The magic of modern medicine has caused me to see pharmaceutically-induced snakes on the sidewalk this week. So if I say Serpientes instead of Marlins, or if anything else weird happens here, well, this is my brain on drugs. Still climbing out of the injury hole.
The first inning was an action-packed affair that ended with our guys up by two. Roman Anthony drilled the very first pitch for a long single. He and Trevor Story both singled, stole second, and scored in the inning. Masataka Yoshida was responsible
for the RBIs. Fun.
What’s better than a two-run first inning? A four-run third! More heads-up baserunning from Anthony netted him a double. He scored on a double by Jarren Duran and then last night’s hero, Story, hit a three-run homer. It was nearly back-to-back homers as Yoshida then hit a ball that was certainly over the wall in right but was reeled in.
Thank goodness for this early lead because we ended up needing it! After a solid afternoon of pitching, with just one strike needed to walk away with a no-sweat win…watch Isaiah Campbell make things interesting.
No harm done in the end because Aroldis Chapman got the final out. We’d wanted to rest him, and it looked like we’d be able to, but that’s baseball sometimes. We’ll take it and continue to appreciate that the Sox at Fenway are the best homepark team in all of MLB since June 30.
Studs
One Through Four Hitters
Roman Anthony, Alex Bregman, and Jarren Duran got on base three times each. Trevor Story hit a three-run home run. These guys were monsters today. Their collective stats were:
7-13, 6R, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 12 total bases, 2 SB
The one blip in this thinking was Story popping out with the bases loaded in the sixth (hitters one through three having done their job and gotten on base). But we can be generous about this due to his earlier three-run blast.
Anthony’s baserunning deserves a special mention because he was heads-up at all times. Not only the stolen base, but at one point the Marlins attempted a fake throw to trick him into overrunning third but he wasn’t having any of it. He scored the Sox first run and his heads-up baserunning is a big part of how they were able to get on the board first. All of those runs felt important by the time the ninth inning rolled around.
Pitching, Except Isaiah Campbell [see: Duds]
The offense gave Brayan Bello a ton of early support, and he had a rocky seventh so his performance might be overlooked, but he was efficient, and in control, and issued no walks. His mistakes were giving up two solo home runs and the jam in the seventh. It was a quality start and Justin Wilson nicely cleaned up after him. Stephen Matz was 1-2-3 in his inning of work and made a great play in the field.
Duds
Isaiah Campbell
After being one strike away from closing out the game, he let a five-run lead shrink to two. We’ve done worse nail biting for sure this season, but it seemingly came out of nowhere after the substantial lead. The Sox then had to bring Chapman in, when he should’ve been able to rest.
Bottom of the Order
Between them, Gonzalez, Abreu, Rafaela, and Wong got on base once (a double from Rafaela). Gentlemen, it’s not enough.
Play of the Game
Same player as yesterday, just as exciting of a play: Trevor Story whales a home run. It put the Sox up 6-0.
