A sloppy getaway
Red Sox salvage walkoff win before hitting road
Buckle up. Yesterday’s game at Fenway Park featured more swerves than a Quentin Tarantino thriller. And it was almost as messy. The Red Sox walked off in the 10th inning with an 8-7 victory over the Chicago White Sox. It was a 4 1⁄ 2- hour affair that featured 15 runs, 27 hits, 12 walks, three errors and three batters hit by pitches.
At first, the script read just like Wednesday night’s loss for the Red Sox. After another middling effort from their starter, the offense struck back to give the Red Sox a late-inning lead, only to see it squandered by the bullpen.
But this time, the Red Sox didn’t roll over after seeing their 5-4 lead turn into a 7-5 deficit in the seventh. They clawed back and forced extra innings.
In the bottom of the 10th, Xander Bogaerts singled to center to drive home Mookie Betts with the walkoff winner. Fittingly, it was a broken-bat single.
“We kept battling, kept digging, kept finding a way to push a run across,” manager John Farrell said.
The Red Sox ended a shaky 10-game homestand with a 4-6 record. They avoided an embarrassing Fenway sweep at the hand of Chicago, which would have been its first since 1927.
Down 7-5 in the seventh, the Red Sox scratched out a run on Travis Shaw’s sacrifice fly. Dustin Pedroia tied the game in the eighth with a liner off the tip of Chicago shortstop Tim Anderson’s glove. The ball ricocheted just far enough into left field to allow Marco Hernandez to score from second.
Following an eight-pitch ninth, Craig Kimbrel trotted back out to work the 10th. The Red Sox closer loaded the bases with nobody out, but bailed himself out by inducing a weak infield pop-up followed by back-to-back strikeouts.
“It was exciting. He shut it down,” Bogaerts said. “That’s how nasty he is, he’s pretty filthy. One of the best closers in the game.”
Said Farrell: “Just a hell of a job on his part given the situation.”
Things didn’t start well for the Red Sox. Rick Porcello loaded the bases before recording an out in the first, which ended with Chicago up 2-0. It was the sixth time in seven games — and all four against the White Sox — the Red Sox trailed before they stepped up to the plate.
Porcello grinded through 51⁄ and allowed four runs (all earned) on eight hits. He struck out just two Chicago batters, which was a season low for the right-hander.
“I think lately, it’s been the first inning, honestly,” Porcello said. “A couple starts I’ve been able to recover from it, but today I felt like I was a little sloppy.”
James Shields started for Chicago and desperately needed a solid outing. He had struggled since joining the White Sox in a deal from the Padres at the beginning of the month. He began the game with a 21.81 ERA.
Shields cruised through five, but was given the hook while still up 4-1 after back-to-back walks in the sixth. Matt Albers came on in relief, and the self-inflicted wounds kept coming.
Albers hit Jackie Bradley Jr. to load the bases. Hanley Ramirez hit a slow chopper to second, and Brett Lawrie threw the ball away as two runs scored to get the Red Sox within 4-3.
Pinch-hitting for Christian Vazquez, Sandy Leon tied the game with an RBI single and Marco Hernandez followed with a fielder’s choice that put the Red Sox up 5-4. It was a short-lived lead. In the top of the seventh, Tommy Layne gave up back-to-back singles before Junichi Tazawa came in for the Red Sox. On the second pitch by Tazawa, Jose Abreu laced a three-run homer over the Green Monster, putting Chicago back in front 7-5.
But where the Red Sox crumbled the previous night, they battled back.
“Big win for us, happy flight,” Shaw said. “Tough series. Not a very good homestand for us in general. It’s a good way for us to go out. That would have been a bad loss again today, but we found a way to get it done.”