Another day, another win for the Red Sox. Boston has everything clicking on all cylinders, and this afternoon, it was Eduardo Rodriguez's turn to take the mound and show Baltimore what he's made of.
E-Rod pitched 5.2 innings of shutout ball, was hitting his spots, painting the corners, and getting great velocity behind his fastball, as well as break on his off-speed pitches. One unusual thing about this start from Rodriguez was the amount of hits he gave up (9), but none of them resulted in any Orioles crossing the plate. His final line is as follows: 5.2IP, 9H, 0ER, 0BB, 7K, 110NP The past two starts for Rodriguez have been very good, as he was lights out in New York, surrendering only one hit, locating all his pitches well, and thriving in the spotlight; and once again this afternoon, earning his 4th win of 2018. But it didn't happen alone for E-Rod, as he was provided all the run support he needed. J.D Martinez launched his 14th homerun of the season in the second inning, turning a fastball from rookie David Hess inside out. Andrew Benintendi, who has started to heat up as of late, socked his 5th homer of the year into the visiting bullpen, scoring Jackie Bradley Jr. and making it 3-0 Red Sox. Just two batters later, with Mitch Moreland on first, J.D Martinez would strike again, belting a missile to the deepest part of Fenway Park for his MLB leading 15th homerun, and second on the afternoon. The lead stood at 5-0 in the sixth, and that's when Rodriguez would start to run into trouble. He loaded the bases with two out, then that's when Alex Cora made the move to the pen and called on Heath Hembree to work out of the jam. He would do just that, and Boston would go on to win by the same score, 5-0. Boston is off on Monday as they travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Rays in a three-game set before returning home to take on the Braves. Chris Sale will get the ball on Tuesday in the Trop.
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David Price returned to the mound at Fenway Park last night for his second start since being scratched in New York when he was diagnosed with carpal tunnel.
Once again, he did not disappoint. Price went the distance, and was one out away from his first complete game shutout since 2015, before giving up a homerun to Orioles SS Manny Machado. It was a wire-to-wire, lights out performance from Price, and a much needed one too. Right from the beginning, it was clear he had command of his fastball, good velocity, as well as good break on his curveball and slider. He kept Baltimore off balance all night, getting ahead in the count and trusting his fielders to make the plays behind him. His final line is as follows: 9.0IP, 5H, 2ER, 8K, 95NP While Price was marvelous, there was another player in a Boston uniform that stayed red-hot, J.D Martinez. Martinez is by far the best, and most dangerous hitter in the Sox lineup right now, and he's almost an impossible out. He kicked off the scoring in the ballgame my launching an absolute missile to dead center for a homerun, his 13th of the year. That would put the Sox up 2-0. Boston would strike twice in the fifth, as Benintendi scored Bradley Jr. on a sac-fly to push the lead out to three. Then, later in the inning, Xander Bogaerts would launch a three-run blast over the Green Monster for the second night in a row to make it 6-0 Red Sox. The score would remain the same until two outs in the top of the ninth, when Manny Machado would end David price's shutout bid, and make it 6-2, which would wind up being final. Boston earned it's 30th win of the season, the first club in the MLB to reach that mark. Game two of the series with the Orioles is tonight, as Boston sends Drew Pomeranz to the mound, opposed by Baltimore's Alex Cobb. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m ET. (Image from The Boston Globe)
The stage was set for the Red Sox to return home to Fenway Park and rebound against a mediocre Oakland team after an up-and-down road trip. But good old buddy Sean Manaea had other plans. The same man that no-hit Boston last time he faced them in Oakland, got the best of the Sox yet again, picking up the win in a 6-5 nail biter. It wasn't like Manaea was overly impressive either. His line was 6.0IP, 8H, 4R, 3ER, 4K The problem was Porcello, who usually was very reliable to go deep into a game, struggled out of the gate. He wiggled his way out of any damage in the first two innings, but the A's caught up to him in the third, as Matt Joyce launched just his fourth homer of the season over the wall to give Oakland a 1-0 lead. The Red Sox would respond right away, coming back in the bottom of the inning and tying it up on a Benintendi single, followed up immediately by a Hanley Ramirez bloop single that would give Boston a 2-1 lead. But again, Oakland would respond, plating two more runs and snatching the lead right back on a Jonathan Lucroy double. Later in that same inning, Dexter Fowler would rip a triple down the line, scoring Lucroy. Manaea would shut Boston down in the fourth but Hanley Ramirez would ground into a fielder's choice, scoring Sandy Leon in the bottom half of the fifth, making it a 4-3 game. The resilient A's would again get that run right back in the sixth on a Matt Olsen big fly. But, like it was according to script, Rafael Devers turned a fastball around for his seventh homerun of the year to immediately cut the deficit back to one, 5-4. In the eighth, both teams would trade homers, Khris Davis in the top half of the inning, and J.D Martinez in the bottom. That 6-5 score would wind up being the final, as Boston could not rally for a walk-off. Boston fell to a half game out of first place in the AL East, as the Yankees did not play last night. Boston sends Eduardo Rodriguez to the hill tonight, opposed by Dave Mengden. First pitch is at 7:10 ET. |