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TYLER THORNBURG |
THE BEST RED SOX TEAM EVAH! ...
Tyler Thornburg looks strong as
the Sox beat the Twins
July 28, 2018
... The Red
Sox won the
game while
Rick
Porcello had
one really bad inning and was more okay overall than good, but he did
get through 5 2⁄3 innings and kept the team in
the game long enough for the offense to mount a comeback. That they
did thanks to some big hits from the bottom of the order as well as a
mammoth homer from J.D.
Martinez.
The other big takeaway from this one was Tyler
Thornburg coming
through with yet another great outing. He just keeps climbing that
bullpen depth chart.
The first two outs of the
first inning, off the bats of Mookie
Betts and Xander
Bogaerts, both went to
the warning track in straightaway center field and combined for 775 feet of
distance. In between, Andrew
Benintendi and J.D.
Martinez reached on very weak singles, and the former was knocked in on yet
another single from Mitch Moreland. Then, with Martinez at third base, Rafael
Devers stepped to the
plate. Strangely, he dropped down a bunt down the third base line. Now, it
worked and he reached on a single, but Martinez was stuck at third. It led to a
bases loaded chance for Eduardo Núñez, and he hit a decently hard ground ball to
the right side, but Joe
Mauer made a nice play
on it to end the inning and make sure The Sox got just one in the first.
The Red Sox would come to
regret not getting more in that inning fairly quickly when Logan
Morrison walked to the
plate with the bases empty and one out in the second. The Twins first baseman
has had a tough year, but as he showed here he can still put a charge into bad
pitches. Porcello threw one and Morrison
crushed a no-doubter out to right field to tie the game at one.
The Sox’s offense would
then hit a bit of a snag against Jake
Odorizzi for a couple
of innings, going down in order in both the second and the third. Meanwhile,
Porcello totally lost it in the top of the third. The Twins’ rally here started
with a bloop single, but the contact would get harder. Joe
Mauer ripped a liner
into right field for a single, putting two on for should-be All-Star Eddie
Rosario. Porcello did strike him out, making it look like he may escape the
damage, but Jorge
Polanco had other
ideas. The Twins shortstop ripped a triple into the triangle area in center
field, and just like that it was a two-run lead for Minnesota. Brian Dozier
followed that up with a single of his own, and the Twins would leave the inning
with a somewhat comfortable 4-1 lead.
From here we fast-forward
to the bottom half of the fourth with that same 4-1 deficit in hand for the Red
Sox. After a quick first out, Devers swung
the bat in his at bat and he did damage. It wasn’t a home run, but he did get it
to the seats with a ground-rule double to center field. After a Núñez walk,
there were two with two outs for Jackie
Bradley Jr. He came
through in a big way, smashing a triple of his own to center field. Betts followed
it up with a double into left field, and in the blink of an eye this game was
tied at four.
After Porcello came through
with a huge and easy shutdown inning in the fifth to preserve the tie, the Red
Sox got back to work looking for a lead this time around. They didn’t wait very
long at all with Martinez leading off the inning. The slugger got a hanging
slider and he demolished it over everything in left field, making it 5-4, Red
Sox. The Sox would later get a single from Xander
Bogaerts, but nothing
more.
So, with the one-run lead
in hand, Porcello came back out for the sixth looking for another quick one. He
didn’t get off to a great start, walking Dozier to kick things off. The Twins
second baseman would move to second on a bad passed ball from Sandy León, but
Porcello did come back with two more outs after that. From there, Alex
Cora called upon Heath
Hembree to protect the
lead with a runner in scoring position. Dozier would move 90 more feet on a
stolen base, but Hembree got
a ground out to strand the runner and preserve the lead.
With a tired bullpen, the
Red Sox were really in some need of insurance in the sixth, and fortunately the
lineup obliged. León made up for the passed ball in the previous inning with a
Fenway double off the Monster, and Bradley followed that up with a walk. After a
wild pitch moved both batters into scoring position, Benintendi came
through with a one-out single to plate the Sox sixth run of the night. That was
all they’d get, but it was still a two-run lead heading into the seventh.
Hembree did his job coming
back out for that inning, allowing just a single in a scoreless frame. After the
Red Sox stranded Núñez at third after a two-out triple, Tyler
Thornburg came out for
the eighth. This was a nice test for the righty, and he passed with flying
colors with an easy 1-2-3 inning.
The Sox came back with a
big inning in the bottom half of the eighth, scoring four runs in a rally that
included two intentional walks and two doubles, though it also included Devers
coming up limping and leaving the game. Obviously we hope there’s nothing
serious going on there.
Joe Kelly came
in with the big lead. He allowed a couple of baserunners (one of them on a
strikeout), but still tossed a scoreless inning to finish things up. |
