Red Sox - 100 400 000 - 5 6 0 Reds - 400 000 000 - 4 8 1Rafael Devers erased the Reds' 4-2 lead with a three-run homer and a trio of relievers - David Price, Addison Reed, and Craig Kimbrel - made that 5-4 advantage stand up.
Boston's Magic Number for clinching the AL East is now 6 - because the Blue Jays beat the Yankees 8-1. Not only did Ryan Goins hit a grand slam, but he got Todd Frazier to fall for the ol' hidden ball trick.
The Red Sox began the night by loading the bases with no outs. Xander Bogaerts singled before Sal Romano walked Dustin Pedroia, threw a wild pitch, and walked Andrew Benintendi. It was disappointing that the Red Sox could bring home just one run as Mookie Betts struck out, Mitch Moreland hit a sacrifice fly to left, and Christian Vazquez popped to first.
In the bottom of the inning, the night could not have begun any worse for Rick Porcello. Billy Hamilton singled, Zack Cozart doubled to deep right-center (Jackie Bradley nearly made yet another fantastic catch, but the ball glanced off his glove), Joey Votto walked on four pitches, and Scooter Gennett hit a first-pitch grand slam to right. Thirteen pitches - and Cincinnati had a 4-1 lead.
Gennett became the first player in baseball history with four grand slams and a four-home run game in the same season. He hit four dongs on June 6; his first three grand slams were hit on June 6, August 10, and August 19. (Lou Gehrig is the only other player to accomplish both at any point of his career. Biscuit Pants hit four homers on June 3, 1932 (he nearly hit a fifth one in the ninth inning) and totaled four grand slams in 1934 (May 10, May 13, June 10, July 5).)
Boston rallied in the fourth. Betts doubled to right and Moreland walked. Vazquez doubled to right-center, scoring Betts. And Rafael Devers homered to deep right, turning a two-run deficit into a one-run lead. It was Devers's first long ball since August 19 (116 plate appearances). And it atoned for his baserunning error in the second inning. Devers led off with a double to left, but stepped off the bag as the ball was being thrown in from the outfield and was tagged out by Cozart.
David Price relieved Porcello (4-4-4-3-3, 57) for the fifth inning. Price allowed a one-out single before getting two fly outs. In the sixth, Scott Schebler hit a leadoff single before Price struck out the next three hitters.
And then Price opened the top of the seventh with a first-pitch, opposite-field single. It was the third hit of his major league career, coming long after singles on June 17, 2009 and June 20, 2010. Since the beginning of 2011, Price had gone 0-for-37 (3 walks and 19 strikeouts).
Price allowed a single and a walk in the seventh before Addison Reed got Eugenio Suarez on a fly to center. The Reds got a harmless two-out single in the eighth. And when Cozart singled with one out in the ninth, Craig Kimbrel got Votto to ground into a game-ending double play. Moreland gloved the grounder and stepped on the bag, then ran towards Cozart, who had stopped running halfway to second. The rundown went Moreland-to-Bogaerts-to-Kimbrel-to-Pedroia (3-6-1-4).
Long At-Bat: Jon Jay of the Cubs saw 15 pitches when he led off the fifth inning against the Brewers. Jay fouled off ten straight pitches against Brandon Woodruff: fsbbffffffffff-single. Jay is the third player this season to hit 11 foul balls in an at-bat, joining Shane Peterson and J.D. Martinez. Remarkably, all three players ended their long at-bats with a hit.
Bogaerts, SSESPN's Scott Lauber asks: "Is Craig Kimbrel The Best Reliever Of This Decade?"
Pedroia, 2B
Benintendi, LF
Betts, RF
Moreland, 1B
Vazquez, C
Devers, 3B
Bradley, CF
Porcello, P
Here are some factoids about the Red Sox's success in extra innings:
Extra Innings: 15+ Wins & .833+ Winning PercentageMFY Watch: With the Yankees 3 GB, the Red Sox's Magic Number for clinching the AL East is 8. ... MFY/TOR.
1949 Cleveland 18-1 .947 1959 Pirates 19-2 .905 2012 Orioles 16-2 .889 2017 Red Sox 15-3 .833 1927 Cubs 15-3 .833• One more victory would make the Red Sox only the 14th team since at least 1913 to get to 16 extra-inning wins in a season. Just five clubs in that time have reached 17, with the 1959 Pirates the only club at 19.
• [The Red Sox have] gone at least 12 on eight occasions and at least 15 on four occasions ... Those four contests of 15-plus frames (3-1 record) are tied for the most in a season in Sox history with the 1951 club (also 3-1). They also account for nearly half of the nine total MLB games this season to go at least 15.
• Red Sox pitchers have combined to allow eight earned runs in 57.2 extra innings, for a 1.25 ERA. They have allowed a .185/.258/.231 line, with 55 strikeouts and just five extra-base hits. Despite facing the most batters in extra innings of any team, Boston's .489 OPS allowed trails only the Cubs (.421), who have played just six extra-inning games.
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Tonight!
Blue Jays' Ryan Goins gets Yankees' Todd Frazier with hidden-ball trick
TORONTO -- Blue Jays shortstop Ryan Goins used the hidden-ball trick to retire New York Yankees slugger Todd Frazier on Friday night.
Frazier hit a leadoff double in the third inning, and one out later, Jacoby Ellsbury's deep drive to right was caught by Jose Bautista.
Goins took the throw into the infield while standing near second base. After pretending to toss the ball back to pitcher Marco Estrada, Goins slipped it into his glove, waited for Frazier to step off the base, then quickly tagged him on the left thigh. Frazier insisted he had maintained contact with the base, but umpire Mark Carlson called him out to end the inning.
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Gennett became the first player in baseball history with four grand slams and a four-home run game in the same season.
Nice to see a first. I was just thinking about how I can't recall someone doing one of these "firsts", it always seems to be something like "only the fifth player since 1926 to draw a walk and chew gum at the same time" or whatever.
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