Ronald Acuna Jr grounded out to short to start the top of the first and old farmhand Mauricio Dubon flied out to center. Matt Olson grounded out to center to end the inning. The Sox struck first against Strider when Jarren Duran led off with his 7th home run of the year. Ceddane Rafaela responded with his 5th home run of the season gor back to back jacks. Wilyer Abreu flied out to right, Willson Contreras popped up to third and Masataka Yoshida struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Ozzie Albies grounded out to third to start the top of the second but Austin Riley walked. Eli White flied out to center but Michael Harris singled to right. Ha-Seong Kim struck out swinging to end the inning. Mickey Gasper walked to start the bottom of the second but Nick Sogard took strike three. Marcelo Mayer struck out swinging and Isiah Kiner-Falefa popped up to first to end the inning.
Old pal Sandy Leon popped up to short to start the top of the third and Acuna struck out swinging. Dubon singled to right and Olson was hit with a pitch, but Albies flied out to center to end the inning. Duran lined out to left to start the bottom of the third and Rafaela grounded out to second. Abreu grounded out to first to end the inning.
Riley struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth and White grounded out to third. Harris singled to center but Kim grounded out to third to end the inning. Contreras got a base hit to center to start the bottom of the fourth but Yoshida struck out swinging. A wild pitch moved Willson to second and Gasper took strike three. Sogard flied out to right to end the inning.
The Braves fought back in the top of the fifth as Leon popped up to first to start. Acuna Jr took strike three but Dubon walked. Olson then hit a home run to Saturn to tie the game. Albies flied out to center to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Mayer flied out to center to start the bottom of the sixth but Kiner walked. Duran struck out swinging and Kiner stole second, then took third when the throw got away. Naturally Rafaela flied out to right to end the inning.
The Braves finished off Suarez in the top of the sixth as Riley tripled to left to start. White walked and Harris hit a ground rule double into the bullpen to chase Ranger. He got clobbered for 5 runs in 5 plus innings off 6 hits and 3 walks. Greg Weissert came in and Kim grounded out to third. Old friend Dominic Smith pinch hit for Leon and grounded out to first to score White. Acuna got a base hit to left to score Harris but Dubon took strike three to end the inning with the Braves ahead 5-2.
Chadwick Tromp took over behind the plate for the bottom of the sixth and Abreu walked to start. Didier Fuentes came in to face Contreras and Willson singled to right. Yoshida walked to load the bases but Gasper grounded into a double play to score Abreu. Dylan Lee came in to face Sogard and Nick grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox down 5-3.
Danny Coulombe came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Olson popped up to third to start. Albies lined out to short and Riley struck out swinging to end the inning. Andruw Monasterio pinch hit for Mayer to start the bottom of the seventh and flied out to center. Somehow Kiner-Falefa belted his first home run of the year to cut the lead. Duran lined out to right and Rafaela struck out swinging to end the inning but the Sox were down 5-4.
Just when the Sox were back in it, Tyron Guerrero came in to vomit up his intestines in the top of the eighth as Mike Yastrzemski pinch hit for White. Yaz singled to left and Harris hit a home run all the way to New Brunswick to ice the game. Kim struck out swinging, Tromp took strike three and Acuna grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Braves ahead 7-4.
Robert Suarez came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Abreu struck out swinging to start. Contreras popped up to second and Yoshida flied out to center to end the inning.
Dubon grounded back to the mound to start the top of the ninth and Olson took strike three. Albies was rung up for strike three to end the inning. Raisel Iglesias came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Gasper singled to center to start. Sogard doubled to left but Monasterio took strike three. Kiner got a base hit to center to score both runners and Duran got a base hit to right. Rafaela forced Duran at second and Abreu grounded back to the mound to end the game. The Braves had won 7-6.
Jackass of the Night is Tyron Guerrero. Giving up those two runs put the game out of reach.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 2 for 5 with a home run.
Willson Contreras was 2 for 4.
Mickey Gasper was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa was 2 for 3 with a walk, home run, stolen base and 3 total rbis.
Danny Coulombe pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
The Bad:
Marcelo Mayer was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Andruw Monasterio was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Ranger Suarez took the loss by allowing 5 runs in 5 plus innings off 6 hits and 3 walks.
The Ugly:
Ceddanne Rafaela was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout but the one hit was a home run.
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Masataka Yoshida was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Nick Sogard was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Greg Weissert allowed 2 inherited runners to score but none of his own in the sixth inning.
Final Thoughts:
Another kick to the gonads in a season full of them. Now all of a sudden the Sox can score runs but not prevent them anymore. If that isn't a sign to start blowing it up, I don't know what is. I said the Sox were a good offense away from first place but bad pitching away from the 1962 Mets. Now we're reaching 62 Mets territory with the Sox finding ways to lose night after night. They can't get a clutch hit with the game on the line and now the middle relief is getting lit up. Tyron Guerrero is a career minor leaguer, and if his 100 mph fastball is straight, what good is he? Just another Jordan Hicks or Kaleb Ort. Suarez didn't look good tonight but the rotation hasn't looked good all week. If the Sox are crashing back to earth on the pitching side, get ready to be the worst team in baseball. Colorado Rockies be damned. The loss dropped the Sox to 22-31, good for last place in the AL East. The Sox look to snap their four game skid tomorrow night when Connelly Early (4-2) takes on Bryce Elder of Atlanta. The game begins at 6:40 PM at Fenway Park.
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