#RedSox Game Summary (September 16) deGrom demystified

Two of the best starting pitchers in the majors play for the New York Mets. Noah Syndegaard dismantled the Red Sox on Friday, but the Sox handled Jacob deGrom on Sunday. The defining moment came in the 3rd inning, when Rafael Devers singled, went 1st to 3rd on a single by Christian Vázquez, and scored on a Mookie Betts sac fly. Then Brock Holt smashed a 2 run bomb to right center, giving Boston a 3-0 cushion. Unfortunately, the Sox would need all of it, as Drew Pomeranz, pitching in the 6th, allowed a single to Austin Jackson and a double to Amed Rosario, putting Jackson on 3rd, from which he scored on a sac fly. Rosario then reached 3rd on a passed ball by Vázquez, and scored on a Michael Conforto double. That was it for Drew, and given his recent performances, I think it a good chance that he is scratched from the postseason roster. Also in that inning, Mookie Betts was lifted from the game after appearing to strain a muscle in his side throwing to the plate. He was replaced by Tzu-Wei Lin. In the next inning, Heath Hembree walked Jay Bruce, who advanced to 2nd when Hembree hit Brandon Nimmo, ending Heath’s day. On came Joe Kelly who, after getting 2 out in rapid succession, allowed a RBI single to Rosario, scoring Bruce to tie the game at 3. In the 8th, Lin doubled off Mets reliever Seth Logo, reached 3rd on a fly out, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Benintendi. Steven Wright finished things off (Craig Kimbrel had pitched the previous night) to gain the save. The Yankees also lost today, so the magic number is now 2. The Red Sox can clinch the AL East if they win just one of the upcoming 3 games at Yankee Stadium. Boston beat New York in interleague play, 4-3, at Fenway Park. Record: 103-47. Game 150/12.

#RedSox Game Summary (September 15) That’s the Way the Ball Bounces

In the 5th inning, Jackie Bradley, Jr.’s hit that bounced off the top of the Green Monster was initially thought a home run, but was declared a ground rule double after the MLB review team determined that it had bounced up and back into the field of play rather than out. It didn’t matter though, as a little later in the inning, the Sox took the lead for good in this game anyway. It was a solid start for Rick Porcello against the New York Mets, though he had a spot of trouble in the 4th, when he gave up a 3 run dinger to Brandon Nimmo. That was his only blemish though, as he went 5 innings, giving up just the 3 runs on 2 hits and a walk with 5 punch-outs. Boston struck early when Mets starter Corey Oswalt hit Mookie Betts in the 1st inning, then Betts went all the way to 3rd on a throwing error and scored on a Xander Bogaerts single. The big inning was the 5th, however. With 2 out, Mets reliever Paul Seward allowed hits to Steve Pearce and Ian Kinsler, followed by JBJ’s wall-topper, which drove in both to tie the score at 3. After Seward intentionally passed on the red-hot Rafael Devers, he was done, and Drew Smith came on to face Brock Holt, who pinch hit for Sandy Leon. Brock shot a solid double into center to score 2 more runs. The bullpen acquitted itself well to hold off the Mets from there, and Craig Kimbrel polished them off for his 41st save. The Yankees lost to Toronto, so the magic number is reduced to 4. Boston beat New York in interleague play, 5-3, at Fenway Park. Record: 102-47. Game 149/13.

#RedSox Game Summary (August 13) Attack of the Bogey-Man

Xander Bogaerts shattered the Toronto Blue Jays’ attempt to steal away this game in the late innings with a furious 8th inning performance. Prior to that, Eduardo Rodriguez had started the game and had a decent outing, going 5 innings and giving up 1 run on 5 hits and no walks, with 7 Ks. The one run came in the 3rd inning when Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. singled, reached 2nd on a fielder’s choice, and scored on a long single by Justin Smoak. The Red Sox scored single runs in the 2nd and 3rd to give Eduardo the lead. In the second, JD Martinez smacked Number 41 to right center. In the 3rd, Jackie Bradley, Jr. doubled, reached 3rd on a fielder’s choice, and scored on a sac fly. In the 6th, Rafael Devers smacked a solo bomb to right for Boston’s 3rd run.That might have been enough to give Eduardo the win, but then came the 8th inning. Gurriel smacked a solo jack to left off Bobby Poyner. Joe Kelly entered the game to finish off the inning. No such luck. After walking Smoak, he gave up a single to Kendrys Morales, and hit Randal Grichuk to load the bases. He then proceeded to hit Kevin Pillar to force in the tying run, and he was done. Brandon Workman finished the inning with a strikeout. By then, the X-Man had seen enough. In the bottom of the inning, he doubled, stole 3rd, and scored on a throwing error. Craig Kimbrel came on in the 9th to finish the game uneventfully, for his 40th save. The Yankees did not play today. The magic number is now 6. Boston beat Toronto, 4-3, at Fenway Park. Record: 101-46. Game 147/15.

#RedSox Game Summary (July 24) Small Arms

Drew Pomeranz returned to the Red Sox rotation and, well, did not quite overwhelm the Baltimore Orioles with his deft. Not only that, but the recently unsteady Joe Kelly struggled mightily as well. In the 3rd inning, Jonathan Schoop hammered a 2 run homer off Pomeranz. In the 5th, Tim Beckham repeated the feat with another 2 run dinger, and a series of 3 singles added another Baltimore run. 2 hits and 2 walks off Joe Kelly produced another run in the 6th, and he left with 2 on. Hector Velázquez took over with 2 on, and a single scored another run for a total of 7. From a power hitting perspective, Boston had a great night. JD Martinez hit his 30th homer of the season in the first off O’s starter Yefry Ramírez. In the 5th, Blake Swihart and Mookie Betts hit back-to-back solo bombs. JD Martinez hit his 31st in the 7th, a 2 run jack. In the 9th, Jackie Bradley, Jr. singled, reached 2nd on a fielder’s choice, and scored on a single by Rafael Devers. But it was not enough. Baltimore beat Boston, 7-6, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Record: 71-32. Game 103/59.

#RedSox Game Summary (July 9) Texas Hold ‘Em

Eduardo Rodriguez had an excellent start today, holding the Texas Rangers to 3 hits and 3 walks over 5 /3rds shutout innings while whiffing 5, and the bullpen kept the Rangers firing blanks over the next 3 1/3rd innings. Meanwhile, Boston started scoring in the very first inning with a JD Martinez single off Texas starter Mike Minor, and a 2 run jack by Steve Pearce. In the 8th, singles by Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi off Rangers reliever Jesse Chavez set the stage for JD Martinez’s 3 run dinger off the top of the Monster, enabling JD to widen his lead in the MLB home run chase to 3 over Aaron Judge and Mike Trout with 28. Heath Hembree, Brandon Workman, Joe Kelly, and Ryan Brasier completed the Boston shutout of Texas. Boston beat Texas, 5-0, at Fenway Park. Record: 63-29. Game 92/70.

#RedSox Game Summary (July 4) A Nice Recovery

#RedSoxGameSummary (July 4) Nice recovery. After two fairly poor starts against the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees, Eduardo Rodríguez posted a solid win against the Washington Nationals, going 6 scoreless innings, while giving up just 3 runs and 1 walk, punching out 6. Nats starter Erick Fedde also seemed off to a fine start, but was forced to leave in the 2nd inning due to an apparent shoulder injury of some kind. The Washington bullpen acquitted themselves fairly well until the 7th, when the Sox finally struck. With Ryan Madson pitching, Rafael Devers doubled, reached 3rd on an Eduardo Núñez single, and scored on a sac fly. Núñez reached 3rd on a throwing error, and scored on a wild pitch. In the 9th, Núñez singled, and scored on a double by Jackie Bradley, Jr. JD Martinez also doubled in the game. This completes a 3 game sweep of the Nats to celebrate the 4th, and provides momentum for the Sox over the rest of their road trip. Boston beat Washington in interleague play, 3-0, at Nationals Park. Record: 59-29. Game 88/74.

#RedSox Game Summary (July 3) Moving On Up

Brian Johnson turned in another decent start, perhaps showing his readiness to join the regular rotation, with this appearance against the Washington Nationals. Once again, he didn’t last long enough to take credit for the win, as he was lifted when he got in trouble in the 5th, but went 4 2/3rds innings, giving up 2 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks. The two Nationals runs came in the 4th, when Bryce Harper doubled, and scored on a Mark Reynolds single, then Reynolds scored after singles by Michael Taylor and Tanner Roark. Washington scored two more times subsequently, once in the 6th on a solo dinger by Pedro Severino off Heath Hembree, and in the 9th on a Brian Goodwin solo blast off William Cuevas. The Red Sox started their scoring with a 3 run blast by Eduardo Núñez off Nats starter Roark (and yes, AL fans, he also got the aforementioned hit). The big inning was the 5th, when the Sox scored on a succession of singles by Andrew Benintendi, JD Martinez, and Steve Pearce, which netted 3 runs, followed by a Xander Bogaerts 3 run blast to center. Martinez capped off the night with a 2 run bomb in the 9th, his 26th and still MLB leading HR. Steve Pearce is also moving on up, by the way. He came into the game after Mitch Moreland left with back tightness, and went 2-for-4, including a double. A star spangled 4th of July game comes next. Boston beat Washington in interleague play, 11-4, at Nationals Park. Record: 58-29. Game 87/75.

#RedSox Game Summary (July 2) Do I Have To Do Everything Myself?

Faced with a degrading situation in which the Red Sox had the bases loaded and 2 out, Boston starter Rick Porcello took matters into his own hands, slamming a 3 RBI double to left against the Washington Nationals. This is the one upside to interleague play in my view. We get to see AL teams playing real baseball, with no DH rule. The play developed like this: Mitch Moreland led off the 2nd with a single off Washington starter Max Scherzer, who subsequently plunked Brock Holt. With 2 out and the pitcher due up next, Scherzer did the sensible thing in intentionally walking Jackie Bradley, Jr. But things did not work out as he had hoped, to put it mildly. Rick sports a .171 lifetime batting average, which is not bad for a pitcher, especially since he has played his whole 10 year major league career in the AL. This was his first ever big league double. The Sox picked up one more run in the 7th, a solo blast to left center by Mookie Betts off Washington reliever Brandon Kintzler. Rick proved to be as good a pitcher as he was a hitter in this one, going 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits and 2 free passes, with 5 punch-outs. The two runs came on solo dingers; one in the 4th by Bryce Harper, and the other in the 6th by Daniel Murphy. The Nats picked up an additional run in the 8th when Harper homered again, this time off Joe Kelly. We are looking for some momentum after that brutal Yankees series, and maybe this will help. Boston beat Washington in interleague play, 4-3, at Nationals Park. Record: 57-29. Game 86/76.

#RedSox Game Summary (July 1) The Price Is Wrong

Every pitcher has an off day now and then, but David Price had his in the worst possible regular season game, against Boston’s key challenger for the AL East, the New York Yankees. He was hammered from the start, and his pitches seemed to either hit their spots, or clear the fence. By the time Alex Cora came to fetch Price with 1 out in the 4th, David had surrendered 8 runs on 9 hits, including home runs by Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, Kyle Higashioka, and two by Aaron Hicks (who hit a third dinger off Hector Velázquez later on), and a double by Didi Gregorius. When all was said and done, the Yanks went 16-for-38 for 11 runs. Giancarlo Stanton also doubled in the game. New York starter Luis Severino sailed through his start, going 6 2/3rds shutout innings while giving up 2 hits and 3 walks, with 6 punch-outs. The lone Sox run came in the 9th inning when Sandy Leon doubled off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman, reached 3rd on a Blake Swihart single, and scored on a fielder’s choice. The quest for a division title just got a little harder. New York beat Boston, 11-1, at Yankee Stadium. Record: 56-29. Game 85/77.

#RedSox Game Summary (June 30) Counterpunch

While Chris Sale was holding the Yankees scoreless, Red Sox hitters got back at the Bronx Bombers for their thorough drubbing the previous night. The beating began in the very first inning, when JD Martinez and Xander Bogaerts singled, and Mitch Moreland walked, to set up a bases loaded situation for Rafael Devers. Raffy has a tendency to swing and miss at high pitches, but he’s been showing great plate discipline lately, and, ohhh my goodness!! Grand slam!! It was a rough start for Sonny Gray, whose record against the Red Sox has been sketchy through the years. The Sox scored two more off him in the second on 2 hits, including a Sandy Leon double, and a walk. In the end, the Sox went 17-for-42, including a 2 run bomb in the 7th by Leon, and doubles by Devers and Mookie Betts, in addition to Leon’s 2-bagger. Chris Sale pitched 7 shutout innings against the Yanks, giving up just 1 hit and 1 walk, while punching out 11. Heath Hembree and Hector Velázquez completed the whitewash in the last 2 innings. Now, the Olde Towne Team looks to David Price to secure the series win. Boston beat New York, 11-0, at Yankee Stadium. Record: 56-28. Game 84/78.