What a game! The Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals put on a show during today's makeup game after yesterday's rain-out. Sean Newcomb of the Red Sox held the Cardinals to just 1 run in his spot start but David Hamilton answered against Cards starter Andre Pallante. Rafael Devers bashed his first home run of the season but backup catcher Pedro Pages drove in a run off Justin Wilson to tie the game. In the top of the ninth, Garrett Whitlock allowed a 2 run double to Pages to seemingly finish it. Suddenly the Sox rallied against usually dominant closer Ryan Helsley. The Sox loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth and Devers walked in a run to tie it. Aroldis Chapman (2-0, 0.00 ERA) dominated the top of the tenth and Wilyer Abreu did the honors with a game winning double in the bottom of the frame. The Sox looked dead but came back to life to win it 5-4 in 10 innings at Fenway Park.
Newcomb got the ball in the top of the first inning and Laars Nootbaar walked to start. Ivan Herrera grounded into a double play and Wilston Contreras struck out swinging to end the inning. Pallante got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jarren Duran grounded out to third to start. Rafael Devers grounded out to short but Alex Bregman walked, Triston Casas struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Cards threatened in the top of the second as Nolan Arenado lined out to second to start. Luken Baker got a base hit to left and Jordan Walker got a base hit to right, but Thomas Saggese struck out swinging. Victor Scott Jr walked to load the bases but Masyn Winn struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the second as Trevor Story singled to center to start. Rob Refsnyder singled up the middle and Kristian Campbell walked to load the bases. Naturally David Hamilton struck out swinging and Connor Wong forced Story at home on a grounder to third. Duran forced Wong at second to end the inning. Bases loaded and nobody out, couldn't score.
Nootbaar popped up to third to start the top of the third but Herrera walked. Contreras took strike three on the inside corner but Arenado ripped a base hit down the third base line to move Herrera to third. Baker popped up to Casas in foul territory to end the inning. Pedro Pages came in to catch the bottom of the third and Devers struck out swinging to start. Bregman grounded out to short and Casas lined out to second to end the inning.
The Cards finally struck in the top of the fourth as Walker hit a grounder in the hole and Story threw the ball away for a "single". Saggese lined out to right but Scott singled off the Monster. Winn hit a seeing eye single past Casas to score Walker and move the runners into scoring position. Nootbaar popped up to short and Pages popped up to first to end the inning with the Cards up 1-0.
Story swung at strike three in the dirt to start the bottom of the fourth but Refsnyder drew a walk. Refsnyder looked picked off but somehow Contreras threw the ball away to move Rob to second on a "stolen base". Campbell struck out swinging but Hamilton ripped a base hit to right to score Refsnyder to tie the game. Hamilton swiped second but once again with men on base and 2 out, Wong struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Newcomb returned for the top of the fifth and immediately hit Contreras with a pitch. Arenado hit a double play ball to third but the ball got stuck in Hamilton's glove after Bregman's throw so it was ruled a force at second. Casas dropped a pop up by Baker in foul territory but Baker struck out swinging anyway. As usual Sox manager Alex Cora pulled a guy before he could finish the inning and that was it for Newcomb. He battled to allow just 1 run in 4 2/3 innings off 6 hits and 3 walks. Greg Weissert struck out Walker swinging to end the inning.
Duran grounded out to second to start the bottom of the fifth before Devers hit his first home run of the season into the Monster Seats to put the Sox on top. That was it for Pallante and Kyle Leahy came in to pitch to Bregman. Alex took strike three on the inside corner and Casas was rung up on a pitch that looked low to end the inning with the Sox up 2-1.
Justin Wilson came in to pitch the top of the sixth and immediately Saggase singled in the hole at second. Scott struck out swinging but Winn singled in the hole at third. Nootbaar flied out to center but Pages sliced a bloop ground rule double to score Saggase. Contreras grounded out to second to end the inning but the game was tied 2-2.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the sixth as Story grounded out to short to start. Refsnyder was rung up on a foul tip strike three and Campbell struck out swinging to end the inning.
Justin Slaten came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Arenado grounded out to third to start. Alec Burleson pinch hit for Baker and popped up to third. Walker struck out swinging to end the inning. JoJo Romero came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Romy Gonzalez pinch hit for Hamilton. Gonzalez got a seeing eye single into right but was thrown out at second trying to steal. Naturally with no one on Wong ripped a base hit to left. Duran struck out swinging and Wong was picked off to end the inning.
Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch the top of the eighth with Brendan Donovan pinch hitting for Saggese. Donovan flied out to right but Scott drew a walk. Winn was hit with a pitch but Nootbaar struck out swinging. Naturally Pages doubled off the Monster to score both runners to put the Cards up for good. Contreras struck out swinging but the Cards were up 4-2.
Devers led off the bottom of the eighth by grounding out to short and that was it for Romero. Phil Maton got Bregman to ground out to short and Casas grounded out to first to end the inning.
Whitlock returned for the top of the ninth and Arenado flied out to left to start. Burleson grounded out to second but Walker walked. Michael Siani ran for Walker but Donovan ripped a base hit to right. Donovan was thrown out at second by Refsnyder to end the inning. Ryan Helsley came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Story walked to bring the tying run to the plate. Wilyer Abreu pinch hit for Refsnyder and also walked to put the tying run at first. Campbell lined out to center but Gonzalez doubled off the Monster to score Story. With nobody else to pinch hit, Wong had to hit with men on base. Wong walked to load the bases and naturally Duran swung at air above his head for strike three. Devers on a full count to tie the game and Bregman had a chance to win the game. Bregman swung at strike three in the dirt to end the inning with the game tied 4-4.
Aroldis Chapman came in to pitch the top of the tenth with Donovan starting at second base. Scott was rung up on a check swing for strike three but Winn walked. Nootbaar flied out to left field warning track and Chapman blew away Pages with a 101 mph fastball to end the inning. Ryan Fernandez came in to pitch the bottom of the 10th with Bregman starting at second base. Casas was intentionally walked to set up the double play but Story popped up to second. Abreu then doubled off the Monster to score Bregman to win the game. The Sox had stole the game 5-4 at Fenway Park.
Hero of The Night is Wilyer Abreu. He walked to kept the ninth inning alive and won it in the 10th with a wall ball double.
The Good:
Rob Refsnyder was 1 for 2 with a walk, stolen base and a run scored.
David Hamilton was 1 for 2 with a stolen base and an rbi.
Romy Gonzalez was 2 for 2 with an rbi.
Connor Wong was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Sean Newcomb allowed 1 run in 4 2/3 innings allowing 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5.
Greg Weissert got the final out of the fifth inning.
Aroldis Chapman got the win with a scoreless 10th inning.
The Bad:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Justin Wilson allowed a run in the seventh inning.
Garrett Whitlock allowed 2 runs in two innings of work.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but hit a home run and walked in the tying run in the ninth.
Alex Bregman was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked and scored.
Triston Casas was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drew a walk.
Trevor Story was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored.
Kristian Campbell was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Red Sox analyst Lou Merloni called this "The week of Wilyer" and he's not kidding. The Sox looked dead in the water after Whitlock allowed a two run double to the backup catcher. The rally in the ninth showed this team has brass balls in order to never give up. The Cardinals are number one in baseball in hits and batting average and today showed why. Everything hit found a hole or the Monster and the Sox managed to survive this one anyway. Hats off to the offense who struggled all day but rose to the occasion when it mattered. Wong drew a key walk, Campbell drew a key walk and the much maligned Devers drew a key walk to tie it. The red hot Abreu finished the job and he's definitely had a good week. Aroldis Chapman also deserves some credit for getting out of the 10th with the ghost runner at second base. All in all it was a case of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and hopefully that carries over to the second game later. The Sox look to take Game 2 of this doubleheader in about two hours on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Hunter Dobbins makes his major league debut against Miles Mikolas of St. Louis. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment