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A TEAM THAT COULDN'T
April 5, 2017 ... The Red Sox finally took advantage of what was outstanding pitching in the bottom of the 12th inning when Sandy Leon blasted a walk-off home run to left field for a 3-0 victory. Leon flung his helmet in the air as he crossed home plate. After struggling at the plate for much of spring training, he has five hits in his first eight at-bats of the season. Chris Sale made a sparkling debut for the Red Sox, firing seven scoreless innings. Five of his teammates in the bullpen were just as impressive, and all were needed. Red Sox pitchers held the Pirates to five hits and struck out nine with one walk. Remarkably, Pittsburgh did not advance a runner past first base. Matt Barnes, Craig Kimbrel, Heath Hembree, Robby Scott, and Joe Kelly followed Sale to the mound. The Pirates never came close to scoring. Jackie Bradley Jr. drew a one-out walk to start the winning rally. He was picked off by Bastardo but stole second base when first baseman Phil Gosselin bounced the throw. Pablo Sandoval also walked, bringing up Leon. In a scoreless game, the Sox went to Kimbrel in the ninth inning against the top of the Pittsburgh order. Leadoff hitter Jordy Mercer grounded to the left side, but Sandoval could not pick the ball up and was charged with his second error of the season. The Pirates tried to bunt and Starling Marte popped up to Sandoval in foul ground. Andrew McCutchen grounded to second and the Sox took out the lead runner as Dustin Pedroia made a nice pickup on a hard-hit ball. Gregory Polanco then grounded to second. Pittsburgh pitchers had retired nine in a row before Bradley (2 for 4) singled with one out in the 10th. Batting righthanded for the first time this season, Sandoval struck out swinging at a high fastball. Leon dumped a soft single into right field and Bradley took third. Pedroia walked to load the bases for Andrew Benintendi, but he grounded to second. Kelly, who lost Farrell’s trust at the end of spring training, emerged from the bullpen in the 11th inning and worked two innings for the win. It was 40 degrees when Sale threw his first pitch, but he was wearing only short sleeves under his No. 41 jersey. The crowd of 36,137 was with Sale from the start, enthusiastically cheering when his first pitch was called a strike. They then snuggled deeper into their parkas to see what the new guy had in store for them. Sale was dominant, allowing three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. The Pirates hit no more than five or six balls hard. He threw 69 of his 104 pitches for strikes and had 14 swings-and-misses. The Red Sox could not have asked for more. He issued his only walk in the seventh inning when David Freese took first with two outs. Francisco Cervelli swung at the next pitch and popped to right field. The crowd cheered as Sale left the mound, knowing his night was done. Pirates starter Jameson Taillon was the second overall pick of the 2010 draft, right after Bryce Harper. Sale wasn’t taken for another 11 picks. Facing Sale for the first time, he was up to the challenge. Leon doubled with two outs in the third inning, driving a ball down the line in right field into the corner. Pedroia followed with a single to right field and coach Brian Butterfield tried to hold Leon up as he came around third base. Leon kept chugging and was easily thrown out by McCutchen. With Benintendi on deck, it was an especially egregious mistake by Leon. But he made up for it. The Red Sox now have five healthy starting pitchers with lefthander Drew Pomeranz cleared to come off the disabled list. The question now is how they will be lined up. Pomeranz was placed on the disabled list with what the team said was a forearm strain. But he never was shut down from throwing and on Monday pitched six innings in a minor league intrasquad game at Fort Myers, Fla. The Sox continue to get slammed by illness. Mookie Betts was out of the lineup with flu-like symptoms and Brock Holt was sent home for the same reason. Lefthanded reliever Robbie Ross Jr. also is affected.
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