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THE BEST RED SOX TEAM EVAH! ...
Brock Holt's HR leads the Sox back
September 11,
2018 ... Most of this Tuesday was looking like a
distressing night for the Red Sox. Chris Sale was supposed to pitch
two innings, but his lack of efficiency led to a longer-than-expected
first and that was his only frame on the mound. Meanwhile, the
offense was an absolute no-show for most of the night against Ryan
Borucki. The young lefty was making Boston’s bats look silly all
night. Fortunately, the bullpen was terrific and Brock Holt came
through with a massively clutch pinch hitting appearance.
Chris Sale came out of the gate firing, with his first
pitch clocking in at 97 mph. Despite the gas, he did have a bit of trouble in
his first inning back. Lourdes Gurriel started off by hitting a fly ball to
right field that just kept carrying and hit off the bottom of the wall for a
leadoff double. Sale did come back with a couple of strikeouts, but after
hitting Kendrys Morales he was facing two runners on base with two outs. Randall
Grichuk had a chance to get Toronto on the board early, but he popped one up out
to second base and the inning was over. That first inning took 26 pitches, and
Sale wouldn’t come back out for a second. He did get some work in the bullpen
during the game to get to about 48 pitches total on the day.
At the plate, the Red Sox had absolutely nothing against
Ryan Borucki. Tonight, they had no answers and were looking foolish against the
rookie southpaw.
Borucki got going early, coming through with a 1-2-3 inning
in the first and striking out three of the first four batters he faced. Steve
Pearce was Boston’s first baserunner when he drew a walk in the second, but Ian
Kinsler quickly took that off the board with a double play. In the third, the
Red Sox finally got their first hit of the game when Jackie Bradley Jr smacked a
line drive into left field with two outs. Unfortuantely, that was all they’d get
there. They’d get one more single in the fifth, but again there was nothing
doing after that.
But while this was going on the Red Sox pitching staff was
able to ward off the Blue Jays and keep the game tied. Since Sale’s night ended
earlier than they’d planned, Nathan Eovaldi wasn’t ready to come on for the
second. Instead, Brandon Workman got the call and did well allowing just a
two-out walk in his inning of work.
In the third, Eovaldi was ready and he had a solid outing,
though he did start things off by walking the first batter he faced. To make up
for that, he quickly picked Gurriel off at first base to eliminate that walk,
and he then retired the next eight batters he faced. Toronto finally managed
another baserunner off Eovaldi in the fifth with a two-out single, but they
wouldn’t build off that.
In the bottom of the fifth, Toronto finally started to
threaten. Devon Travis led off the inning by scraping a double off the Monster,
and then he’d move over to a third after a long at bat from Justin Smoak ended
with a flyout. Eovaldi then walked Morales, and suddenly there were runners on
the corners with just one out. Corey Davis came in to run for Morales, and he’d
take off for second during the next at bat. Sandy León threw down to second,
prompting Travis to break for home. Kinsler had a chance to get Travis at the
plate fairly easily with a good throw, but the second baseman was a bit off
balance and his throw was way off the mark, not only allowing Travis to score
but also allowing Davis to get to third. The latter would come in to score on a
bloop single from Kevin Pillar, and the Blue Jays had a 2-0 lead. That’d mark
the end of Eovaldi’s night, with Ryan Brasier coming on. He’d get a strikeout
and the inning was over.
After Brasier came back out for a 1-2-3 bottom half of the
sixth, Boston’s bats got going a bit. Xander Bogaerts started a rally with a
one-out walk, and Pearce made the first big-time contact of the night. He
smashed one off the wall in straightaway center field, scoring Bogaerts on a
stand-up triple. That would end Borcuki’s night, and Ryan Tepera came on with a
man on third and one out. Tepera got a big strikeout of Kinsler for the second
out, and after Eduardo Núñez drew a walk it looked like it was going to be Mitch
Moreland’s chance to be a hero again. He was in the on deck circle for Sandy
León, but at the last second Alex Cora called him back in favor of Brock Holt.
Brock got a fastball middle-in and he smoked one out over the wall in right
field, and the Red Sox suddenly had a 4-2 lead.
So now it was up to the bullpen. Hector Velazquez came on
first and he tossed two pitches for one out before being lifted for Bobby Poyner.
The lefty got one out but then allowed a single to Yangervis Solarte, and that
was the end of his night. Joe Kelly was then tasked with ending the inning, and
he did just that with a strikeout.
The Red Sox were able to get three insurance runs in the
top half of the ninth, and Heath Hembree came on to try and finish this one off.
He did just that with a 1-2-3 ninth, and the Red Sox had their second straight
win and a guaranteed postseason berth. |
