As for the game, say hello to the hottest team in baseball heading into the All-Star break. The Boston Red Sox had swept the Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies coming into this series with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Sox won three straight games and needed one more to win 10 games in a row. They got it as timely hitting and great pitching by Brayan Bello (6-3, 3.14 ERA) kept the Sox in the game. An obstruction call on Marcelo Mayer and a Trevor Story rbi put the Sox ahead before Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two run shot to put the game away. Bello gave way to Justin Wilson, Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman to slam the door. Chapman blew away the side in the ninth as the Sox won 10 straight games and this one 4-1 at Fenway Park.
Bello got the ball in the top of the first and Chandler Simpson grounded out to short to start. Jonathan Aranda took strike three and Yandy Diaz lined out to right. Pepiot got the ball in the bottom off the first inning and Jarren Duran singled to center to start. Alex Bregman popped up to third and Duran got promptly picked off. Roman Anthony grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Jake Mangum grounded out to first to start the top of the second before Josh Lowe grounded out to second. Junior Caminero singled to left but Matt Thaiss flied out to right to end the inning. Masataka Yoshida grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second before Trevor Story flied out to right. Ceddanne Rafaela grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Rays goofed in the top of the third as Ha-Seong Kim flied out to right to start. Taylor Walls flied out to left but Story bobbled a grounder by Simpson for an infield single. Aranda was hit with a pitch but Diaz lofted a ball to Rafaela. Ceddanne dove and it looked like he made the catch, but he dropped it. Simpson pulled up thinking the ball was caught but then realized it wasn't. Before he could cross home plate, Aranda was thrown out at third to end the inning.
The Sox caught another break in the bottom of the third as Marcelo Mayer doubled to the bullpen wall to start. Romy Gonzalez grounded out to third and Connor Wong grounded out to second to move Mayer to third. Mayer looked like he was picked off, but third base umpire Scott Barry ruled that Caminero obstructed Mayer with his right leg so Marcelo was allowed to score. Duran walked but Bregman popped up to first to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
The lead lasted 8 seconds as Mangum doubled to left to start the top of the fourth. A wild pitch moved Mangum to third and he scored on the liner to right by Lowe. Caminero grounded out to third and Thaiss grounded out to second to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Anthony flied out to left to start the bottom of the fourth before Yoshida grounded out to first. Story got a base hit to left but Rafaela struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox bad defense reared its ugly head as Kim popped up to first to start the top of the fifth. Walls got a base hit to center and Bello booted a grounder by Simpson for an error. Aranda struck out swinging and Diaz popped up to right to end the inning. Mayer grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the fifth before Gonzalez grounded out to third. Somehow Wong got a seeing eye single into right but Duran struck out swinging to end the inning.
Mangum struck out swinging to start the top of the sixth and Lowe golfed a pop up to center. Caminero struck out swinging to end the inning. Bregman grounded out to short to start the bottom of the sixth but Anthony doubled off the top of the Monster. Anthony moved to third on the Yoshida grounder to first and scored on the Story line drive single off the Monster. Story promptly stole second and Rafaela smashed a home run that hit the top of the Monster and bounced into the seats. Mayer struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 4-1.
Bello returned for the top of the seventh and naturally Thaiss sliced a base hit to left to start. Kim managed to foul balls off both his legs before taking strike three. That was it for Bello who pitched a hell of a game, going 6 2/3 innings allowing 1 run without walking anyone. Justin Wilson came in and Walls grounded out to short to move Thaiss to second. Simpson grounded out to short to end the inning.
Ian Seymour came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh with Curtis Mead coming in for the beat up Kim. Gonzalez grounded out to short, Wong took strike three and Duran flied out to center to end the inning.
Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Aranda was called out on strike three on the outside corner to start. Diaz lined a base hit past Mayer and Mangum beat out an infield single to short. Lowe forced Mangum at second to put runners at the corners but Caminero struck out swinging to end the inning. Bregman got a base hit to center to start the bottom of the eighth but was forced at second by Anthony. Yoshida grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Aroldis Chapman came in to close out the top of the ninth and Christopher Morel pinch hit for Thaiss. Morel struck out swinging on a hanging slider and Chapman blew away Mead. Walls also struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had swept the series, won 10 straight and took the game 4-1.
Hero of The Night is Brayan Bello. He held the Rays to just 1 run in 6 1/3 innings allowing 6 hits and no walks while striking out 5.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Trevor Story was 2 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 1 for 3 with a 2 run home run.
Marcelo Mayer was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Connor Wong was 1 for 3.
Justin Wilson got the final 2 outs of the seventh inning.
Garrett Whitlock pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Aroldis Chapman earned his 17th save with a scoreless ninth.
The Bad:
Masataka Yoshida was 0 for 4.
Romy Gonzalez was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Alex Bregman was just 1 for 4.
Roman Anthony was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox are absolutely rolling heading into the All-Star break after winning 10 in a row. The pitching has been lights out and credit Alex Cora for finally letting the starters go longer. Bello going the distance last game and into the seventh today shortens the game tremendously. If and when Justin Slaten comes back, this bullpen might be one of the best in the game. Ceddanne Rafaela and Trevor Story have stepped up in the wake of Rafael Devers getting traded and the returns of Alex Bregman and Masataka Yoshida will give them two more contact hitters. The Sox are starting to develop an identity on offense and if they can avoid any more key injuries, they can come out of the gate firing this Friday in Chicago. The Sox were pretty much dead on June 29th but winning 13 out of 14 brought them back into the thick of things. There's still rumors of the Sox dealing Duran, Chapman and possibly Bregman, but winning cures everything. If the Sox come out of the break continuing to win, they might be buyers at the trade deadline in a few weeks. All in all it was a great win today and the Sox did what they had to do to get back in the race. The win improved the Sox to 53-45, 3 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. The Sox come out of the break this Friday taking on the Chicago Cubs in Chicago. Lucas Giolito (6-1, 3.36 ERA) takes on Colin Rea of the Cubs. The game begins at 2:20 PM at Wrigley Field.
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