What a weirdly perfectly executed 9th inning by Alex Cora.
Someone prone to over-managing and not having things work out, his tinkering in the whole inning worked out to perfection. After Romy Gonzalez—himself a pinch hitter for Rob Refsnyder who came out of the game after missing a diving catch—got on with a base hit, Nate Eaton—who came in to play right field—drew a walk to set up a great two-on, one out jam. Ceddanne clearly looked frustrated at the dish wih his weak pop out. Then, not Connor Wong,
but pinch hitter Nick Sogard comes up as clutch as can be with a two-run double to the left-field wall. Even after that, not Masataka Yoshida, but pinch hitter Carlos Narvaez singled Sogard home to give the Sox a three-run cushion. Aroldis Chapman was Aroldis Chapman, throwing in an extra strikeout just for fun to seal the win. Yes, he had the classic four strikeouts in an inning since one was on a wild pitch.
With the Yankees and Jays duking it out, any win we could take to catch up on either one of them ending this skid was going to be huge. This one felt like a biggie heading out to Sacramento.
Three Studs
Nick Sogard
That’s gotta be such a hard moment to step into the game into, let alone you’re as cold as can be with the game already in the 9th inning. I know between him, Eaton and Hamilton, there are a plethora of the same type of player on the roster, but it clearly worked today.
Garrett Whitlock
Taking over for a rough Zack Kelly in the 7th to keep the game tied and just blank the Dbacks, Whitlock and Chapman have been a perfect one-two punch late.
Brayan Bello
After seeing the starters struggle so much in the last few games, seeing Bello’s start felt refreshing. Six innings of solid enough baseball. Not a ton of Ks, not a ton of walks, but just enough done to keep this team in it.
Three Duds
Masataka Yoshida
…why does he still play. If Roman were healthy, Masa would be my first guy out of the lineup already.
Connor Wong
I know he’s Bello’s personal catcher, but the bat still isn’t doing anything.
Jarren Duran
What a harsh day at the dish for Duran. An 0-for-5 spot isn’t fun.
Play of the Game
So good, So good, Sogard, that’s how it goes, right?
