The bad news was the Boston Bruins lost Game 4 of their first round NHL playoff series to the Buffalo Sabres but the good news is the Boston Celtics won Game 4 of their first round NBA playoff series over the Philadelphia Sixers. On top of that, the Boston Red Sox began the Chad Tracy era 1-0 after their victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Connelly Early (2-1, 2.84 ERA) continued his strong sophomore campaign by holding the Orioles to just 2 runs in 6 2/3 gutty innings. Offensively the Sox woke up with four stolen bases and got some clutch hits for once. Andruw Monasterio knocked in Caleb Durbin and Willson Contreras belted a two run home run to put the Sox on top. In the top of the sixth, a Ceddanne Rafaela triple and Marcelo Mayer base hit made it 5-1. The Orioles did get runs against Early and Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock, but Aroldis Chapman locked it down in the ninth. Chad Tracy got his first win and the Sox had beaten the Orioles 5-3 at Camden Yards.
Kyle Bradish got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren Duran grounded out to first to start. Willson Contreras grounded out to second but Roman Anthony walked. Wilyer Abreu flied out to center to end the inning. Early got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Taylor Ward flied out to left to start. Gunnar Henderson grounded out to first but Adley Rutschman singled to center. Pete Alonso flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox ran into outs again in the top of the second as Ceddanne Rafaela doubled to left to start. Marcelo Mayer flied out to right and Rafaela was thrown out at third. Caleb Durbin grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Tyler O'Neill flied out to left to start the bottom of the second but Samuel Basallo got a base hit to left. Jeremiah Jackson grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Connor Wong walked to start the top of the third and Andruw Monasterio popped up to second. Duran forced Wong at second and promptly stole second. Duran took third on a wild pitch and Contreras drew a walk. Anthony struck out swinging to end the inning. Dylan Beavers popped up to first to start the bottom of the third and Blaze Alexander lined out to third. Ward walked but Henderson took strike three to end the inning.
Abreu walked to start the top of the fourth but was promptly picked off. Rafaela struck out swinging and Mayer grounded out to second to end the inning. Rutschman grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the fourth and Alonso grounded out to short. O'Neill struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox finally struck in the top of the fifth as Durbin singled in the hole at short to start. Durbin swiped second but Wong grounded out to short. Monasterio drilled a base hit to center to score Durbin but Duran forced him at second. Contreras blasted his sixth home run of the season to increase the lead but Anthony struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.
Early gave a run right back immediately in the bottom of the fifth as Basallo hit a home run all the way to Cuba to start. Jackson struck out swinging, Beavers flied out to center and Alexander flied out to right to end the inning with the O's down 3-1.
Basallo goes yard
The Sox iced the game in the top of the sixth with Grant Wolfram now on the mound. Abreu got a base hit to left and Rafaela tripled into the centerfield gap. Mayer hit a seeing eye single into left to score Rafaela and chase Wolfram. Yennier Cano came in to pitch and Mayer promptly stole second. Jackson booted a grounder by Durbin for an error to put Mayer at third and Durbin swiped second. The old Sox returned as Wong grounded out to short, Monasterio hit a ball to Cano who tagged out Mayer and Monasterio was thrown out at second trying to steal to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-1.
Big triple for Rafaela
Ward flied out to right to start the bottom of the sixth but Henderson hit a home run all the way to Vulcan to cut the lead. Rutschman flied out to right and Alonso grounded out to third to end the inning with the O's down 5-2.
Henderson jacks one
Anthony Nunez came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Duran walked to start. Contreras took strike three but Duran took second on a balk. Jarren took third on a grounder to short by Anthony but Abreu hit a bullet to Jackson to end the inning. O'Neill struck out swinging to start the bottom of the seventh and Basallo grounded out to second. That was it for Early after 6 2/3 gutty innings holding the O's to just 2 runs. Zack Kelly came in and Jackson popped up to second to end the inning.
Rico Garcia came in to pitch the top of the eighth inning and Rafaela lined out to left to start. Mayer grounded out to first and Durbin took strike three to end the inning. Garrett Whitlock came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning and Beavers took strike three to start. Colton Cowser pinch hit for Alexander and singled in the hole at second before moving to second on the grounder to the mound by Ward. Henderson got a base hit to left to score Cowser to cut the lead but Rutschman flied out to center to end the inning with the O's down 5-3.
Henderson does it again
Colby Mayo took over for Cowser with Andrew Kittredge now on the mound. Wong grounded out to short and Monasterio popped up to short. Duran struck out swinging to end the inning. Aroldis Chapman came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Alonso flied out to left to start. O'Neill went down hacking and Chapman punched out Basallo swinging to end the game. The Sox had won Chad Tracy's first game 5-3.
Sox win
Hero of The Night is Connelly Early. He held the O's to just 2 runs in 6 2/3 strong innings allowing 4 hits and a walk.
The Good:
Willson Contreras was 1 for 3 with a walk and a 2 run home run.
Wilyer Abreu was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Zack Kelly got the final out of the seventh inning.
Aroldis Chapman earned his 5th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Garrett Whitlock allowed a run in the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked, stole a base and scored a run.
Roman Anthony was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Marcelo Mayer was just 1 for 4 but stole a base and drove in a run.
Caleb Durbin was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but stole 2 bases and scored a run.
Connor Wong was 0 for 3 but walked.
Andruw Monasterio was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Good for Tracy and the Sox to get off on the right foot. They still have problems on the bases and with clutch hitting but that was better than before. The clutch hits by Mayer and Monasterio and the home run by Contreras were big. Early once again had a great outing and he's literally simply run support away from being 5-1 this year. Also kudos to Tracy for bringing in Kelly in the seventh instead of Greg Weissert. Give Greg a rest because he's been used way too much by Alex Cora. Speaking of which, it was announced that Trevor Story basically took today off to protest the firing since he was a big Cora guy. If he's going to pull that, he better come out tomorrow hitting everything in sight. Nobody is expecting Chad Tracy to pull Morgan Magic, we as fans just want the team to be WATCHABLE. Today was a step in the right direction but can they keep momentum going? The Sox now travel to Toronto for a three game set with the Blue Jays beginning tomorrow night. Ranger Suarez (1-2, 4.00 ERA) gets the start for the Sox against Dylan Cease for Toronto. The game begins at 7:05 PM at the Skydome.
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