Almost a year to the day of the infamous "bad Minnesota flight" that last year's Boston Red Sox rallied around, the Red Sox found themselves in another bad situation. After their game against the Chicago White Sox yesterday, the Sox not only couldn't get a flight out that night, they couldn't get one out this morning either. They didn't land in New York until 5 PM with a 7:15 start time. The Sox went right to the park and with the game delayed only 30 minutes, they beat the fading New York Mets. Sonny Gray (11-1, 2.54 ERA) continued his march toward AL Cy Young by holding Juan Soto's crew to just 1 run in 6 innings of work. Meanwhile the Sox got two runs against Mets starter Nolan McLean immediately with a 2 run Masataka Yoshida double in the first. A Soto sac fly cut the lead in half but Anthony Seigler clobbered a 2 run home run in the seventh and Wilyer Abreu launched a 2 run homer in the ninth. Greg Weissert allowed a run in the ninth but it wasn't enough as the jet lagged Sox beat the Mets 6-2 at Citi Field.
McLean got the ball in the top of the first and Juan Soto dropped a routine fly ball by Anthony Seigler to start. Ceddanne Rafaela dropped down a sac bunt to move Seigler to third and Wilyer Abreu walked. Romy Gonzalez struck out swinging but Masataka Yoshida doubled to left to score both runners. Caleb Durbin grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.
Gray got the ball in the bottom of the first and AJ Ewing flied out to left to start. Juan Soto took strike three and Francisco Lindor flied out to center to end the inning.
Jarren Duran flied out to center to start the top of the second but Connor Wong walked. Tsung-Che Cheng struck out swinging and Seigler took strike three to end the inning. Carson Benge grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the second and Polanco flied out to left. Young doubled to right and Alvarez grounded out to third to end the inning.
Rafaela grounded out to second to start the top of the third but Abreu got a base hit in the hole at short. Gonzalez struck out swinging and Yoshida popped up to second to end the inning. Brett Baty got a base hit to center to start the bottom of the third and immediately stole second. Old pal Zack Short walked and Ewing beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners. Soto hit a sac fly to left to score Baty and Duran threw the ball away for an error to boot. Lindor flied out to left to end the inning with the Mets down 2-1.
Durbin grounded out to second to start the top of the fourth and Duran struck out swinging. Wong was hit with a pitch but was thrown out at second trying to steal....but wait! Sox manager Chad Tracy challenged that Wong was safe and sure enough, replays showed he was. Cheng got a base hit to right and Wong came around to score....wait....now it was the Mets turn to challenge and Wong was called out on review to end the inning. Benge got a base hit in the hole at second to start the bottom of the fourth and Polanco flied out to left. Benge stole second but Young took strike three. Alvarez grounded out to shirt to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the fifth as Seigler got a base hit to left to start. Rafaela forced Anthony at second but Abreu doubled to right. Gonzalez took strike three and Yoshida grounded out to first to end the inning. Baty lined out to center to start the bottom of the fifth and Short took strike three. Ewing got a base hit to right but Soto grounded out to second to end the inning.
Durbin grounded out to short to start the top of the sixth and Duran popped up to short. Wong took strike three to end the inning. Gray returned for the bottom of the sixth and Lindor got a base hit to center to start. Benge grounded into a double play and Polanco grounded out to second to end the inning. Gray was outstanding allowing just 1 run off 5 hits and a walk in 6 innings.
AJ Minter came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Cheng caught Lindor asleep with a bunt to start. Seigler then mashed his second home run of the season to ice the game. Rafaela got a base hit to left but Abreu struck out swinging. Gonzalez forced Rafaela at second but Yoshida doubled to center. Durbin popped up to second to end the inning with the Sox up 4-1.
Seigler jacks one
Tyron Guerrero came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Young got a base hit to center to start. Alvarez grounded into a double play but Baty got a base hit to right. Tyrone Taylor pinch hit for Short and grounded out to short to end the inning.
Kodai Senga came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Duran flied out to left to start. Wong flied out to right but Cheng took strike three to end the inning. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Ewing singled off the glove of Whitlock to start. Soto singled off the glove of Gonzalez to move Ewing to third but Lindor flied out to center. Benge flied out to right and Polanco popped up to second to end the inning.
Cionel Perez came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Seigler grounded out to third to start. Rafaela walked and Abreu launched his 11th home run of the season to increase the lead. Gonzalez struck out swinging but Yoshida walked. Durbin got a base hit to center and Duran walked to load the bases. Xzavion Curry came in to face Wong and Connor flied out to left to end the inning with Boston up 6-1.
Greg Weissert came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Young grounded out to second to start. Rafaela made a great sliding catch to rob Alvarez of a hit but Baty hit a home run all the way to Brooklyn to cut the lead. Taylor popped up to second to end the game. The Sox had won it 6-2.
Sox win
Sonny Hero
Hero of The Night is Sonny Gray. He got the win with 6 innings of 1 run ball allowing 5 hits and a walk.
The Good:
Anthony Seigler was 2 for 5 with a 2 run home run and 2 total runs scored.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Wilyer Abreu was 3 for 4 with a walk, 2 run home run and 2 total runs scored.
Masataka Yoshida was 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 rbis.
Tsung-Che Cheng was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Tyron Guerrero pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Garrett Whitlock pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Romy Gonzalez was 0 for 5 with a golden sombrero of 4 strikeouts.
Greg Weissert allowed a run in the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
Caleb Durbin was just 1 for 5 with an error.
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but walked.
Connor Wong was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked, stole a base and was hit with a pitch.
Final Thoughts:
Who needs sleep when you're the Boston Red Sox? They had every reason to phone it in after not getting off the plane until two hours before the game and they still won. The win streak has revitalized not only the team but the fan base as well. It also helped the Seattle Mariners have lost four in a row to get the Sox back into the wild card race. The Sox have been road warriors all year but to be 7-0 on the trip with 7 straight wins after winning 5 out of 7 previously is on another level. Gray continues to be one of the best pitchers in the AL and now the tide is turning on the Kyle Harrison deal. Anthony Seigler, Andruw Monasterio and Caleb Durbin have been paying off with Seigler getting the big home run in this one. Everything's coming up Boston and its about time. Apart from the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees, the Sox are right there in the thick of things in terms of the wild card. The Sox will face the Rays after the break but they still have two more games with the Mets to go. Its unfair to expect them to win both games but its a possibility. The win improved the Sox to 44-48, 11 games behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the Mets and eight straight total tomorrow afternoon when Eduardo Rivera gets called up from Worcester to face Freddy Peralta of New York. The game begins at 4:10 PM at Citi Field.
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