The good news was the Boston Red Sox once again rallied past the Sacramento A's to continue their scorching hot July, the bad news was once again Jarren Duran caused a scene. Before that, Sonny Gray (13-2, 2.93 ERA) might have lost his Cy Young Award bid by allowing 4 runs in 7 innings. The Sox kept it close with rbis from Andruw Monasterio and Ceddanne Rafaela off Sacramento starter Mason Barnett. In the top of the sixth, the Sox had second and third with one out and Duran hit a short fly ball to left. Willson Contreras at third wisely stayed put because the throw would have beaten him. Duran caused a scene screaming at him to run with Wilyer Abreu just looking at Duran like he had 3 heads. Speaking of which, it was back to back home runs by Abreu and Contreras to put the Sox ahead in the top of the eighth. Greg Weissert and Aroldis Chapman slammed the door and the Sox had won the game 5-4 at Sutter Health Park.
Willson Contreras flied out to right to start the top of the second and Masataka Yoshida grounded out to third. Caleb Durbin flied out to right to end the inning. Tommt White flied out to right to start the bottom of the second and Lawrence Butler flied out to center. Jeff McNeil grounded out to second to end the inning.
Jarren Duran struck out swinging to start the top of the third and Andruw Monasterio flied out to right. Connor Wong took strike three to end the inning. The A's struck first in the bottom of the third as Carlos Cortes walked to start. Donovan Walton grounded back to the mound to move Cortes to second and Monasterio booted a grounder by Kurtz to put runners at the corners. Wilson got a base hit to center to score Cortes but Soderstrom grounded into a double play to end the inning with the A's up 1-0.
Seigler flied out to left to start the top of the fourth but Rafaela got a base hit to center. Abreu took strike three but Rafaela stole second. Contreras walked but Yoshida grounded out to first to end the inning. The A's struck again in the bottom of the fourth as Heim doubled to center to start. White grounded out to short but Butler doubled to right to score Heim. McNeil got a base hit to right to move Butler to third but Cortes struck out swinging. Walton got a base hit to right to score Butler to increase the lead. Kurtz walked and Wilson popped up to second to end the inning with the A's up 3-0.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fifth as Durbin was hit with a pitch to start. Duran grounded out to second to move Durbin to third and Monasterio got a base hit to center to score Caleb. Wong struck out swinging and Seigler singled off the glove of McNeil. Rafaela doubled to left to score both runners and Walton threw the ball away to move Ceddanne to third. Abreu flied out to left to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
Soderstrom lined out to left to start the bottom of the fifth and Heim grounded out to first. White lined out to center to end the inning.
Scott Blewett came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Contreras got a base hit to left to start. Yoshida got a base hit to right and Durbin dropped down a bunt to move both runners over. Duran then hit a short fly ball to left and Contreras stayed put, causing Duran to pitch a fit. Monasterio struck out swinging to end the inning with Duran still mad at Chad Epperson and Willson Contreras.
The A's took command in the bottom of the sixth and Butler doubled to center to start. McNeil flied out to center to move Butler to third and Lawrence scored on the sac fly to left by Cortes. Walton took strike three to end the inning with the A's up 4-3.
Wong lined out to right to start the top of the seventh and Seigler grounded out to second. Rafaela grounded out to third to end the inning. Gray returned for the bottom of the seventh and Kurtz struck out swinging to begin. Wilson watched strike three go by and Soderstrom went down hacking to end the inning. Gray didn't have his best stuff but still battled to allow 4 runs off 7 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings.
The Sox suddenly sprang to life in the top of the eighth with Luis Medina now on the mound. Abreu smashed his 16th home run of the year to tie the game and Contreras clobbered his 23rd home run of the year to put the Sox on top. Yoshida struck out swinging, Durbin grounded back to the mound and Duran grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-4.
Greg Weissert came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Heim got a base hit to center off the glove of Abreu to start. Henry Bolte pinch ran for Heim but White grounded into a double play. Butler struck out swinging to end the inning.
Brian Serven came in to catch and Elvis Alvarado came in to pitch the top of the ninth. Monasterio struck out swinging but Wong walked. Seigler grounded into a double play to end the inning. Aroldis Chapman came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and McNeil grounded out to thrid to start. Alika Williams pinch hit for Cortes and doubled to left before Colby Thomas pinch hit for Walton. Thomas struck out looking and Kurtz struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-4.
Hero of The Night is Willson Contreras. His go-ahead home run put the Sox up for good
Hero Contreras
The Good:
Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis and a stolen base.
Greg Weissert pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Aroldis Chapman earned his 26th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Anthony Seigler was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Wilyer Abreu was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but hit the game tying home run.
Masataka Yoshida was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Caleb Durbin was 0 for 2 but was hit with a pitch and scored a run.
Andruw Monasterio was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and an error but drove in a run & scored a run.
Connor Wong was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts
Sonny Gray got the win by lasting 7 innings but allowed 4 runs off 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5.
Final Thoughts:
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out in the days ahead. Duran has been a headache all season and you can deal with that if a guy is hitting .300 or so like prime Manny Ramirez or 2000 Carl Everett. Duran isn't hitting .200 and at what point is he not worth it anymore? We're just days away from the trade deadline and between his outbursts against fans, shouting at teammates and hitting .200 his trade value is non-existent. Abreu and Contreras could have easily gotten in his face in the dugout but they didn't. Sox manager Chad Tracy after the game said it was a nothing burger but we'll know sooner or later if he's right. The incident overshadowed another great comeback where they rallied in the later innings. Contreras has been a hell of a trade pickup and he's inspired Abreu to be a better player as well. The two of them aren't quite as potent as David Ortiz and Manny but they've been great this year. Gray looks like he's coming back to Earth but he was still battling. Weissert and Chapman shut the door pretty good and like I mentioned yesterday, the Sox are five guys deep in the bullpen. If Chapman and Weissert are unavailable in tomorrow night's game, you still have Justin Slaten, Garrett Whitlock and Tyron Guerrero to step up. That's crucial for the final 2 months of the season if they can stay healthy. The
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