked like the Twins were going to hang another frustrating loss on the Red Sox. Chris Sale pitched his best game of the season going six solid innings while allowing just 1 run. The problem was his counterpart Sonny Gray matched him for five innings. Things looked bleak when Max Kepler hit a bomb off Josh Winckowski in the top of the seventh but the Sox took advantage of more bad defense to score the tying run in the bottom of the eighth. The Twins got two runs in the tenth inning off John Schreiber but Reese McGuire saved the day with a 2 run single to left to tie the game. Two batters later, Alex Verdugo smashed a ball that looked foul but somehow glanced just over the foul line for a walkoff base hit to win the game. The Sox had beaten the Twins 5-4 in 10 innings at Fenway Park.
Sale got the ball in the top of the first inning and Donovan Solano struck out swinging to begin. Carlos Correa singled to left but Byron Buxton and Jose Miranda struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time getting to Sonny Gray in the bottom of the second as Alex Verdugo doubled to right to begin. Rafael Devers rifled a base hit to center to score Verdugo and Justin Turner hit a little roller to third. Miranda threw the ball away allowing Devers to reach third but the rally ended as Masa Yoshida grounded out to second. Kike Hernandez and Triston Casas both looked at strike three right down the middle to end the inning with the Sox only up 1-0.
Kyle Garlick struck out swinging to start the top of the second before old friend Christian Vazquez struck out swinging. Michael Taylor was hit but Max Kepler struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the second as Connor Wong struck out swinging to start. Jarren Duran pounded a ground rule double into the bullpen but Yu Chang grounded out to short. Alex Verdugo singled in the hole at second to move Duran to third and Devers was walked to load the bases. Turner struck out swinging to end the inning with 5 men left on base so far.
Will Castro struck out swinging to start the top of the third before Solano grounded out to third. Correa walked but Buxton forced him at second to end the inning. Yoshida flied out to center to start the bottom of the third before Hernandez popped up to short. Casas struck out swinging to end the inning. Apart from Verdugo, Devers, Turner and Duran, nobody else in the lineup was hitting better than .178, pathetic.
Sale dominated the top of the fourth as Miranda grounded out to short to start. Garlock flied out to left and Vazquez took strike three to end the inning. Wong shocked the world by smacking a double to left to start the bottom of the fourth before moving to third on the grounder to short by Duran. Chang flied out to center but Verdugo walked. With a chance to break the game open....Devers popped up to short to end the inning with the Sox up to 7 men left on base.
The Twins struck back in the top of the fifth as Taylor walked to start. Kepler was hit with a pitch and Castro caught Sale asleep with a bunt to load the bases with nobody out. Solano struck out swinging but Correa scored Taylor with a sac fly to left. Buxton forced Castro at second to end the inning but the game was tied 1-1.
Turner tried to start a rally with a base hit to center to start the bottom of the fifth but Yoshida lined out to left. Hernandez took strike three and Casas struck out swinging to end the inning.
Sale returned for one last inning in the top of the sixth as Miranda struck out swinging to start. Garlick flied out to right but Vazquez singled to center. Taylor struck out swinging to end the inning. That was it for Sale who looked much improved tonight. He tossed 6 innings of 1 run ball allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 11.
Jorge Lopez took over for Gray in the bottom of the sixth and Wong grounded out to second to start. Duran struck out swinging and Chang grounded out to short to end the inning.
Josh Winckowski came in to pitch the top of the seventh inning and Kepler instantly greeted him with a home run all the way to the Azores to start. Edouard Julien pinch hit for Castro and took strike three before Solano struck out swinging. Correa popped up to first to end the inning with the Twins up 2-1.
Trevor Larnach took over for Garlick, Nick Gordon replaced Julien and Caleb Thielbar came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh. Verdugo grounded out to second but Devers doubled to left. Turner grounded out to short to move Devers to third but Yoshida grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Buxton walked to start the top of the eighth but Miranda flied out to left. Larnach struck out swinging and Vazquez grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox got a break in the bottom of the eighth with Griffin Jax now on the mound. Hernandez got a base hit to right but Casas struck out swinging. Reese McGuire pinch hit for Wong and hit a routine grounder to third......DROPPED BY SOLANO! Hernandez went to third on the play as Duran hit another grounder to Gordon. Gordon tried to nail Hernandez at home but Kike was safe to tie the game. Raimel Tapia pinch hit for Chang and struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Kenley Jansen came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Taylor struck out swinging to start. Kepler went down hacking and Gordon flied out to center to end the inning. Jhoan Duran came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Devers struck out swinging to start. Turner went down hacking and Yoshida grounded out to third to end the inning.
Rob Refsnyder came in to play right with John Schreiber in to pitch the top of the tenth with Gordon starting at second base for Minnesota. Solano was hit with a pitch and Correa walked to load the bases. Buxton scored Gordon with a sac fly to right and Miranda scored Solano with a grounder to first. Larnach flied out to center to end the inning with the Twins up 4-2. It didn't look good.
Twins take command
Jovani Moran came in to pitch the bottom of the tenth with Kutter Crawford of all people pinch running for Schreiber at second to start. Hernandez swung and missed at strike three but the ball got away allowing Crawford to reach third and Hernandez first. Casas walked to load the bases and McGuire ripped a base hit to left to score Crawford and Hernandez to tie the game. Duran got a base hit to center to reload the bases but Refsnyder grounded into 5-3 double play when Casas was tagged out. Verdugo then launched a ball deep to right that looked to have gone foul......BUT IT WAS FAIR! The ball just barely hit the foul line for a "single" that scored McGuire to win the game. The Sox had walked it off 5-4 in 10 innings.
Hero of the Night is Alex Verdugo. His walkoff hit won the game
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with a walk and an rbi.
Justin Turner was 2 for 5.
Kutter Crawford scored a run as a pinch runner.
Connor Wong was 1 for 3.
Reese McGuire was 1 for 2 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Jarren Duran was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
Chris Sale pitched great, tossing 6 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 11 batters.
Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Masa Yoshida was 0 for 5.
Yu Chang was 0 for 3.
Raimel Tapia struck out as a pinch hitter.
Rob Refsnyder was 0 for 1 at the plate.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of three strikeouts but scored two runs.
Triston Casas was 0 for 4 with a golden sombrero of 4 strikeouts but walked.
Josh Winckowski allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
John Schreiber vultured the win by allowing 2 ruins in the tenth inning.
Final Thoughts:
After the game Verdugo nearly got himself fined by saying on live television "Please f***kin stay fair!" as Sox fans celebrated. Almost ten years to the day of the infamous David Ortiz "This is our f***in city!" speech. All curse words aside, this was a hell of a balsy win by the Sox. They were down 2-1 and tied it up before going down 4-2 before tying it again. The most encouraging signs were not only Chris Sale looking like himself again but Jarren Duran looking like he figured out to hit. If he can finally show the promise he had in 2021, the Sox might be in good shape offensively moving forward. Hopefully this wasn't a rare performance by Sale as he looked legitimate for the first time in two years. If he's back to his normal self, even more good news for the Sox coming off the heels of Garrett Whitlock's gem and Kutter Crawford's performance last night. Now if only Triston Casas gets his head out of his ass, this team would be much better off. Speaking of turning it around, Corey Kluber (0-3) takes the mound tomorrow night looking to rebound against these same Twins against Joe Ryan of Minnesota. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
After the game Verdugo nearly got himself fined by saying on live television "Please f***kin stay fair!" as Sox fans celebrated. Almost ten years to the day of the infamous David Ortiz "This is our f***in city!" speech. All curse words aside, this was a hell of a balsy win by the Sox. They were down 2-1 and tied it up before going down 4-2 before tying it again. The most encouraging signs were not only Chris Sale looking like himself again but Jarren Duran looking like he figured out to hit. If he can finally show the promise he had in 2021, the Sox might be in good shape offensively moving forward. Hopefully this wasn't a rare performance by Sale as he looked legitimate for the first time in two years. If he's back to his normal self, even more good news for the Sox coming off the heels of Garrett Whitlock's gem and Kutter Crawford's performance last night. Now if only Triston Casas gets his head out of his ass, this team would be much better off. Speaking of turning it around, Corey Kluber (0-3) takes the mound tomorrow night looking to rebound against these same Twins against Joe Ryan of Minnesota. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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