Who saw that coming? After managing conservative to the detriment of the team in April and May, suddenly Sox manager Alex Cora has let the starters off the hook. The Sox have now won 7 of their last nine games including their fifth win in a row today. Brayan Bello (3-1, 3.49 ERA) pitched his best game of the season, shutting out the New York Yankees for 7 innings. Meanwhile the Sox scratched out two runs against Yankees ace Max Fried. Trevor Story got a bloop single rbi in the bottom of the first and Rafael Devers pounded his 15th home run of the season. Brennan Bernardino ran into trouble in the top of the eighth but Garrett Whitlock got a key double play. Whitlock blew the Yankees away in the ninth inning and the Sox completed their three game sweep of the Yankees with a 2-0 victory at Fenway Park.
Bello got the ball in the top of the first inning and Trent Grisham doubled to the centerfield wall to start. Ben Rice popped up to a falling down Trevor Story. Aaron Judge was called out on a questionable strike three but Cody Bellinger walked on four pitches not even close. Jazz Chisholm Jr grounded out to second to end the inning. Fried got the ball in the bottom of the first and Anthony Volpe booted a grounder by Rob Refsnyder to start. Rafael Devers grounded out into a double play but Romy Gonzalez face planted on a scintillating triple into the right field corner. Trevor Story blooped a single over the head of Volpe to score Gonzalez to put the Sox on top. Abraham "El" Toro took strike three right down the middle to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Volpe grounded out to first to start the top of the second and Jasson Dominguez walked. JC Escarra walked but Oswald Peralza swung at strike three by his ears to end the inning. Jarren Duran struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Ceddanne Rafaela went down hacking as well. Connor Wong lined out to right to end the inning.
Grisham popped up to third to start the top of the third before Rice got a base hit to right. Judge struck out swinging but Bellinger singled off the glove of Bello. Bello picked off Bellinger to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the third as Kristian Campbell walked to start. Refsnyder got a base hit to left but Devers grounded into a double play. Gonzalez walked but Story took a curveball right down the middle for strike three to end the inning.
Chisholm walked to start the top of the fourth but Volpe grounded into a double play. Dominguez struck out swinging to end the inning. El Toro got a base hit to right to start the bottom of the fourth before Duran struck out swinging. Rafaela got a base hit to right but Wong grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Escarra grounded out to second to start the top of the fifth before Peraza was retired on a squibber in front of the plate. Grisham hit a routine grounder to second but Campbell threw himself on the ball and swam on it for an error. Rice flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fifth as Campbell grounded out to second to start. Refsnyder popped up to second but Devers bashed his 15th home run of the season to increase the lead. Gonzalez struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.
Bello dominated the top of the sixth as Judge struck out swinging to start. Bellinger struck out swinging and Chisholm took strike three to end the inning with Brayan at 101 pitches. Story struck out swinging to start the bottom of the sixth before Toro took strike three. Duran grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Bello somehow returned for the top of the seventh and Volpe grounded out to short to start. Dominguez popped up to second and Escarra took strike three to end the inning. Bello tossed 7 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 8.
Rafaela grounded out to short to start the bottom of the seventh before Wong struck out swinging. Campbell grounded out to third to end the inning.
David Hamilton came in to play second base with Brennan Bernardino now on the mound to start the top of the eighth. Paul Goldschmidt got a base hit to left and Grisham also got a base hit to left. DJ LeMahieu pinch hit for Rice and took strike three down the middle. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to face Judge and got him to ground into a double play to end the inning. Mark Leiter Jr came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Roman Anthony pinch hit for Refsnyder. Anthony grounded out to first but Devers walked. Mayer took strike three on the inside corner and Story struck out swinging on a pitch not even close to end the inning.
Whitlock returned to finish off the top of the ninth and Bellinger grounded out to second to start. Chisholm took strike three on the inside corner and Whitlock blew Volpe away on a 96 mph to end the game. The Sox had swept the Yankees with a 2-0 win.
Hero of The Night is Brayan Bello. He tossed 7 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 8 batters.
The Good:
Rob Refsnyder was 1 for 3.
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a walk and a home run.
Romy Gonzalez was 1 for 2 with a walk and a run scored.
Abraham Toro was 1 for 3.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 1 for 3.
Brennan Bernardino got the first out of the eighth inning.
Garrett Whitlock earned his first save of the season with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Roman Anthony was 0 for 1.
Marcelo Mayer was 0 for 1 with a strikeout.
Jarren Duran was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Connor Wong was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Trevor Story was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of three strikeouts but drove in a run.
Kristian Campbell was 0 for 2 with an error but walked.
Honorable Mention:
David Hamilton played second base in the final few innings.
Final Thoughts:
Who knew when the Sox got beat by the Los Angeles Angels on June 3rd that the Sox would go on a tear? The Sox have won 8 of 10 games since including 5 of 6 against the Yankees. The key has been the pitching. The starters have finally been allowed to go 6-7 innings and throw over 100 pitches. Crochet almost had a complete game shutout and Bello was dominant today. The Yankees were off-balance the entire day and Garrett Whitlock pitched great too. Moving forward the Sox have a chance to make a comeback this season but have some tough roster decisions to make. Someone has to go when Wilyer Abreu comes back and another when Alex Bregman comes back. Still, this was a big win against a first place team to get closer in the race. The Sox are only 1/2 game out of a playoff spot and still have half the season remaining. The Sox have a big west coast trip coming up and now they have momentum going into it. The win improved the Sox to 37-36, 6.5 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox now have a big west coast trip with their first stop in Seattle tomorrow night to play the Mariners. Lucas Giolito (2-1, 5.45 ERA) takes on Logan Gilbert of Seattle. The game begins at 9:40 PM Eastern time at T-Mobile Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment