Before the game the Boston Red Sox officially released Tommy Kahnle. He had nothing left and its unlikely he gets picked up by anyone after his performance in Boston....unless its for a team just desperate for bodies.
Detmers got the ball in the top of the first inning and Nate Eaton struck out swinging to start. Ceddanne Rafaela got a base hit to right and immediately stole second. Wilyer Abreu flied out to center but Willson Contreras walked. Caleb Durbin flied out to left to end the inning. Bennett got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Zach Neto grounded back to the mound to start. Nolan Schanuel grounded out to second and Denzer Guzman struck out swinging to end the inning,
The Sox struck first in the top of the second as Romy Gonzalez should have had an inside the park home run to right but ran out of gas running the bases, settling for a triple. Jarren Duran hit a sac fly to left to score Romy but Andruw Monasterio grounded out to second. Carlos Narvaez got a base hit to center but Eaton struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Jorge Soler grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second and old pal Vaughn Grissom struck out swinging. Jo Adell lined out to first to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third as Rafaela grounded out to short to start. Abreu doubled to right and had to hold to see if Contreras' fly ball to right dropped before taking third on the single. Durbin walked to load the bases and Gonzalez ripped a base hit to right to score Abreu and Contreras. Duran dropped down a bunt and Schanuel botched the throw for an error to score Durbin. While Monasterio was batting, he hit a foul ball that knocked Logan O'Hoppe goofy behind the plate. Old friend Tyler Heineman replaced him and Monasterio popped up to first. Narvaez flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 4-0.
Jose Siri grounded out to third to start the bottom of the third and Josh Lowe lined out to third. Heineman struck out swinging to end the inning.
Eaton took strike three to start the top of the fourth and Rafaela popped up to first. Abreu walked and took second on a wild pitch, but Contreras flied out to left to end the inning. Neto flied out to right to start the bottom of the fourth and Schanuel grounded out to first. Guzman flied out to left to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fifth as Durbin smashed his eighth home run of the year to increase the lead. Gonzalez struck out swinging, Duran went down hacking and Monasterio flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-0.
Soler flied out to left to start the bottom of the fifth but of all people, Grissom broke up the perfect game with a base hit to right. Adell flied out to center and Siri forced Grissom at second to end the inning.
Jose Fermin came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Narvaez struck out swinging to start. Eaton popped up to first but Rafaela got a base hit to right. Abreu struck out swinging to end the inning. Lowe grounded out to second to start the bottom of the sixth and Heineman flied out to center.
Mitch Farris came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Contreras grounded out to short to start. Durbin lined out to left but Gonzalez got a base hit to center. Duran flied out to left to end the inning. Guzman struck out swinging to start the bottom of the seventh and Soler flied out to right. Grissom struck out swinging to end the inning.
Monasterio singled to center to start the top of the eighth but Narvaez struck out swinging. Monasterio got doubled off first on a liner to short by Eaton to end the inning. Bennett ran out of gas in the bottom of the eighth as Adell grounded out to third to start. Siri hit a home run all the way to San Jose and Lowe beat out a roller to first. Heineman popped up a bunt to Contreras but a wild pitch moved Lowe to second. Neto got a base hit to right to score Lowe and that was it for Bennett. He ran out of gas but tossed 7 2/3 innings allowing 2 runs off 5 hits. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock got Schanuel to ground out to second to end the inning with the Angels down 5-2.
Kirby Yates came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Rafaela struck out swinging to start. Abreu went down hacking and Contreras was thrown out at third trying to stretch a triple to left to end the inning. Aroldis Chapman came in to close out the top of the ninth and Guzman struck out swinging to put Chapman as the all-time relief leader in strikeouts. Soler got a base hit to left and Grissom singled to center to bring the tying run to the plate, but Adell grounded into a double play to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-2.
Sox win
Hero of the Night is Jake Bennett. He tossed 7 2/3 innings allowing just 2 runs off 5 hits while striking out 6
The Good:
Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 5 with a stolen base.
Willson Contreras was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Caleb Durbin was 1 for 3 with a walk, a home run and 2 total runs scored.
Romy Gonzalez was 3 for 4 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Garrett Whitlock got the final out of the eighth inning.
Aroldis Chapman earned his 17th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Nate Eaton was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Wilyer Abreu was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked and scored a run.
Jarren Duran was 0 for 2 with a strikeout but drove in 2 runs.
Andruw Monasterio was just 1 for 4.
Carlos Narvaez was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox needed a win to get some momentum back after the disaster against the Washington Nationals. This is the Romy Gonzalez the Sox were hoping they'd be getting back who missed the first half with injury and this is also the Caleb Durbin the Sox were hoping for when they traded for him. Still, there's a concerning black cloud hanging over the Sox and that's the fact they're relying on three rookies to carry them. Payton Tolle, Connelly Early and Bennett are doing very well but its coming at a price. They're getting tired after 80 pitches and Early already has elbow damage. If Garrett Crochet was healthy and Brayan Bello was mentally all there, they wouldn't have to push the kids so hard. Still, the difference in a win and a loss is clutch hits and tonight Gonzalez hit a 2 run single with the bases loaded. That's the kind of hit they weren't getting for the first two months of the season. Kudos to Aroldis Chapman for becoming a surefire MLB hall of famer with 384 saves and 1,364 strikeouts. Its too bad Sox fans are screaming to trade Sonny Gray, Chapman and Contreras every day despite the fact the Sox picked it up a bit. Whether or not they do trade them, the bottom line is the Sox have won 6 out of their last eight games. The problem is Contreras and Eaton still have to serve their suspensions, god help us. The win improved the Sox to 38-48, good for last place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the Angels tomorrow night when Sonny Gray (9-1, 2.69 ERA) goes for Boston against Sam Aldegheri of Los Angeles. The game begins at 9:30 PM at Angel Stadium.
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