Last night the Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers on the back of shutdown pitching and timely hitting. Tonight the Sox completed a three game sweep of the back to back champs by bashing balls out of the park. The Sox as a team played home run derby by slugging four home runs, three of them in the third inning. The Sox got two runs in the first inning against LA starter Emmet Sheehan on rbis from Masataka Yoshida and Caleb Durbin. The Dodgers then got to Sox starter Jake Bennett (7-4, 2.90 ERA) for three runs in the bottom of the second. Then in the top of the third Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Yoshida went yard to put the Sox on top. Jarren Duran added a home run in the sixth inning while the Sox tacked on two more runs in the eighth. Despite a Dodger slanted NBC broadcast, the Sox had swept the Dodgers and won their fifth straight game 8-4 at Dodger Stadium.
Sheehan got the ball in the top of the first inning and Nick Sogard walked on a questionable full count ball to start. Ceddanne Rafaela forced Sogard at second but Wilyer Abreu got a base hit up the middle. Willson Contreras flied out to left but Masataka Yoshida slapped a base hit to left to score Rafaela. Caleb Durbin ripped a base hit to right to score Abreu and move Yoshida to third, but Andruw Monasterio struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Bennett got the ball in the bottom of the first and Shohei Ohtani got a base hit to right to start. Andy Pages struck out swinging and Tommy Edman did the same. Freddie Freeman grounded out to first to end the inning.
Jarren Duran struck out swinging to start the top of the second and Carlos Narvaez did the same. Sogard took strike three to end the inning. Mr. Mookie Betts lined out to short to start the bottom of the second but Kyle Tucker ripped a base hit to center. Teoscar Hernandez split the D with a base hit up the middle and Max Muncy rocketed a ball off the right field wall but Tucker got fooled so instead of scoring, it just loaded the bases. Eliezer Alfonzo grounded out to short to score Tucker and Ohtani was intentionally walked to reload the bases. Pages made them pay with a base hit past the diving Contreras to score both Hernandez and Muncy. Edman forced Pages at second to end the inning with the Dodgers up 3-2.
The Sox came back in the top of the third as Rafaela clocked his 15th home run to tie the game to start. Abreu smashed his 17th home run of the season to put the Sox on top but Contreras flied out to center. Yoshida belted his fifth home run of the season to increase the lead but Durbin grounded out to short. Monasterio was hit with a pitch and that was it for Sheehan. Jack Dreyer came in to face Duran and Jarren grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-3.
Freeman grounded out to first to start the bottom of the third and Mr. Mookie flied out to center. Tucker looked to have walked but Narvaez challenged to change the call to strike three to end the inning.
Narvaez walked to start the top of the fourth but Sogard struck out swinging. A wild pitch moved Carlos to second but Rafaela struck out swinging. Abreu flied out to center to end the inning. Hernandez flied out to the right field wall to start the bottom of the fourth and Muncy flied out to left. Alfonso lined out to right to end the inning.
Evan Phillips came in to pitch the top of the fifth and Contreras flied out to right to start. Yoshida hit a comebacker to Phillips and Durbin grounded out to short to end the inning. Ohtani took strike three to start the bottom of the fifth and Sogard robbed Pages of a base hit. Monasterio then made a great play to rob Edman as well to end the inning.
Kyle Hurt came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Monasterio struck out swinging to start. Duran belted his 14th home run of the season to increase the lead but Narvaez struck out swinging. Sogard flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-3.
Freeman got a base hit in the hole at second to start the bottom of the sixth but Mr. Mookie grounded into a double play. Tucker walked and that was it for Bennett as Jake allowed 3 runs off 6 hits and 2 walks. Justin "Incinerator" Slaten came in to pitch to Hernandez and Sogard made another great play to rob Teoscar of a hit to end the inning.
Rafaela took strike three to start the top of the seventh but Abreu walked. Contreras struck out swinging and Yoshida hit a ball that a fan reached over the wall to grab for a fan interference out to end the inning. Tyron "El Lanzallamas" Guerrero came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Muncy ate up Sogard on a line drive for a base hit to start. Alfonzo flied out to center but a wild pitch moved Muncy to second. Ohtani struck out swinging but Pages doubled into the left field corner to score Muncy. Edman popped up to center to end the inning with the Dodgers down 6-4.
Wyatt Mills came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Durbin was hit with a pitch to begin. Monasterio beat out a chopper to third and Duran dropped down a bunt to move the runners over. Anthony Seigler pinch hit for Narvaez and a wild pitch scored Durbin, moving Monasterio to third. The crowd booed as a passed ball on Alfonzo scored Monasterio but Seigler popped up to left. Sogard hit a routine grounder to Betts who threw wide of first for an error. Rafaela got a base hit to center to move Sogard to third but Abreu popped up to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-4.
Connor Wong took over behind the plate and Jovani Moran came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Alex Call pinch hit for Freeman and doubled to left, but Betts grounded out to short. Enrique Hernandez pinch hit for Tucker and grounded out to second to move Call to third. That was it for Moran as Greg Weissert came in to face Teoscar Hernandez. Hernandez grounded out to third to end the inning.
Contreras struck out swinging to start the top of the ninth but Yoshida walked. Durbin walked but Monasterio flied out to left. Duran popped up to first to end the inning. Garrett Whitlock came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Muncy popped up to third to start. Alfonzo grounded out to third but Ohtani walked. Ohtani took second on defensive indifference but Pages struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 8-4.
Hero of the Night is Wilyer Abreu. His home run in the third put the Sox up for good.
The Good:
Ceddanne Rafaela was 2 for 5 with a home run and 2 total runs scored.
Masataka Yoshida was 2 for 4 with a walk, a home run and 2 total rbis.
Caleb Durbin was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi and a run scored.
Jake Bennett got the win by tossing 5 2/3 innings allowing 3 runs off 6 hits and 2 walks.
Justin Slaten got the final out of the sixth inning.
Jovani Moran got the first two outs of the eighth inning.
Greg Weissert got the final out of the eighth inning.
Garrett Whitlock pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Anthony Seigler was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Willson Contreras was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Tyron Guerrero allowed a run in the seventh inning.
The Ugly:
Andruw Monasterio was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but was hit with a pitch and scored a run.
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but the one hit was a home run.
Nick Sogard was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Carlos Narvaez was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Honorable Mention:
Connor Wong caught the final two innings.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox just keep on rolling and the haters are running out of excuses. The "they haven't beat anyone good" just got laid to rest by sweeping the Dodgers out of Los Angeles. Not only did they win, they scored 17 runs in two of the three games. Falling behind and rallying against Sacramento and not giving up when trailing or tied with Los Angeles shows the balls this team didn't have back from April to June. Not only that, Monasterio made some errors this past week but he and Sogard couldn't miss this weekend. They beat the Dodgers with offense, pitching and defense. That's the kind of team that's going to be scary in the playoffs. As a side note, years ago you could have put New York Yankees jersies on Jess Mendoza and Matt Vasgersian during ESPN Sunday Night Baseball when the Red Sox played the Yankees and for all intents and purposes, that's what NBC did last night only Dodger blue for Jason Benetti, Orel Hershiser and Clayton Kershaw. The broadcast last night was 50% kissing Tarik Skubal's ass and 45% Hershiser and Kershaw gladhanding each other for their Dodger accomplishments. The other 5% was Lou Merloni desperately trying to point out the Red Sox were kicking the crap out of the Dodgers in this series and was the hottest team in baseball. That was a disgrace, I don't care that they were in LA. Anyway, the Sox ARE the hottest team in baseball but the question is, are they going to add or stand pat tomorrow during the trade deadline? The word is there won't be a 2027 season so if they're going to win now, they're going to have to go big. They have the talent to be a contender for years if they choose to stand pat, especially with Trevor Story, Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony and Curtis Mead expected back at some point this year. The bad news was the New York Yankees won but the good news was the Tampa Bay Rays lost. The Sox also have a 4 game lead on the Cleveland Guardians for the second wild card and a 5 game lead on the Texas Rangers for the third. Everything is falling into place, they just need to keep the momentum going. The win improved the Sox to 60-51, 5 games behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox are back in action Tuesday night at home against the Chicago White Sox. The Red Sox hasnt named a starter yet while Davis Martin goes for Chicago. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment