It was a great night for Boston sports. The Boston Celtics defeated the Philadelphia Sixers in Game 3 of their second round NBA playoff series and down the street the Boston Red Sox won their seventh straight game by taking down the Philadelphia Phillies. Chris Sale (3-2, 6.57 ERA) looked like his vintage self hitting 98 on the gun and holding the powerful Phillies offense to just 3 runs in 6 solid innings. The Sox broke out to a 3-0 lead before the Phillies tied it in the fourth inning. The Sox rallied for two runs in the top of the sixth with Jarren Duran scoring the go-ahead run off a sac fly from Triston Casas. The trio of Richard Bleier, Chris Martin and the returning Kenley Jansen slammed the door in the final innings to preserve the victory. The Sox had won their seventh straight game by beating the Phillies 5-3 at Citizens Bank Park.
The Sox wasted no time getting to Phillies starter Zach Wheeler in the top of the first inning as old buddy Kyle Schwarber dropped a routine pop up by Raimel Tapia for an error to start. Masataka Yoshida moved Tapia to third with a grounder to first but Justin Turner struck out swinging. Rafael Devers got a base hit to right to score Tapia to put the Sox on top. Jarren Duran flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Sale came out throwing gas in the bottom of the first as Schwarber flied out to right to start. Trea Turner popped up to first and Sale blew away Harper on a 98 mph fastball to end the inning.
Kike Hernandez struck out swinging to start the top of the second before Triston Casas lined out to second. Enmanuel Valdez dumped a base hit to center but Connor Wong struck out swinging to end the inning. Nick Castellanos got a base hit to right to start the bottom of the second but was thrown out at second by Tapia trying to stretch a double. JT Realmuto struck out swinging but Alec Bohm walked. Josh Harrison flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third as Tapia caught the Phillies asleep with a bunt single to start. Yoshida got a base hit to right to move Tapia to third and Raimel scored when Turner beat out a double play ball. Wheeler intentionally hit Devers but he was erased on the force by Duran. Hernandez stepped up with a base hit to left to score Yoshida. Casas grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.
Sale responded by hitting Edmundo Sosa to start the bottom of the third before a passed ball moved him to second. A pissed off Sale punched out Dalton Guthrie, Schwarber and Turner all swinging to end the inning.
Valdez grounded out to first to start the top of the fourth before Wong lined out to right. Tapia lined out to third to end the inning. Suddenly Sale fell apart in the bottom of the fourth as Harper singled past him to start. Castellanos doubled to left to score Harper and Realmuto tripled into the right field corner. Bohm singled to right to score Realmuto to tie the game then took second on a wild pitch. Harrison grounded out to third, Sosa struck out swinging and Guthrie struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
Yoshida grounded out to third to start the top of the fifth before Turner was called out on an automatic strike three. Devers struck out swinging to end the inning. Schwarber struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fifth but Turner singled to center. Turner moved to second on the Harper grounder to first but Castellanos struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox took command in the top of the sixth as Duran doubled to center to start. Hernandez blooped a single to center to put runners at the corners and Casas lifted a sac fly to center to score Duran. Connor Brogdon came in for Wheeler and Valdez smacked a base hit to right to score Hernandez. Valdez swiped second but Wong flied out to left. Tapia grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox up 5-3.
Sale returned for one last inning in the bottom of the sixth as
Gregory Soto came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Yoshida grounded out to short to start. Devers grounded out to third and Devers struck out swinging to end the inning. Richard Bleier came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Guthrie struck out swinging to begin. Schwarber grounded out to second but Devers did a back flip onto a Turner grounder for an error. Harper grounded out to second to end the inning.
Andrew Vasquez came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Duran struck out swinging to start. Hernandez flied out to center but Casas drew a walk. Christian Arroyo pinch hit for Valdez but Casas took second on a balk. Arroyo grounded out to third to end the inning. Chris Martin came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Castellanos grounded out to third to start. Realmuto lined out to right and Bohm also flied out to right to end the inning.
Wong grounded out to first to start the top of the ninth before Tapia struck out swinging. Yoshida got plunked and left the game forcing Alex Verdugo to run for him. Turner grounded out to third to end the inning. Kenley Jansen made his return to close out the bottom of the ninth with Bryson Scott pinch hitting for Harrison. Scott struck out swinging but Sosa singled to right. Brandon Marsh pinch hit for Guthrie and walked, but Schwarber struck out swinging. Turner struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-3.
Hero of the Night is Chris Sale. He returned to form by tossing 6 innings of 3 run ball while hitting 98 on the gun. He also struck out 10 batters.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Kike Hernandez was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Enmanuel Valdez was 2 for 3 with an rbi and a stolen base.
Richard Bleier pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Chris Martin tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
Kenley Jansen earned his seventh save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Connor Wong was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Raimel Tapia was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but scored 2 runs.
Masataka Yoshida was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Justin Turner was 0 for 5 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Triston Casas was 0 for 2 but walked and drove in a run.
Honorable Mention:
Alex Verdugo ran for Yoshida in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Don't look now but the Sox are red hot. They're getting offense from a balanced attack and Chris Sale had a bit of Dice K Disease but looked dominant for the first time in a long time. He was pumping 98 on the black and if he can stay healthy all year, at least they'd have their ace back. The rotation is going to be interesting to watch the next few weeks with James Paxton due to come off the injured list but it looks like Sale is going nowhere for now. As for the offense, its nice not having a black hole in the bottom of the order anymore. Valdez may not be showing the power he had in the minors but he's driving the ball all over the field. Same with Yoshida and Duran, not to mention the team speed with Jarren and Tapia. The Sox can run and hit....but it would be nice not to boot and throw the ball away. Still, when your only gripe is people making errors that are playing out of position to begin with, you know things are going well. Good to see Jansen back as well and once he shakes the rust off, that back end of the bullpen is going to be deadly. All in all it was a great win and they're rolling right now after winning 7 straight. The win improved the Sox to 20-14, 7.5 games behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it 8 straight wins and two in a row against the Phillies tomorrow night when Corey Kluber (1-4, 6.44 ERA) takes on Bailey Falter of Philadelphia. The game begins at 7:15 PM at Citizens Bank Park.
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