Sox outlast Cards in 13
Young’s pinch hit finishes comeback
ST. LOUIS — For the majority of the 13 innings they played last night, the Red Sox were one clutch hitter short.
The David Ortiz-sized hole in the cleanup spot seemed even more noticeable for most of the evening at Busch Stadium, as Andrew Benintendi endured yet another disappointing game, driving in the gametying run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning but finishing 0-for-5 to extend his hitless streak to 26 atbats. He left four on base.
But the bullpen persevered and John Farrell managed his way through the St. Louis Cardinals lineup under National League rules until his last pinchhitter saved the night and earned the Red Sox a 5-4 win and two-game sweep.
Chris Young, who has made just one start in the last eight days, came off the bench nearly 41⁄2 hours into the game to stroke the eventual game-winning RBI single to center field to score Mitch Moreland.
Young improved to 3-for8 with four RBI as a pinch hitter this season and 7-for21 (.333) since signing with the Sox before last season (the average for MLB pinch hitters in 2017 is .252). His heroics bailed out the offense and in particular Benintendi, who is in his first slump as a major leaguer but did produce a run in an important spot.
The first time Xander Bogaerts tripled was with two outs in the first inning, but Benintendi struck out. The second time Bogaerts tripled was with one out in the eighth inning to bring home Dustin Pedroia to make it a 4-3 game, and Benintendi followed with the game-tying sac fly.
A 10th-inning at-bat stood out as a golden opportunity for Benintendi to flip the script. With Josh Rutledge on second base and two outs, the Cardinals chose to intentionally walk Bogaerts and pitch to the cleanup hitter. Benintendi worked a full count before rolling over an outside fastball for a groundout to third.
Farrell said before the game he wasn’t concerned about Benintendi’s prolonged slump and would keep him at the No. 4 spot, a move that clearly backfired in this one.
Benintendi is hitting .317 out of the No. 2 hole but just .205 in 10 games as the cleanup hitter.
Sox starter Rick Porcello can dial his four-seamer up to 96-97 mph at max effort, but his first four-seamer of the game was just 90 and on a 1-1 count, Dexter Fowler hammered a long home to give St. Louis the early lead.
The second inning was mostly a case of Porcello hurting himself with mislocated pitches. A high slider was ripped by Yadier Molina for a double to start the inning. Aledmys Diaz bunted for a single and Magneuris Sierra turned a weak curveball into an RBI single.
Another run scored later in the inning on a fielder’s choice, giving the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.
Porcello settled in to work six innings on 87 pitches and was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh. His ERA stands at 4.23 and he has allowed a majors-high 66 hits. On the positive side, he has 58 strikeouts in 551⁄3 innings.
It’s a remarkably similar season as the one David Price had through nine starts last year, when he threw 551⁄3 innings with 70 strikeouts but allowed 56 hits and a 5.53 ERA. Price also took an early lead in hits allowed and held it all year long.
Robbie Ross Jr., Matt Barnes, Joe Kelly and Robbie Scott combined to keep the game scoreless until the ninth, when Craig Kimbrel fired a clean inning. Heath Hembree handled the 10th inning and Fernando Abad took over in the 11th, throwing two innings until the Sox scored a run. Ben Taylor worked the 13th for the save.
The Sox first got on the board in the seventh when Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a moonshot of a 441-foot, two-run homer, his second blast in as many games.