G99: Red Sox 1, Tigers 0

Red Sox - 100 000 000 - 1  6  0
Tigers  - 000 000 000 - 0  5  1

On May 21, 1943, the White Sox beat the Senators 1-0 in only 1:29, the fastest nine-inning 1-0 game in baseball history. The Red Sox's win on Friday night in Detroit set a new record for the longest nine-inning 1-0 game in history, lasting two hours and two minutes more than the 1943 game.

At 3:31, Boston's 69th win of the season topped the previous record (set on September 15, 2014, when the Rays beat the Yankees 1-0) by three minutes.

May 21, 1943  - 1 run, 12 hits, 4 walks, 65 batters - 1:29 /  89 minutes
July 20, 2018 - 1 run, 11 hits, 6 walks, 70 batters - 3:31 / 211 minutes

The win gave the Red Sox a 5.5-game lead, because the Mets held off the Yankees 7-5.

Steve Pearce's double in the top of the first knocked in Andrew Benintendi and David Price (6.1-4-0-1-5, 96) and three relievers made that lone run stand up, though the chances of that happening were by no means a sure thing, especially in the fourth and eighth innings.

First, Benintendi grounded a one-out single to right off Matt Boyd (5-3-1-2-6, 98). J.D. Martinez walked on four pitches. Pearce reached out and lifted a 2-2 pitch over JaCoby Jones in left field.

Price worked quickly and efficiently through the first three innings, retiring nine in a row on only 29 pitches. The final out in the third was a fantastic catch by Martinez. Jones drove the ball to deep right-center. JDM raced back and caught the ball and in the next split-second slammed his head/face into the padding. He caromed off and into the arms of Mookie Betts, who had run over from center.

The Tigers began the fourth inning by hitting three quick singles (in a span of six pitches) and loading the bases. John Hicks flied to short left. Benintendi made the catch and Niko Goodrum faked a dash for the plate. Benintendi threw the ball in, but well off target. It went to the backstop and caromed back to Price, who was behind the plate. Goodrum was back at third, but Jeimer Candelario - the runner on second - was two-thirds of the way to third base! Price ran back into fair territory as Candelario turned and raced back to the bag.

Price finally fired the ball. It was a horrible throw that Brock Holt had to get down and block. In doing so, he got spiked in the right knee by the runner - and had to come out of the game. (Tzu-Wei Lin took over at second base. Holt's condition was announced as day-to-day.) I was convinced Price would walk James McCann - especially when he fell behind 2-0 - but he struck him out: bbcsbs. Victor Martinez lined out to right to complete Price's Houdini act.

Price allowed a single and a walk to the bottom of the order in the fifth, but escaped with a force out and a strikeout. He plunked Leonys Martin with one out in the seventh and left in favour of Heath Hembree. HH fanned both Jose Iglesias and Jones to keep the score at 1-0.

Matt Barnes had an interesting eighth inning. He struck out Goodrum, but strike three was a wild pitch and the batter was safe at first. Barnes struck out Candelario, but strike three was a wild pitch. The batter was out, however, because first base was occupied, but the baserunner went to third. So Barnes had fanned the first two batters and he had the potential tying run on third!

Nick Castellanos grounded a 1-1 pitch to third. Eduardo Nunez threw to catcher Sandy Leon, who chased Goodrum back towards third. When Leon threw the ball to Nunez, Goodrum sprinted for plate, but Nunez gave chase and slapped the tag on his back just as he went into a head-first slide for the plate. Barnes walked Hicks, putting runners at first and second with two outs. McCann got a 1-1 count and fouled off three pitches before finally missing a fastball up and in at 98 (Barnes's 23rd pitch of the inning).

Craig Kimbrel also needed 23 pitches to get through the final inning. After he gave up a one-out single, a grounder to Lin led to a force at second. Pinch-hitter Jim Adduci battled Kimbrel for seven pitches and three foul balls, but ended the game by striking out.

The Red Sox left the bases loaded in the sixth. Benintendi singled and Martinez reached on a throwing error by Boyd. Louis Coleman came out of the pen and struck out Pearce before allowing a single to Xander Bogaerts (the initial call was out, but it was quickly overturned). Daniel Stumpf took over and got Mitch Moreland to foul out to third. Buck Farmer - the Tigers' fourth pitcher of the inning - got Nunez to fly out to right. The squander did not come back to bite the Red Sox in the ass.

Etc.: The Orioles lost a 2-1 lead in the fifth and trailed Toronto 7-2 after seven innings, but scored two in the eighth and three in the ninth to tie the game. Then they lost on a walkoff home run in the 10th. Baltimore is 40.5 GB! ... Remember, kids, genius will only get you so far.

David Price / Matthew Boyd

Betts, CF
Benintendi, LF
Martinez, RF
Pearce, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Nunez, 3B
Holt, 2B
Leon, C

AL East Magic Number: 62!

The stats from Price's last three starts are not good: 14.2 innings, 21 hits, 15 runs, 8 home runs allowed, 9.20 ERA, Opp. OPS 1.145. ... But it's not all bad! He struck out 20 and walked only 1. And he has improved in each outing, allowing only three runs in 6.2 innings in his last start, on July 12.

Home Runs Allowed

David Price  - 8 HR in  14.2 innings this month
David Price  - 8 HR in  74.2 innings in 2017
Matt Barnes  - 1 HR in  42.0 innings in 2018
Trevor Bauer - 6 HR in 136.1 innings in 2018
Al Spalding  - 1 HR in 617.1 innings in 1874

Okay, maybe that last one isn't exactly fair.

I was surprised to learn that 27 position players have taken the mound this season. One of them - Daniel Descalso of the Diamondbacks - pitched in the fourth inning, the earliest appearance on the mound of any position player since Sal Bando of the Brewers on August 29, 1979* (also the fourth inning). Beyond The Box Score looks at which 2018 non-pitcher was the best?

*: Bando pitched three innings! He was the first of three position players to pitch that day for Milwaukee. the position players pitched more innings in that game than the three "real" pitchers.

AL East: NYM/MFY. The Yankees are a 4.5 GB.

Mike Mazzeo, Daily News:

After clobbering the Red Sox on July 1, no one expected the Yankees to be 4.5 games back of their hated rivals in the AL East division standings. ...

It's hard to be upset about their 62-33 record – second-best in the majors.

It's just that the Red Sox are 68-30 — including 12-1 since that 11-1 loss to the Yankees in the Bronx.

The Bombers, on the other hand, have gone 8-6 ...

"I see that they win every day," Aaron Boone said ...

George A. King III, Post:

If Boston continues to win 70 percent of its games, the Yankees will spend the rest of the season competing for one of the two wild-card spots. ...

Gary Sanchez was hitting .190 when he went on the DL on June 25. He is due back Friday ... First base hasn't delivered the production needed from a corner-infield spot. The rotation after Luis Severino and CC Sabathia is suspect and in dire need of an upgrade before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. ...

Kevin Kernan, Post:

That 62-33 record the Yankees own at the All-Star break is impressive, but there are cracks in the starting-pitching numbers that show themselves in different ways.

Yankees starters are eighth in the AL in innings pitched with 520, two innings removed from 11th place. Astros starters lead the league with 613 innings. ... [T]he rampaging Red Sox are third with 559.2 innings.

Astros starters ERA is No. 1 at 3.02. The Yankees starters ERA is sixth at 4.00. The Red Sox are third at 3.78 ...

No matter how you slice it, the Yankees have to find at least one more substantial starter via the trade route ... Good luck.

Aaron Boone admitted the innings pitched from the starters must be increased because this model is not sustainable. ...

The Yankees dynamite bullpen cannot sustain such overuse. Eventually it catches up. ...

At the break, help is needed.