2 months ago the Boston Red Sox had won of the worst offenses in franchise history, today they tied the franchise record for most consecutive wins with the 1946 American League Champion Red Sox. A rainout turned today into a double-header and the Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles in Game 1. Jake Bennett (6-3, 2.58 ERA) tossed 5 2/3 gutty innings holding the Orioles to just 3 runs despite nine hits. The story of the game was the rally in the first inning against Baltimore starter Dean Kremer. Caleb Durbin drove in the first two runs and a Jarren Duran triple drove int he next two. Duran added another rbi and Ceddanne Rafaela belted a home run to put the game out of reach. The Triangle of Terror Justin Slaten, Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman slammed the door and the Sox made it 15 wins in a row with a 6-3 victory in Game 1 over the Orioles at Fenway Park.
Bennett got the ball in the top of the first inning and Taylor Ward struck out swinging to start. Pete Alonso grounded out to short but Gunnar Henderson singled past Jake. Tyler O'Neill flied out to center to end the inning. Kremer got the ball in the bottom of the first and Masataka Yoshida got a base hit to center to start. Ceddanne Rafaela got a base hit in the hole at second but Wilyer Abreu lined out to first. Willson Contreras got a base hit to left to load the bases and Caleb Durbin got a base hit to center to score both Yoshida & Rafaela. Romy Gonzalez struck out swinging but Jarren Duran tripled into the right field corner to clear the bases. Connor Wong struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-0.
Coby Mayo popped up to second to start the top of the second and Leody Taveras lined out to right. Christian Encarnacion-Strand got a base hit to center and Jackson Holliday got a base hit to left but Sam Huff struck out swinging to end the inning. Tsung-Che Cheng struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second but Yoshida walked. Rafaela flied out to center and Abreu popped up to third to end the inning.
The O's struck back in the top of the third as Ward lined out to right to start. Alonso hit a ground rule double down the right field line but Henderson struck out swinging. O'Neill doubled to center to score Alonso but Mayo flied out to center to end the inning with the O's down 4-1.
The Sox answered in the bottom of the third as Contreras struck out swinging to start. Durbin beat out a roller to third, Gonzalez doubled off the Monster and Duran hit a sac fly to center to score Durbin. Wong struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-1
The Os refused to give up in the top of the fourth as Wong snuffed out a bunt by Taveras to start. Encarnacion-Strand hit his second home run of the series to cut the lead but Holliday grounded out to first. Huff grounded out to third to end the inning with the Os down 5-2.
The Sox got the run back in the bottom of the fourth as Cheng grounded out to second to start. Yoshida flied out to left but Rafaela launched his 9th home run of the year to increase the lead. Abreu grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-2.
Ward lined out to Bennett to start the top of the fifth but Alonso got a base hit to center. Henderson flied out to right and Henderson struck out swinging to end the inning. Contreras flied out to center to start the bottom of the fifth and Durbin grounded out to second. Gonzalez flied out to right to end the inning.
Bennett ran out of gas in the top of the sixth as Mayo doubled to left to start. Taveras grounded out to first to move Mayo to third and Encarnacion-Strand got a base hit to left to score Coby. A wild pitch moved Strand to second but Holliday flied out to left. Johnathan Rodriguez pinch hit for Huff and Sox manager Chad Tracy pulled Bennett. He was game, allowing 3 runs in 5 2/3 innings off 9 hits. Justin "Incinerator" Slaten came in and the O's swapped out Rodriguez with Dylan Beavers. Beavers popped up to third to end the inning with the Os down 6-3.
Chadwick Tromp took over behind the plate for the bottom of the sixth and Duran grounded out to first to start. Wong grounded out to second and Cheng lined out to right to end the inning.
Ward got a base hit to left to start the top of the seventh but Alonso lined out to center. Henderson flied out to right and O'Neill took strike three down the middle to end the inning. Anthony Nunez came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Yoshida grounded out to third to start. Rafaela popped up to first and Abreu grounded out to second to end the inning.
Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch the top of the eighth inning and Colton Cowser pinch hit for Mayo. Cowser flied out to rightt, Taveras grounded out to second and Strand also grounded out to second to end the inning. Contreras got a base hit to right to start the bottom of the eighth but Durbin forced him at second. Gonzalez popped up to first and Duran struck out swinging to end the inning.
Aroldis Chapman came in to close out the top of the ninth and Holliday got a base hit to center to start. Tromp banged into a double play but Ward walked. Ward took second on defense indifference but Alonso grounded out to short to end the game. The Red Sox had won it 6-3.
Hero of The Night is Caleb Durbin. His two run single in the first set the tone for the game
The Good:
Masataka Yoshida was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 runs scored.
Willson Contreras was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Jarren Duran was 1 for 3 with 3 rbis.
Jake Bennett got the win allowing 3 runs in 5 2/3 innings off 9 hits.
Justin Slaten tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Garrett Whitlock pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Aroldis Chapman earned his 23rd save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 4.
Connor Wong was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Tsung-Che Cheng was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Romy Gonzalez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Final Thoughts:
This is absolutely unbelievable. They were dead in the water, 14 games under .500 and 1 game ahead of the worst team in baseball that just beat them 2 out of 3 games......and one month later they've won 15 in a row and 20 out of 22 to tie a franchise record. Its gotten to the point where one loss will have a certain amount of fans going "Thats it, its all over. Sell the team, sell all the players, fire Breslow and blow up Fenway Park. Its over." The solution is to just not lose. The franchise hasn't won 15 games in a row in 80 years and that team went on to the World Series. Meanwhile this win streak just put them just 4 games over .500. Bennett tired by the end of the sixth and that's the big concern is the rookie wall is going to hit Connelly Early, Payton Tolle and Bennett hard. Its important to get Ranger Suarez back physically healthy and Brayan Bello mentally healthy because they're going to need them with Garrett Crochet out. It was good to see Duran contribute big time and the turnaround for Durbin has been Dustin Pedroia 2007-esque. Sox fans still want to trade Chapman but the three headed monster with Chapman, Whitlock and Slaten is as good as anyone in the league. One of the way they've won 15 in a row is by shortening games with lights out relief pitching. The Sox just need to keep doing what they're doing and they'll be right there in the end. Sox GM Craig Breslow might pull some voodoo magic at the trade deadline or he might stand pat and hope Roman Anthony, Trevor Story and Garrett Crochet come back. Just enjoy this streak while it lasts. The win improved the Sox to 52-48, no sense posting the standings yet. The Sox look to set an all-time franchise record with their 16th win in a row in Game 2 of the series in a few hours with Eduardo Rivera (0-0, 2.89 ERA) going for the Sox against Kyle Bradish of Baltimore. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment