A TEAM THAT COULDN'T
GET THE JOB DONE ...
Jackie Bradley's break for home
on Mookie's double, gives
the Sox another walk-off win

August 16, 2017 ...  Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts came through in the ninth inning and that was enough for three runs and a 5-4 come-from-behind, walk-off victory. Before that, the game was marked by a poor inning from Eduardo Rodriguez that looked like enough to propel St. Louis to a victory. The offense was also frustrating for much of this game, but as has been the case so often this year they came through when it mattered most.

This was a relatively big start for Rodriguez, and considering the importance of Rodriguez to the Red Sox rotation in David Price’s absence, it was a big start for the Red Sox. He got into some trouble at times and couldn’t really get himself out of it. Specifically, the second inning was a rough one for Rodriguez. The lefty actually put forth a solid first inning, allowing one double but nothing else around it. He lost his command in the second, and the Cardinals just kept building upon their success. The rally started with a double from Yadier Molina that just missed being a home run, and after a walk to Jedd Gyorko the Cardinals got their first run on an RBI single from Kolten Wong. From here, St. Louis scored another run on a double, their third run on a passed ball and their fourth run on a bloop single to center field. It was a nice combination of taking advantage of a struggling pitcher, good hitting, bad defense and good fortune. It actually could have been worse, too, as Matt Carpenter was thrown out at home on a bullet from Jackie Bradley with just one out. Still, Rodriguez and the Red Sox left the inning with a 4-0 deficit.

From here, Rodriguez settled down in a big way, though his pitch count was essentially ruined by that second inning. He did allow two runners to reach scoring position in the third, but they reached on a couple of bloops. After that, he went into cruise mode and over the next three innings the only Cardinal to reach did so, on an error. Overall, this was just one bad inning for Rodriguez that was enough to hand him the loss. Consistency is the key for Rodriguez, and that point was driven home again in this game.

Rodriguez certainly wasn’t the only negative from the early part of this game for Boston. The Red Sox were going up against a pitcher in Lance Lynn, who gives up weak contact but also always appears to be right on the verge of falling apart. But it seemed like the Red Sox could have done more than they did in this game.

They didn’t really get anything going until the third, when they were already trailing 4-0. With a lead like that at that early point in the game, the key is to simply chip away at the lead, and that’s what they did. The rally started with a single and a walk, and then Eduardo Nuñez hit a little ground ball to the mound. Lynn made the mistake of trying to throw out Boston’s speedster, and it got by the first baseman and allowed a run to score. That’d put runners on the corners, and they’d score another run on a sacrifice fly from Mookie Betts. It was kind of a sad sacrifice fly as it came on a diving catch on a sinking line drive. It seemed as if that changed the tide of the inning, since the Sox couldn’t score after that.

The Red Sox would threaten again in the fifth when they put forth a little two-out rally. There, Betts would reach on an error by Carpenter, who just barely taken his foot off the first base bag, and an Andrew Benintendi single, put runners on the corners. Hanley Ramirez couldn’t come through with the big swing, though, as he popped up the first pitch to end the inning.

They’d also get another chance in the sixth when Rafael Devers started things off with a double and Mitch Moreland drew a walk with one out to put two on for Christian Vazquez. The Red Sox catcher ended the inning with a double play ball, though. So, the lineup had some chances, they just couldn’t come through with the one big swing when it was needed. Things got better in the final inning, but things were pretty bleak at this point.

On a more positive note, it was a good day for the Red Sox bullpen. Matt Barnes came in for Rodriguez with one down in the sixth and got two straight strikeouts. He’d come back out for a scoreless seventh. Addison Reed allowed one double in the eighth, but it came on a blooper. Other than that, he was perfect in his inning of work. Craig Kimbrel came in to get a little work in the ninth, and he set St. Louis down in a 1-2-3 inning that included two strikeouts

So, in the bottom half of the ninth, the Red Sox had one more chance to at least tie this game. They got off to a hell of a start, with Xander Bogaerts launching his first home run since July 5th. That cut the lead to one run, and it was followed up with a walk to Mitch Moreland. The Cardinals changed their pitcher and the Red Sox sent Brock Holt to pinch hit, and he struck out. After that, Jackie Bradley took another walk to move the tying run to second base. Eduardo Nuñez came up next, and during his at bat, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was ejected for arguing a late time call by the Red Sox batter. Nuñez would eventually pop out for the second at bat, bringing up Betts for a chance to win it. After a fantastic at bat, Mookie launched a double off the Monster to score both runners and win the game. Bradley, who scored the winning run, was actually beat to the plate by the ball but Yadier Molina dropped the throw and allowed him to score. It was a hell of a win, to say the least.

Most of this game was certainly not fun, but this team just has a way of coming through at the end of games. They are tied for the most walk-off victories in the league.