Maybe things are starting to turn around for the Boston Red Sox. After being held in check for pretty much the first two weeks, the much maligned Boston bats broke out the last two games, including this one. Today the Sox took their frustrations out on the St. Louis Cardinals. Willson Contreras and Trevor Story were the stars of this one, both going 4 for 5 with a combined 5 rbis. The team as a whole pounded out 12 hits and 9 runs for their best output of the season. Meanwhile Brayan Bello (1-1, 6.14 ERA) produced his best start of the season, holding the Cards to 2 runs in 6 2/3 innings sacrificing swing and miss for ground ball outs. Danny Coulombe and Zack Kelly slammed the door and the Sox had taken 2 of 3 from St. Louis and 4 of their last 6, winning this game 9-3 at Busch Stadium.
The Sox wasted no time getting to St. Louis starter Andre Pallante in the top of the first Roman Anthony flied out to left to start. Caleb Durbin was hit with a pitch but Jarren Duran struck out swinging. Willson Contreras launched his third home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Wilyer Abreu struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.
Bello got the ball in the bottom of the first and JJ Wetherholt lined out to center to start. Ivan Herrera grounded out to short and Alec Burleson grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox got another run in the top of the second inning as Trevor Story got a base hit to right to start. Marcelo Mayer ripped a base hit to left but Connor Wong popped up to second. Ceddanne Rafaela was hit with a pitch to load the bases and Anthony grounded out to third to score Story. Durbin grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.
The Cards struck back in the bottom of the second as Jordan Walker hit a home run all the way to the moon to cut the lead. Nolan Gorman struck out swinging, Ramon Urias grounded out to second and Jose Fermin grounded out to short to end the inning with the Cards down 3-1.
Duran grounded out to second to start the top of the third but Contreras dumped a base hit to left. Abreu flied out to right but Story got a base hit to right to move Willson to third. Mayer grounded out to second to end the inning. Thomas Saggese grounded out to first to start the bottom of the third and Victor Scott grounded out to short. Wetherholt grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Sox broke it open in the top of the fourth as Wong got a base hit to center to start. Rafaela got a base hit to left but Anthony lined out to left. Durbin walked to load the bases and Duran cleared them with a double to center. Contreras singled to left to score Duran but Abreu grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox up 7-1.
Herrera lined a base hit past Story to start the bottom of the fourth but Burleson popped up to short. Walker popped up to second and Gorman flied out to center to end the inning.
Story lined a base hit to left to start the top of the fifth but Mayer flied out to left. Wong popped up to first and Rafaela grounded out to third to end the inning. Urias walked to start the bottom of the fifth and Fermin lined a seeing eye single into left. Saggese grounded into a double play and Scott grounded out to first to end the inning.
George Soriano came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Anthony grounded out to short to start. Durbin lined out to right and Duran struck out swinging to end the inning. The Cards fought back in the bottom of the sixth as Wetherholt grounded out to third to start. Herrera walked, Burleson singled to right and Walker got a base hit to center to load the bases. Gorman hit a sac fly to center to score Herrera but Urias grounded out to short to end the inning with the Cards down 7-2.
Jared Shuster came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Contreras got a base hit in the hole at third to begin. Abreu popped up to short but Story grounded out to third to move Willson to second. Mayer grounded out to first to end the inning. Bello returned for the bottom of the seventh and Fermin took strike three to start. Saggese grounded out to third but Scott ripped a base hit to left to chase Bello. He allowed 2 runs in 6 2/3 innings off 6 hits and 2 walks. Danny Coulombe came in and Wetherholt flied out to right to end the inning.
Wong flied out to right to start the top of the eighth and Rafaela took strike three. Anthony grounded out to third to end the inning. Zack Kelly came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Herrera grounded out to first to start. Burleson hit a home run all the way to Kansas City to cut the lead but Walker grounded out to second. Gorman struck out swinging to end the inning with the Cards down 7-3.
Durbin grounded out to short to start the top of the ninth but Duran walked. Contreras flied out to left but Abreu walked. A wild pitch moved both runners over and Story ripped a double to right to score them. Mayer flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-3.
Urias flied out to left to start the bottom of the ninth and Fermin grounded out to first. Saggese struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 9-3.
Hero of The Night is Willson Contreras. His two run home run set the tone in the first inning and he went 4 for 5 with 3 total rbis to match the Cards as a team.
The Good:
Trevor Story was 4 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch and a run scored.
Brayan Bello got the win by tossing 6 2/3 innings of 2 run ball. He allowed 6 hits and 2 walks.
Danny Coulombe got the final out of the seventh inning.
The Bad:
None
The Ugly:
Roman Anthony was 0 for 5 but drove in a run.
Caleb Durbin was 0 for 3 but walked, was hit with a pitch and scored 2 runs.
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked, drove in 3 runs and scored two runs.
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Marcelo Mayer was just 1 for 5.
Connor Wong was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Zack Kelly allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
Don't look now but the Sox are starting to build momentum in the last week or so. They've taken 2 of 3 from Milwaukee and now 2 of 3 from St. Louis. On top of that, the pitching looks a lot better with strong starts from Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez and Brayan Bello today. Bello's best start of the season had him keeping the ball down except for Walker's blast. The bullpen is still having problems with Greg Weissert, Garrett Whitlock and Zack Kelly giving up the longball but at least this past week the Sox bats have given them enough cushion to survive those mishaps. Willson Contreras is now batting .302 with 3 home runs and 11 rbis and while Story is still hitting just .182, he too has 11 rbis. Keep driving in runs and they'll be in good shape. Once Roman Anthony and Jarren Duran start hitting, we might be laughing at their early season woes in about a month. The Sox now travel to Minnesota for a three game set with the Twins beginning tomorrow night. Garrett Crochet (2-1, 3.12 ERA) takes on Bailey Ober of Minnesota. The game begins at 7:40 PM Eastern time at Target Field.
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