Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Masataka Yoshida was finally removed from the Injured List to make his season debut. Nate Eaton was sent down to Worcester to clear room for Yoshida. Eaton had a couple of good hits during this recent stretch so thanks for the contributions.
As for the game, the Sox did what they had to do. They had 10 games against the Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies staring them in the face...and won 9 of them. Tonight the Sox swept the hapless Rockies on the back of another late inning offense surge and shutdown pitching by Lucas Giolito (6-1, 3.36 ERA). Giolito held the Rockies to just 4 hits in six shutout innings. Meanwhile the Sox beat up Antonio Senzatela and the Rockies bullpen for 15 hits and 10 runs. Carlos Narvaez set the tone with a second inning home run and Masataka Yoshida made his reutrn with an rbi in the fourth. The floodgates opened as Wilyer Abreu hit a two run shot, Romt Gonzalez hit a two run home run and Jarren Duran hit another 3 run bomb. The only blip was Isaiah Campbell giving up a two run jack to Kyle Farmer. It all added up to winning 9 out of 10, 6 in a row and tonight's game 10-2 at Fenway Park.
Giolito got the ball in the top of the first inning and Tyler Freeman grounded out to second to start. Jordan Beck singled to left but Ryan McMahon struck out swinging. The alert Carlos Narvaez gunned down Beck trying to steal to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the first against Senzatela as Jarren Duran's routine grounder up the middle turned into a double and an error by Yanquiel Fernandez to move Jarren to third. Roman Anthony was hit with a pitch but Trevor Story struck out swinging and Wilyer Abreu grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Michael Toglia struck out swinging to open the top of the second inning and Brenton Doyle flied out to right. Orlando Arcia grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second as Carlos Narvaez belted his 8th home run of the season to put Boston on top. Masataka Yoshida got his first at-bat since September 2024 and got a base hit to center. Romy Gonzalez flied out to center and Marcelo Mayer forced Yoshida at second. David Hamilton lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Fernandez grounded out to first to start the top of the third before Kyle Farmer grounded out to short. Austin Nola struck out swinging to end the inning. Duran walked to start the bottom of the third but Anthony lined out to right. Story banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox defense came up big in the top of the fourth as Freeman got a base hit to center to start. Beck flied out to center and McMahon did the same, but Toglia doubled off the Monster. Duran fired the ball back to Story who gunned down Freeman at home to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fourth as Abreu lined out to center to start. Narvaez doubled to right and took third on a balk. Yoshida tied Connor Wong for his season total in rbis with a base hit to right to score Carlos. Gonzalez struck out swinging but Mayer got a base hit to center. Hamilton flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Doyle struck out swinging to start the top of the fifth before Arcia took strike three. Fernandez flied out to right to end the inning. The Sox struck in the bottom of the fifth as Duran struck out swinging to start. Anthony got a base hit to left but Story popped up to third. Abreu mashed his 18th home run of the season to double the lead, but Narvaez flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 4-0.
Farmer grounded out to third to start the top of the sixth before Nola lined out to center. Freeman got a base hit past Giolito but Beck struck out swinging to end the inning. That was it for Giolito who tossed shutout ball through six innings allowing just 4 hits while striking out six.
Ryan Rolison came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Yoshida grounded out to second to start. Gonzalez walked and moved to second on the grounder to first by Mayer. Hamilton stepped up with a base hit to right to score Romy with another run. Duran grounded back to the mound to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 5-0.
Jorge Alcala came in to pitch the top of the seventh and McMahon popped up to short to start. Toglia struck out swinging and Doyle grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Tyler Kinley came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Anthony lined out to left to start. Story doubled to left but Abreu struck out swinging. Narvaez flied out to center to end the inning.
The Rockies struck back against Isaiah Campbell making his season debut in the top of the eighth. Arcia grounded out to third before Fernandez got a base hit to left. Farmer hit a home run all the way to Brazil to cut the lead. Nola flied out to right and Freeman grounded out to short to end the inning with the Rockies down 5-2.
The Sox blew the game open against Seth Halvorsen in the bottom of the eighth as Yoshida hit a ground rule double into the right field stands to start. Gonzalez then pounded his fifth home run of the season to get the five run lead back. Mayer singled to left, Hamilton walked and Duran clobbered his 8th home run of the season to put the game out of reach. That was it for the incompetent Halvorsen as Jimmy Herget got the ball. Anthony got a base hit to right but Story struck out swinging. Abreu grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 10-2.
Beck got a base hit to left to start the top of the ninth but McMahon grounded into a double play. Toglia singled to left but Doyle lined out to right to end the game. The Sox had won it 10-2.
Sox win
Hero of The Night is Lucas Giolito. He tossed 6 shutout innings allowing just 4 hits while striking out six batters.
The Good:
Jarren Duram was 2 for 4 with a walk and a 3 run home run.
Roman Anthony was 2 for 4 with a hit by pitch and a run scored.
Carlos Narvaez was 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 total runs scored.
Mastaka Yoshida was 3 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Romy Gonzalez was 1 for 3 with a walk, a 2 run home run and 2 total runs scored.
Marcelo Mayer was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
David Hamilton was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Jorge Alcala pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
The Bad:
Isaiah Campbell allowed 2 runs in 2 innings of work.
The Ugly:
Trevor Story was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Wilyer Abreu was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but the one hit was a 2 run home run.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox had to beat up on the bad teams and they did just that. They've won 9 out of 10 games to get back in the race but now they are staring at the Tampa Bay Rays with third place on the line heading into the all-star break. The Sox took advantage of bad teams but at least they built momentum the last two weeks. The Sox have Walker Buehler, Brayan Bello and Garrett Crochet lined up for Tampa with a wild card on Friday night. It might be Hunter Dobbins, it might be Cooper Criswell, it might even be Jordan Hicks. Still, Giolito continues to be everything they could have asked for out of a fourth starter and hopefully his arm holds up the rest of the season. The offense was great but....its Colorado. Now the hard part starts and we'll see what the Sox are made of. The win improved the Sox to 49-45, 5.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. The Sox now have four huge games with the Rays before the All-Star break. Taking 3 of 4 would vault them into the second wild card. Walker Buehler (6-6, 6.25 ERA) has to step up tomorrow night against Taj Bradley of Tampa. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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