On The Last Day Of The Regular Season, Sox Clinch A Spot In The AL Wild Card Game Vs. NYY

 

    In a season full of crazy highs and lows, it was only fitting that it came down to the final game of the regular season for the Red Sox (92-70 overall, 43-38 away) to ultimately determine their playoff fate. If they had lost to the lowly Nationals (65-97 overall, 35-46 home), they would have been forced to play a tiebreaker game #163 against the Blue Jays (91-71) on Monday. Thankfully, it did not have to come down to that scary scenario as Boston rallied for a thrilling 7-5 victory at Nationals Park to both sweep Washington and set up a doozy of an AL Wild Card game on Tuesday night (8:08, ESPN) at Fenway Park vs. the Yankees (92-70). It will be the first time that the Red Sox have ever played in the Wild Card game so who better to face than their biggest rival? In a sport that is always desperate for attention and ratings, MLB couldn't have asked for a sexier matchup than that.

    Star third baseman Rafael Devers (4-for-5 w/2 HRs, 4 RBIs & 3 runs) was incredible for the visitors while Chris Sale only went 2.1 IP (recording all of his outs via strikeouts) but six relievers helped the Sox get to the finish line. In fact, if you throw out Garrett Richards (3 ER in 1 IP), the other five guys (Hirokazu Sawamura, Martin Perez, Garrett Whitlock, Eduardo Rodriguez and Nick Pivetta) combined for 5.2 scoreless innings and only one hit allowed with five strikeouts. Boston did not make it easy on themselves as they trailed 2-0 in the fourth inning before Devers crushed a solo home run to center (his 37th of the season). The Nats added three more runs in the fifth inning including a two-run double by catcher Alex Avila in his final MLB game that made it 5-1 in favor of the home team. 

    The Sox eventually decided to get to work in the sixth inning as they cut it to 5-2 on an infield single by catcher Christian Vazquez that scored pinch hitter Jose Iglesias (playing in his last game of the season since he was acquired after Sept. 1). Boston tied it with three runs in the seventh on an RBI single by Devers that plated first baseman and former Nationals great Kyle Schwarber and a clutch two-run double by left fielder Alex Verdugo (3-for-5). Raffy saved his last heroics of the day for the ninth inning as he smashed a two-run bomb to left center that scored Schwarber once again. Needless to say, that was a huge swing (sorry for the lame baseball pun) for the Sox who went from having to play a must-win game tomorrow against the very dangerous Jays to hosting a must-win in two days vs. the Yankees.  

    Red Sox manager Alex Cora had to be creative in the last few innings with his bullpen: Whitlock pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning with two strikeouts, Rodriguez (13-8) added a scoreless eighth inning with a strikeout to earn the win and Pivetta closed it out with a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a strikeout for his first save of the season/as a member of the Red Sox. New York also would have faced Toronto if they had lost this afternoon but they beat Tampa Bay (100-62) 1-0 on a walk-off single by their star right fielder Aaron Judge. This will be the fourth time that the Yanks have appeared in the winner-take-all Wild Card game and they are 2-1 previously in them. With Nathan Eovaldi (11-9, 3.75 ERA) opposing Yankees ace Gerrit Cole (16-8), it has all the makings of a classic new chapter to one of the great rivalries in sports. The winners will advance to the ALDS vs. the Rays, what an amazing season for the AL East (minus the 52-110 Orioles!). 

The Curse of A.J. Pierzynski is Broken, Red Sox Start a Fresh New Chapter

A funny thing happened to the Red Sox tonight on the way to another heartless loss: they actually pulled out an improbable comeback capped off by a walk-off single by Brock Holt to beat the White Sox 5-4 at Fenway Park. Chicago (44-48 overall, 20-27 away) had been up 4-0 in the eighth inning before Boston (40-51 overall, 22-26 home) scored three in the eighth then two in the ninth for their seventh walk-off win of the season.

With their ace Chris Sale (7.2 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts) on the mound, this was a game that the White Sox had no business losing. He left after throwing 107 pitches; relievers Jake Patricka and Javy Guerra (0-1) each gave up two earned runs to blow it after Chicago had won the first two games of the series. It sounds cheesy but wins have been so hard to come by lately that I almost forgot how sweet they can feel in situations like that.

Rubby De La Rosa (5 innings, 6 hits, 3 earned runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts) made his first start for Boston since June 21 after he was called up to take Brandon Workman's place (while he went back to Pawtucket). Rookie catcher Christian Vazquez made his MLB debut and with Boston designating A.J. Pierzynski for assignment earlier in the day, this means that the highly touted youngster will be getting plenty of playing time to see what he can do.

Jose Abreu (2 for 4) hit a solo homer to center field, his 28th of the season (!), in the first inning. Conor Gillaspie (2 for 4 with double, 2 runs) followed with a solo shot of his own in the second for a 2-0 White Sox advantage. Chicago scored a run in the fourth on Mike Napoli's error and it was 4-0 in the seventh following an RBI double by Adam Eaton.

The Red Sox' rally started with something I've never seen before: an infield double by Mookie Betts (2 for 3 with 2 runs, double). Dustin Pedroia drove him in with a single then David Ortiz (2 for 4 with run) crushed an opposite field double off the wall in left center to cut it to 4-2. Jonny Gomes (2 for 3) made it 4-3 with an RBI double.

He batted ninth as part of Boston's five rookies in the lineup (their most since 1987) but Betts came through again in the ninth. He was hit by a pitch then scored the tying run on Daniel Nava's pinch hit double. That set the stage for Holt's first career walk-off hit and who better to provide it with how incredible he's been since he was called up (again).

It didn't seem like much at the time but this victory wouldn't have been possible without Craig Breslow (1-2-3 6th), Junichi Tazawa (scoreless 8th) and the newest All-Star Koji Uehara (5-2) who struck out the side in the ninth to set the tone.

In their last home game before the All-Star break, Jon Lester (9-7) faces Jose Quintana (5-7) tomorrow afternoon (4:05, NESN) as Boston tries to split the four-game series with Chicago.

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Should I tell the Red Sox that the White Sox are terrible?

The summer weather is finally here but with the Boston Bruins in their first Stanley Cup finals in 21 years, the Boston Red Sox have a few more weeks of anonymity before everybody starts paying more attention to their games.

It's a good thing that nobody cares right now since the Red Sox (30-25) aren't playing very well at the moment. Boston dropped its third straight game overall, 10-7 last night at Fenway Park to the Chicago White Sox (26-31).

As long as Ozzie Guillen has been manager of the White Sox, they've always had lineups that could put up big numbers since they hit bombs. The lack of starting pitching and shaky bullpens has made them an afterthought in the crappy American League Central, making them miss the playoffs the last few seasons.

I don't expect Chicago to do much this season either but they look like they're about to sweep the Red Sox at Fenway which would be pretty embarrassing.

Alfredo Aceves (2-1) for Boston last night and he didn't have it after excelling in his first two spot starts. In five innings, he was knocked around for eight runs (six earned) on eight hits with three walks and a strikeout.

Journeyman Phil Humber (4-3) started for Chicago and he continued his surprisingly good season. He went 7.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on nine hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

For the second straight, the White Sox got out to a quick start and never looked back from there. They put up four runs in the second and one in the third for an early 5-0 lead. Gordon Beckham (3 hits) had an RBI single in the second, Brett Morel followed with a fielder's choice, Alexei Ramirez (4 hits, 3 RBIs) had an RBI single and A.J. Pierzynski added a ground-rule double.

Jason Varitek got the Red Sox on the board with a solo homer in the second, his second of the season.

Ramirez had another RBI single in the fourth before the White Sox put up three in the sixth on an RBI single by Juan Pierre, RBI double by Carlos Quentin and sacrifice fly by Paul Konerko.

The Red Sox added some runs in garbage time to make it close but Chris Sale came on to strike out Adrian Gonzalez on three pitches for his second save of the season.

Drew Sutton had an RBI single in the eighth and David Ortiz hit a three-run homer (his 12th of the season). Josh Reddick added a sacrifice fly in the ninth and Sutton had an RBI double.

Scott Atchison gave up two earned runs on four hits in relief. Bobby Jenks made his first appearance since May 1 and threw a scoreless eighth despite giving up two hits. Dan Wheeler had a scoreless ninth where he worked around a walk and a hit.

Tim Wakefield starts this afternoon against Gavin Floyd in the series finale. The Red Sox need a win before they have tomorrow off. Gotta get back to the roll they were on for most of May now that June is here.