Red Sox - 000 020 310 - 6 9 0 White Sox - 000 001 000 - 1 5 2Eduardo Rodriguez struck out 10 of his first 12 batters (5.2-3-1-1-12, 90). The White Sox hit only one fair ball in the first four innings and they did not have a runner on base until the fifth, at which point the Red Sox had all the runs they would need. Rodriguez extended his scoreless innings streak to 24 before allowing an infield hit and a double in the sixth inning.
The Red Sox hit three home runs: Eduardo Nunez leading off the fifth (it hit off the top of the wall in left-center and was originally called a double, until the Red Sox challenged the call); Jackie Bradley with two outs in the fifth (he belted the first pitch to right-center; in his previous at-bat, he hit a first-pitch triple to center); and Ian Kinsler with one out in the eighth (on a 3-0 count).
Rodriguez worked quickly. striking out the side in the first, fanning two in each of the second and third, and whiffing the top three hitters in Chicago's order (again) in the fourth. A leadoff single in the fifth was quickly wiped away by a double play. Rodriguez then issued a walk, but got another strikeout to end the inning. When Nicky Delmonico doubled in Adam Engel in the sixth, it cut Boston's lead to 2-1. Ryan Brasier came in and quickly got Avisail Garcia on strikes (csfs).
Christian Vazquez walked to start the seventh against Carlos Rodon (6.1-6-5-2-4, 109). Bradley flied to left, but Mookie Betts doubled to left-center. Andrew Benintendi tapped back to the mound and Rodon's soft lob to first sailed over Matt Davidson's up-stretched glove. Vazquez scored and the Red Sox had runners at second and third. Steve Pearce singled to left for one run and - after Rodon was replaced by Ryan Burr - J.D. Martinez's hard single into center made it 5-1.
Brasier allowed two singles in the seventh and the White Sox had runners at second and third with one out. Brasier needed just eight pitches to strike out both Omar Narvaez and Carlos Sanchez. Matt Barnes struck out two in the eighth and Joe Kelly capped a clean ninth, and the game, by fanning Yoan Moncada.
In addition to two errors, Chicago center fielder Adam Engel made an ill-advised dive for Bradley's liner in the third. Engel was moving towards right-center, but he had zero chance of touching the ball. After his useless dive, he had to get up and chase after the ball as Bradley easily took three bases. Unfortunately, there were two outs and Betts followed with a lineout to left.
Rodriguez's career high is 13 strikeouts, which he did in only 5-1 innings against the Rays on September 25, 2016. ... Red Sox pitchers finished today's game with 18 strikeouts, which tied a season-high (July 11, August 12) for a nine-inning game. They had 19 strikeouts in 12 innings against the Blue Jays on May 11.
The Red Sox have now hit 28 triples this season, after hitting only 19 last year. ... In the nine seasons since 2009, they have hit 30+ triples only twice: 35 in 2011 and 33 in 2015. ... The franchise record was set back in 1903: 113 triples! It's not very surprising that the top nine years all occurred before 1914.
The Yankees managed only two hits, but beat the Tigers 2-1. ... The Red Sox's Magic Number is 19.
Betts, RFWhen Eduardo Rodriguez went on the disabled list in mid-July, he had a scoreless inning streak of 19 innings (including his three starts in July).
Benintendi, LF
Pearce, 1B
Martinez, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Nunez, 3B
Kinsler, 2B
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF
Nathan Eovaldi pitched only two innings last night (35 pitches) before a lengthy rain delay. Eovaldi will start on Monday afternoon in Atlanta, in place of David Price, who was struck in the left wrist by a line drive on Wednesday.
The Red Sox are 93-43 with 26 games remaining. The 1912 Red Sox hold the franchise record with 105 wins in a season (105-47-2).
13-13: Minimum record needed to set a new franchise record for wins
13-5: Minimum record needed to set a new franchise record for wins in 154 games
Real or not? Red Sox stick a fork in Yankees in AL East
David Schoenfield, ESPN, August 31, 2018
In a matter of minutes [on Thursday night] -- maybe five, maybe 10 -- the complexion of the American League East race took a dramatic turn. At Yankee Stadium, the Yankees were on the verge of closing out a 7-5 win over the Tigers. Meanwhile in Chicago, the White Sox held a comfortable 4-0 lead over the Red Sox in the seventh inning. It appeared Boston's 7.5-game lead would shrink to 6.5, close enough to make Red Sox fans sweat.
In New York, Victor Martinez tied the game off Dellin Betances with a two-run homer that probably wouldn't have been gone out in any other right field in the majors ...
Then the unthinkable happened. Betances gave up another home run to the next batter, Niko Goodrum ... It was the first time Betances had allowed two home runs in one game, let alone to consecutive batters. Yankees fans showered the stadium with boos, shocked at the turn of events ...
At about the same, Mookie Betts slammed a two-run homer to cap a four-run Red Sox rally and tie the game in Chicago ... The Red Sox then blew the game open with five runs in the ninth ...
The Boston lead is back to a comfortable 8.5 games. ...
[T]his race is over. The Red Sox will win the East. The Yankees might still win 100 games ... and then have to win one game to keep their season alive.
This Post headline is utter horseshit. If getting ejected truly "fired up" a team and made them play better, don't you think more managers, especially those with teams in must-win situations, would do it all the time? Is there a reason why we don't see a manager go nuts 10-15 times in every postseason? Yes. There is a reason. Because it's utter horseshit.
Joel Sherman, Post:
Dellin Betances blew a game in the ninth inning Thursday night, yielding as many runs (three) as he had over his previous 39 outings dating to mid-May.
But the Yankees were blowing this game all night by continuing to play in a way both uninspiring and unacceptable. They flubbed in the field and on the bases and ultimately on the scoreboard, losing 8-7 to the woeful Tigers.
The Yankees are letting any long-shot chance of catching the Red Sox or comfortably holding the top wild-card spot drip away by playing down to opponents. A team with heavyweight-title dreams is faltering against lightweights. ...
J.A. Happ made his worst start in six as a Yankee. But the coconspirators ... were five poor plays by the infield over the first five innings ...
Second baseman Neil Walker twice could not turn grounders by speedy Niko Goodrum into outs. After the second one, Ronny Rodriguez hit a two-run homer. A lunging Luke Voit could not handle a Nicholas Castellanos grounder that went for an infield single. Victor Martinez followed with a two-run homer. Add in an error by shortstop Gleyber Torres and a botched rundown by Miguel Andujar and, well, there was not going to be any Tinker to Evers to Chance poetry written about this infield. ...
For the second straight game, the Yankees ran into an out on the bases with Giancarlo Stanton either up ... or on deck ... They fell to a Tigers team that had lost five straight and managed 10 runs total in those games. ...
For a team still on pace to better 100 wins, the Yankees have lost their way. They are failing to capitalize on a weak part of their schedule because they are imitating those poor clubs.
This is a style that will make their last month miserable and guarantee their October play is brief. They are lost.
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The Red Sox are only the third team ever to win 17+ games in every month from April through August (1998 Yankees and 2001 Mariners).
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