Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. "Big" Dick Fitts was sent back to Worcester and Cooper Criswell was called up to take his place. Can't predict 3 starters being lost for the season but the Quinn Priester trade is looking REAL bad right now since all that pitching depth was supposed to prevent seeing the likes of Criswell again. Sox have 3 days to make a move or else they're going to have to go with this down the stretch.
As for the game, the Boston bats woke up for one game at least against the Minnesota Twins. The Twins called up Pierson Ohl to make his major league debut and the Sox jumped on him. Roman Anthony and Alex Bregman drove in runs before Trevor Story belted a two run home run to give the Sox a cushion. Lucas Giolito (7-2, 3.80 ERA) gave the Sox 6 much needed innings surrendering just one run in the process. Jarren Duran also went yard and Ceddanne Rafaela drove in runs but the Boston bullpen faltered again. Justin Wilson allowed a 2 run bomb to Brooks Lee but rbis from Story and Wilyer Abreu put the game away. Jorge Alcala allowed a 2 run home run in the ninth to Brooks Lee but Aroldis Chapman blew away Mickey Gasper to end it. The Sox had won the game 8-5 at Target Field.
Ohl got the ball in the top of the first inning and Roman Anthony struck out swinging to start. Alex Bregman struck out swinging and Jarren Duran had a stand up triple....but stopped at second base for no reason. Didn't matter anyway as Trevor Story struck out swinging to end the inning. The Twins wasted no time threatening Giolito in the in the bottom of the first as Trebor Larnach walked to start. Carlos Correa singled to center but Willi Castro struck out swinging. Royce Lewis lined out to left and Kody Clemens lined out to center to end the inning.
More ineptitude in the top of the second as Harrison Bader outright robbed Wilyer Abreu of a home run. Carlos Narvaez popped up to second and Abraham "El" Toro flied out to center to end the inning. Ty France grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second but Matt Wallner got a base hit to left. A wild pitch moved Wallner to second but Harrison Bader struck out swinging. Christian Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning.
Brooks Lee had to come in for Carlos Correa to start the top of the third and the Sox struck. David Hamilton grounded out to first but Ceddanne Rafaela tripled into the centerfield gap. Anthony struck a base hit to center to score Rafaela and Bregman drove a line drive to left, misplayed by Castro. Anthony scored and Bregman got a "double". Duran struck out swinging but Story belted his 16th home run of the season to increase the lead. Abreu walked but Narvaez lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox up 4-0.
Larnarch popped up to third to start the bottom of the third before Lee grounded out to first. Castro was rung up for strike three to end the inning.
Michael Tonkin came in to pitch the top of the fourth and Toro was hit with a pitch to start. Hamilton lined out to left, Rafaela lined out to center and Anthony grounded out to second to end the inning. Lewis grounded out to first to start the bottom of the fourth and Clemens flied out to right. France lined out to left to end the inning.
The Sox got another one in the top of the fourth although Bregman flied out to right to start. Duran clobbered his 10th home run of the season to increase the lead but Story struck out swinging. Abreu grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox up 5-0.
The Twins struck back in the bottom of the fifth as Wallner flied out to center to start. Bader got a base hit and Vazquez was hit with a pitch, but Larnach struck out swinging. Lee got a base hit to center...under the glove of Rafaela. Bader scored and the runners moved into scoring position. Castro grounded out to third to end the inning with the Twins down 5-1.
The Sox got that run right back in the top of the sixth against Kody Funderburk. Narvaez singled to left but Toro pounded a ground rule double down the right field line. Hamilton struck out swinging and Rafaela hit a sac fly to center to score Narvaez. Anthony walked but Bregman popped up to first to end the inning.
Lewis popped up to first to start the bottom of the sixth before Clemens popped up to second. France got a base hit to center and Wallner walked, but Bader went down hacking to end the inning. Giolito tossed 6 solid innings allowing 1 run off 5 hits and 2 walks.
Duran walked to start the top of the seventh and promptly stole second. Story grounded out to short and Abreu grounded out to second to move Duran to third. Narvaez grounded out to short to end the inning. Justin Wilson came in to vomit up his intestines in the bottom of the seventh as Vazquez flied out to left to start. Ryan Jeffers pinch hit for Larnach and got a base hit to center. Lee then hit a home run all the way to Aruba to cut the lead. Rafaela absolutely robbed Castro of a sure triple with a diving catch and Lewis struck out to end the inning with the Twins down 6-3.
Cole Sands came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Toro grounded out to first to start. Hamilton flied out to right and Rafaela grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Clemens got a base hit to right. France struck out swinging, Wallner struck out swinging and Bader popped up to short to end the inning.
The Sox got some insurance in the top of the ninth with Louis Varland on the mound. It looked like Anthony had beaten out a grounder to first, but the Twins challenged the call. Replays ruled Anthony out but Lewis booted a grounder by Bregman. Duran flied out to left but Story doubled to right to score Bregman. Abreu doubled to right to score Story and Narvaez grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 8-3.
Jorge Alcala was brought in to close out the bottom of the ninth and failed. Vazquez flied out to center but Story booted a grounder by Jeffers. Lee hit yet another home run all the way to New Mexico, but Castro struck out swinging. Lewis got a base hit to left and Sox manager Alex Cora had seen enough. Aroldis Chapman was summoned to finish it and Mickey Gasper pinch hit for Clemens. Chapman blew away Gasper on 3 pitches to end the game. The Sox had won it 8-3.
Hero of the Night is Lucas Giolito. The Sox desperately needed a good start to save the bullpen and he went 6 innings allowing just the 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks. He also struck out 5.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 2 for 4 with a home run, a stolen base, and a walk.
Trevor Story was 2 for 5 with a home run, 3 total rbis and 2 runs scored.
Abraham Toro was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 1 for 3 with an rbi and a run scored.
Garrett Whitlock pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Aroldis Chapman earned his 19th save by striking out Gasper to end it.
The Bad:
David Hamilton was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Justin Wilson allowed a 2 run home run in the seventh.
Jorge Alcala allowed a 2 run home run in the ninth.
The Ugly:
Roman Anthony was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked, drove in a run and sored a run.
Alex Bregman was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but scored two runs.
Wilyer Abreu was just 1 for 4 but walked and drove in a run.
Carlos Narvaez was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Once again this game was a half glass empty or full situation. The Sox bats woke up but pessimists can say they beat up a rookie making his debut and a bad bullpen. Still, you HAVE to win games like this and they got the job done. Now that the story has come out, the whole airplane thing and part of the bullpen woes came from the plane ride to Minnesota from Boston. Apparently the plane damn near crashed and the turbulence caused motion sickness to both Chapman and Whitlock. The Sox used it as a rallying cry any time they got on base tonight. Also explains why Whitlock and Chapman were absent last night. Fans were expecting the worse then Chapman left with a bad back on Sunday but he looks okay now. The most important part was the Sox built the lead rather than sit on it for once. They might have beat up on a bad team, but hopefully it woke them up. The Baltimore Orioles swept a doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays so the Sox gained some ground on the Jays. The Detroit Tigers also have been inconsistent lately so believe it or not, the Sox are literally 5 games out from the best record in the American League. This year is wide open and the Sox can blow the doors off the hinges by adding another starter at the trade deadline. Peyton Tolle and Connelly Early tore up Portland this season and Kyson Witherspoon might be a stud, but if the Sox want to win now, one of them must go. Unless they hope that Patrick Sandoval can magically appear out of thin air and save the season. They have 3 days left to figure it out. The win improved the Sox to 58-51, 5 games behind the Jays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to win the series tomorrow afternoon when Brayan Bello (6-5, 3.32 ERA) takes on Zebby Mathews of Minnesota. The game begins at 1:10 Eastern time at Target Field.
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