G98: Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 2

Blue Jays - 002 000 000 - 2  8  1
Red Sox   - 200 021 00x - 5  6  0

The Red Sox will go into the All-Star Break with a 68-30 record (the best in baseball) and the largest lead in the American League East this season: 4.5 games. The 68 wins also ties the franchise record for most wins through 98 games (the 1946 team was 68-28, with two ties).

How great are these Red Sox? They could play .500 ball for the rest of the season (32-32) and still become only the fourth team in franchise history to win 100 games.

Doubles from Sandy Leon and Jackie Bradley in the fifth inning broke a 2-2 tie; a fourth run scored on Xander Bogaerts's groundout. Bogaerts got the scoring started in the first inning with his 16th home run. Brock Holt singled in two runs, one in the first and one in the sixth.

There was a bit of a scare in the top of the eighth, when Heath Hembree gave up a one-out single and two more singles with two outs. Dwight Smith, batting with the bases loaded, represented the go-ahead run for Toronto, but Hembree made him look clueless and lost, striking him out on three pitches. He swung and missed a breaking pitch in the dirt, took a strike in the lower half of the zone, and then fanned on an unhittable curve that was riding down and extremely inside.

Brian Johnson (4.2-2-2-4-5, 84) gave up a double to Randal Grichuk and a two-run homer to Teoscar Hernandez. Those were the only hits allowed by Johnson, though he did walk four. And other than those two baserunners in the third, the Blue Jays did not get a runner to third base until there were two outs in the eighth inning.

This is the second straight start in which Alex Cora has pulled Johnson after 4.2 innings - one out shy of qualifying for a win. I can understand the move today: tie game, runner on 1st, two outs, Johnson at 84 pitches and Teoscar Hernandez (who had homered) coming up. But pulling him on July 3 made little sense. The Red Sox led 9-2, Johnson had thrown 77 pitches and had runners at 1st/2nd with two outs. Mark Reynolds, who had struck out and singled, was up. I am not clear on why Cora went to the bullpen at that point.

If Johnson had finished the fifth inning today and everything in the game had been the same (or better!), he would have qualified for the W. I wonder if Johnson is getting paranoid, thinking Cora is out to deprive him of wins?

Bogaerts homered to left with one out in the first. J.D. Martinez walked and Mitch Moreland reached on an infield error, Toronto's eighth error of the series. Steve Pearce forced Moreland at second, moving JDM to third. Holt dropped a single into center for a 2-0 Boston lead.

In the sixth, Moreland walked and Pearce was hit by a pitch on the inside of his right knee. Holt chopped a single just past the reach of the second baseman, moving to his left, and into right field.

AL East: Cleveland scored three times in the bottom of the eighth and beat the Yankees 5-2. New York is 62-33. They are 4.5 GB. Did you know that is the largest AL East lead of the season?

Marcus Stroman / Brian Johnson

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

Brian Johnson makes today's start, having been activated from the disabled list. Eduardo Rodriguez was put on the 10-day DL with a right ankle sprain.

This is the last game before the All-Star break. The Red Sox will not play until Friday night, in Detroit.

AL East: MFY/CLE, 1 PM. The Yankees are 3.5 GB.

G97: Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 2 (10)

Blue Jays - 000 000 200 0 - 2  7  2
Red Sox   - 000 100 001 4 - 6 11  0

Damn it! Why? Why is baseball so incessantly boring?

After Eduardo Rodriguez (5.1-4-0-0-5, 67) left the game with a sprained right ankle, the Blue Jays rallied to take a 2-1 lead. The Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the ninth but failed three times to get the winning run home from second. In the bottom of the tenth, an error, a single, and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out. Xander Bogaerts slammed a 2-0 pitch to the base of the flag pole in center field for a game-winning grand slam.

It was the Red Sox's ninth grand slam of the season. Since June 21, they have gone 18-4. They have the best record in MLB at 67-30. They are on pace to win 112 games, which would shatter the franchise win record by seven games.

The last game-winning grand-slam by a Red Sox batter was by Rico Brogna on August 14, 2000 (B9: HBP, SB, F9 (runner to 3rd), K, BBI, BBI, BOOM!)

Also: Bogaerts had 62 RBI last season. ... He has 62 RBI now. With 65 more games to play.

Bogaerts also got the game-tying rally started when he lashed a double into the left field corner off Tyler Clippard. Jackie Bradley fouled off a bunt attempt before lining a double of his own towards the right field corner. Dwight Smith cut the ball off before it got to the warning track dirt.

Clippard threw Eduardo Nunez five pitches out of the strike zone and Nunez still managed to strike out, swinging and missing at two high offerings for strikes 2 and 3. Blake Swihart battled through an eight-pitch at-bat before flying to center. Sandy Leon ended the inning with a little squib of a grounder towards third base.

After Craig Kimbrel had dispatched the Blue Jays in the top of the tenth (K, K, BB, P9), Chris Rowley took over for the Jays. Rowley - starter in AAA - was making his first appearance of the season, though he pitched in six games for Toronto last year. With one out, Mookie Betts's routine grounder to Lourdes Gurriel went through the shortstop's legs for an error. (Betts was on base five times today, with three singles and a walk earlier.) Mookie took off on a 2-1 pitch and Brock Holt reached out and slapped the ball through the vacated shortstop spot into left field for a single.

With runners at first and third, Blue Jays manager decided to walk J.D. Martinez - who had homered in the fourth, but had struck out in both the sixth and eighth - intentionally. Rowley threw two sinkers that did not sink to Bogaerts, at 87 and 86; both were well inside. Rowley came back with a fastball, at 87, and this one was over the heart of the plate. Bogaerts drove it to straightaway center where it landed on the small ledge just to the left of the tarp-covered seats and bounced back in the field.

You can't get the barrel of your bat centered on a pitch any better than Bogaerts did here.

The ball is a blur against the green wall between on-deck batter Jackie Bradley and the bat boy.

Two shots of the baseball in flight, courtesy of NESN's award-winning camera/production team.

My MLBTV feed froze on Rowley's bemused reaction to watching the ball land for a home run.

Holt had not had much luck before his hit-and-run single in the tenth. He grounded into a double play in the first inning, then flew into a double play in the third, when Lin was caught off second base. The Red Sox had a second double play like that in the seventh, when Swihart singled and was doubled off first on Leon's fly to left.

Outside of Martinez's 29th home run, the Red Sox did not have a runner touch third until Betts singled and took second on an error and stole third.

Rodriguez was superb until he hurt himself trying to avoid a collision while covering first base. He had retired 11 in a row when Gurriel grounded to the right side. Swihart ranged far to his right and tried to lead Rodriguez with his throw. Gurriel went in with a headfirst slide and Rodriguez (who did not catch the throw) had to leap over him. When he landed, he twisted his right ankle and fell to the ground.

Rodriguez had been working extremely efficiently, which was fantastic to see. He retired the side in third on eight pitches and he needed only six to set down the Jays in the fifth. He was at 60 pitches through five innings.

Joe Kelly had more trouble today, allowing two hits and a walk, and two runs. Kendrys Morales singled to right and Smith doubled to left. Kelly got two groundouts, but a run scored on the second out. Kelly walked Luke Maile on four pitches - and Matt Barnes took over. He gave up a single to Gurriel that put the Jays up 2-1 before striking out Yangervis Solarte.

AL East: The Yankees play in Cleveland at 7 PM. They are 4 GB at the moment.

Sam Gaviglio / Eduardo Rodriguez

Betts, RF
Holt, 2B
Martinez, LF
Bogaerts, SS
Bradley, CF
Nunez, DH
Swihart, 1B
Leon, C
Lin, 3B

Gaviglio will be pitching on two days rest. He threw only 48 pitches last Wednesday night, allowing six runs in 1.2 innings to Atlanta. I cannot see this experiment going particularly well for the Blue Jays.

Mookie: Last night was the 10th game this season in which Betts had three or more hits and the ninth game in which he reached base four times. Mookie leads the AL in average (.357) by 22 points, slugging (.697) by 53 points, and OPS (1.142) by 73 points. Mookie is also second in on-base percentage (.445, 10 points behind Mike Trout), second in runs scored, and fourth in total bases and extra-base hits.

AL East: MFY/CLE, 7 PM. The Yankees are 3.5 GB. ... Their top slugger is at .551, a whopping 146 points behind Betts.

Schadenfreude 224 (A Continuing Series)

The Yankees have won seven of their last 10 games - and dropped an additional 2.5 games behind the Red Sox in the American league East.

Since June 25, New York is 11-6 - a 105-win pace, not to shabby - but has lost 3.5 games in the standings because the Red Sox have gone 14-2.

Kevin Kernan, Post:

For all their first-half success, there are pitfalls ahead.

The Yankees may have gotten a glimpse of the difficulties that could haunt them in the second half. On Friday the 13th, they fell to [Cleveland] 6-5 at Progressive Field against a rookie pitcher who handled them for seven innings. ...

[I]t was not a good night for Boone.

With Giancarlo Stanton on deck, Aaron Judge was caught trying to steal second to end the eighth on an Aaron Hicks strikeout off a 3-2 pitch with one out. Boone gambled and lost. ...

Bieber outpitched Domingo German, who went only four innings and walked the first two batters he faced, allowing six runs on five hits, once again putting a spotlight on the fact the Yankees need to get a starter, any starter.

They are 60 feet and 6 inches short, and they know it. ...

Boone has brought many pluses to the job, but he still does not have the feel for getting that starter out before deep damage is done. He is working with starting-pitching issues, so he is trying to get as much as he can from this group.

Even ace Luis Severino has struggled his past two times out. ... Severino could be gassed heading into the All-Star break.

There is reason to worry about Aroldis Chapman's balky knee as well. ... This is a situation Boone said must be monitored the rest of the season.

Mike Mazzeo, Daily News:

The Yankees obviously need at least one starter.

But after a night like Friday, it makes you reconsider they might actually need two.

Domingo German couldn't command his fastball, issued too many free passes and got burned early as a result in the Bombers' 6-5 loss ... After his four-plus inning, six-run, four-walk performance, German's ERA sits at 5.49.

Couple that with Masahiro Tanaka's home run problem and Sonny Gray's issues when facing quality opponents, and the need for more rotation depth behind Luis Severino and CC Sabathia becomes even greater. ...

The problem, of course, is that many potential second-tier starter trade targets have struggled, too.

J.A. Happ allowed a grand slam to Mookie Betts in an epic, 13-pitch at-bat Thursday at Fenway Park, while Nathan Eovaldi got shelled in Minnesota on Friday, giving up eight runs while failing to get out of the third inning. ...

It's made Aaron Boone's job harder, too ... Boone was burned again for sticking with German too long, as [Cleveland] tacked on a pair of runs in the fifth that made the difference in the end.

At least the Red Sox finally lost, their win streak over at 10. But the Bombers couldn't make up any ground despite having a chance to do so.

They were down 6-4 with one out in the eighth when Aaron Hicks struck out on a 3-2 pitch and Aaron Judge was thrown out trying to steal second on a close play, the twin-killing ending the inning with Giancarlo Stanton on deck.

George A. King III, Post:

If Aaron Judge had stolen second base in the eighth inning while Aaron Hicks was striking out, nobody in their right mind could correctly say Giancarlo Stanton would have followed by hitting the home run he drilled leading off the ninth.

To think otherwise is stupid because Stanton would have been pitched differently with Judge on second in the eighth — instead of the bases empty in the ninth, with [Cleveland] leading by two runs.

Still ...

Hicks swung through the pitch from Neil Ramirez, and catcher Yan Gomes made a perfect throw to shortstop Francisco Lindor. Judge was initially called safe, but [Cleveland's] challenge led to Judge being called out.

Stanton greeted [Cleveland] closer Cody Allen with a leadoff homer in the ninth that cut the hosts' lead to 6-5, and Greg Bird followed with a single to right. With the largest Cleveland crowd of the season bracing for the latest bullpen collapse, Allen fed Miguel Andujar a 6-4-3 double play ball before walking Neil Walker to keep the Yankees' hopes alive.

Those hopes died a quick death when Didi Gregorius, who was hitting for Kyle Higashioka, popped up to Lindor for the final out. ...

Thanks to Domingo German's early bout of wildness — 18 of his first 34 pitches were balls — the Yankees spent the evening going uphill. German walked the first two batters in the home first when [Cleveland] scored a run and gave up three in the second when Michael Brantley delivered a two-run double.

Mike Mazzeo, Daily News:

Manny Machado obviously would be nice and all, but what the Yankees could really use is some starting pitching.

In typical fashion, Domingo German struggled out of the gate, and the Bombers lost ...

German, who has been up and down this season, allowed one run in the first and three more in the second – two of them on Michael Brantley's two-run double with two outs.

After getting through the third and fourth unscathed, German gave up an RBI triple to Jose Ramirez and was lifted with nobody out in the fifth.

German ultimately surrendered six runs on five hits and walked four in four-plus innings. His ERA is 5.49. ...

Domingo German has allowed 21 runs combined in the first and second innings this season.

Shane Bieber, making just his seventh career start, mostly kept the Yankees off the scoreboard while getting deep into the game.

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton went a combined 1-for-7.

Plate Umpire Brian Gorman Just Made The Worst Pitch Call Of the Season

July 13, Blue Jays at Red Sox
Top of the 8th inning: Joe Kelly pitching to Justin Smoak

Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon is crossed-up on Kelly's 1-1 pitch. he expects the ball to go to his right, but the changeup stays straight and drills him in the left side as he tries to turn away.

Plate umpire Brian Gorman must have been distracted, too, because he made no call on the pitch (#3). So he felt it was a ball, not in the strike zone.

Is it too much to ask that umpires watch the pitches and not be distracted - and do their fucking jobs?

G96: Blue Jays 13, Red Sox 7

Blue Jays - 035 000 032 - 13 14  4
Red Sox   - 150 100 000 -  7 12  0

Rick Porcello's pitching line shows that he lasted only two innings (2-7-8-4-2, 64), but he actually faced five batters in the third. However, they all reached base and they all crossed the plate. Those five runs wiped out the Red Sox's early 6-3 lead. The home team did very little after that and the Blue Jays tacked on a handful of runs in the late innings.

It was a thoroughly ugly game, despite the Red Sox leading at two different points, albeit extremely early (1-0 and 6-3). The 13 runs allowed was a season-high and the seven walks handed out to the Blue Jays tied a season-high, done three times before. Boston also hit two batters.

Mookie Betts went 3-for-4, with two triples. The first triple came in the first inning and Betts scored with one out when shortstop Lourdes Gurriel threw home and the ball bounced and skipped past catcher Russell Martin. It seemed like an unfair error, since Martin made no attempt to get in front of the ball and block it.

Porcello walked the first two Jays in the top of the second and gave up a game-tying double to Kevin Pillar. A sac fly, another walk, and a single by Gurriel gave Toronto a 3-1 lead.

The Red Sox took the lead in the bottom of the second, helped out by three Blue Jays errors. Sam Travis walked with one out and Sandy Leon was safe on Gurriel's second error in as many innings. When Jackie Bradley singled to center, Pillar threw to the plate as Travis tried to score. Again, it looked like a decent one-hop throw, but Martin still resembled a wax dummy in a museum. Travis was safe and Pillar was charged with an error.

Betts then drove a ball to straightaway center. It hit the Wall near the bottom of the yellow line, perhaps an inch or two to the left, meaning the ball was in play and not a home run. Mookie legged out another triple and scored one pitch later, when Brock Holt singled to left. With two outs and Xander Bogaerts at the plate, Jays starter Ryan Borucki (3-8-7-4-5, 81) threw to first. Holt was off for second and Borucki's throw was wild. Holt got credit for a stolen base and he took third on the error. Bogaerts immediately singled him home. Borucki walked Mitch Moreland but got Eduardo Nunez, who had also made the first out of the inning.

Porcello's attempts at a shutdown inning were 0-for-2 when he gave up a leadoff home run to Justin Smoak in the third. He walked Kendrys Morales, gave up a single to Russell Martin, gave up a two-run double to Pillar, and surrendered a two-run homer to someone named Dwight Smith. Toronto led 8-6. Hector Velazquez came in and got three quick outs. He pitched the fourth as well, leaving the bases loaded after walking two and giving up a single (to Pillar, who finished the night 4-for-5).

Travis doubled to start the third, but Borucki struck out Leon and JBJ. Betts was walked intentionally and Holt struck out. Boston scored a run in the fourth when J.D. Martinez singled, Bogaerts walked, and Moreland singled, but that would be their last run of the night. Jake Patricka came in and loaded the bases, but Bradley grounded to second to end the inning.

Betts singled to open the fifth, but Holt grounded into a double play. Martinez then doubled, but Bogaerts fanned. Holt doubled to lead off the eighth, but did not move as the next three batters were retired, two by strikeout.

Toronto scored three runs off Joe Kelly in the eighth and two off Robby Scott in the ninth, both runs coming on Smoak's second homer of the game.

In addition to his four hits, Pillar drove in four runs. Smoak had three hits and four RBI. Morales walked three times and scored three runs. ... The Red Sox batted 21 times with a runner on second and/or third. They went 5-for-19 with two walks.

AL East: Cleveland beat the Yankees 6-5, so the Red Sox remain 3.5 GA.

Ryan Borucki / Rick Porcello

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

Andrew Benintendi was placed on the bereavement list and Sam Travis was called up.

NESN reported that last night's win put the Red Sox 37 games over .500 (66-29) for the first time since 1949. That is not true.

As fenfan points out in this comment, the 1978 Red Sox were also 37 games over. I checked the schedule. After beating the Blue Jays in the first game of a doubleheader on August 30, 1978, the Red Sox were 84-47.

Pedantic Note: The Red Sox are not 37 games over .500. They are actually 18½ games over .500. To get the team's record to .500, you would have to take 18½ of Boston's wins and made them losses. They would be 47½-47½. A Clearer Example: If Boston was 6-4, you would say they were two games over .500. But if one of those wins had been a loss, they would be 5-5. It's a difference of one game in relation to .500, not two. ... I won't harp on this. However, "runners in scoring position" ...

AL: MFY/CLE, 7 PM. ... The Yankees are 3.5 GB.

"It's Time To Party"

G95: Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 4

Blue Jays - 200 000 110 - 4 11  1
Red Sox   - 000 500 10x - 6  8  0

Can you think of a better at-bat by a Red Sox player this season than the one Mookie Betts had in the fourth inning last night? I can't.

The Red Sox trailed the Blue Jays 2-0. J.A. Happ had allowed two hits. Happ had also forced Steve Pearce out of the game when he hit him in the left shin with a pitch. Blake Swihart, Pearce's replacement, struck out to begin the frame, Happ's sixth strikeout in the Red Sox's last eight outs. Xander Bogaerts capped a seven-pitch at-bat with a hard ground single to center. Brock Holt grounded to shortstop. The Jays got the force at second but the relay to first was late.

Alex Cora challenged the out call at second and it was overturned as replays showed Devon Travis had already taken his foot off the bag when he caught the ball. So Bogaerts was safe at second on Travis's error and Holt was on first. Eduardo Nunez tapped a grounder in front of the plate. Catcher Russell Martin did not go for the ball, so Happ came off the mound, but seemed to be moving in slow motion. Happ's toss to first was no match for Nunez's wheels - and the bases were loaded.

After fouling off four pitches, Sandy Leon hit the ball towards the shortstop hole. Lourdes Gurriel (his brother plays for the Astros) moved to his right and shoveled the ball with his glove to Aledmys Diaz at third to force Holt. (It seemed like a risky play, but it was also his only chance at an out.) Bogaerts scored on the play. Happ got ahead of Jackie Bradley 0-2 and threw a wild pitch that put runners at second and third. Happ then missed high with two pitches before throwing ball 4 in the dirt. Happ had now thrown 33 pitches in the inning and the bases were loaded for Betts.

Even if you have not heard anything about this game, you probably can guess by now what Betts is going to do. But you only know half the story. Happ got a called strike and a ball before Betts swung and missed, falling behind 1-2. Then Mookie gave a masterful demonstration of how to foul off a ton of tough pitches, hoping to get one he could slam somewhere before making an out.

Betts fouled off Happ's fourth pitch. It's a popup in foul territory beyond first base. Justin Smoak chased it with his back to the infield. After the ball glanced off his glove, he tried catching it with his bare hand, but his momentum had carried him past the ball, and it fell to the ground.

Betts fouled off Happ's fifth pitch.

Betts fouled off Happ's sixth pitch (top of the strike zone).

Betts fouled off Happ's seventh pitch (a changeup low and away, after six fastballs).

Betts fouled off Happ's eighth pitch (another changeup, outside).

Betts fouled off Happ's ninth pitch (back to the fastball, top of the strike zone).

Betts took Happ's tenth pitch, a slider low and inside, for ball 2.

Betts fouled off Happ's eleventh pitch (fastball, low, just barely out of the zone).

Betts took Happ's twelfth pitch (a two-seam fastball; all the other fastballs had been four-seamers) low for ball 3. It was a bit higher than #11 and may have grazed the bottom of the strike zone.

Happ's thirteenth pitch - his 46th pitch of the inning - was a four-seam fastball, pretty much in the same place, maybe an inch or two further inside.

Betts clubbed it over everthing in left for a grand slam.

To say Fenway Park exploded would be an understatement. Mookie knew the ball was long gone the moment he hit it - and he turned and started barking shit at his dugout as soon as he left the batter's box. He actually almost tripped and fell halfway to first, but regained his trot. ("Almost went down. Had to depend on my athletic ability and it came through that time.")

Once he stepped on first and turned towards second, he began yelling again - no doubt announcing to anyone within earshot - which was no one, considering the crowd's roar - that he was fcking baddest goddamn motherfcker ever to play the game of baseball.

Brock Holt agreed:

That was one of the best baseball moments I've ever been a part of. To see him do what he did, he's a bad man.

Betts:

Since I've been in the big leagues, that's probably the most excited I've been. ... [T]he at-bat, how the whole inning was going, everybody was kind of waiting for something to happen. ... I was just looking at the dugout, excited. A good time to show some emotion.

13 pitches, one mammoth grand slam.@mookiebetts is fired up. pic.twitter.com/rZvqeKpIO1

— MLB (@MLB) July 13, 2018

And to think it was only three days ago that Dan Shaughnessy called these Red Sox "studiously bland ... rarely interesting" and complained about how boring all these wins have been:

On and on it goes. Meaningless game after meaningless game as the Red Sox put up cartoonish numbers while we wait for the real games to start in October. So much winning.

Whoop dee do.

Well, sure. The CHB has built his entire career on gloom and doom. If the Red Sox win, he can't do what he loves to do, which is to stir up shit. He wants bonehead errors and crushing losses and dugout fights and tabloid headlines. He can't changes his stripes. Of course he hates this team.

And it would not be a CHB column without him shaking his fist at a cloud and yelling "baseball ain't what it used to be". He also whined (for the 7,064th time (Yes, I'm keeping track)) that the game has been "taken over by geeks". It's amazing. The CHB has yet to find a take on the Red Sox and/or baseball that he cannot get on the wrong side of.

There was a great shot of David Price on the bench, with a huge smile on his face. On a replay a minute or two later, we saw Price's reaction as Betts swung and hit the ball. He looked utterly confused, as if his mind could not process the information his eyes were sending. It was like his brain was saying "I have been told by the eyes that Mookie hit a monster grand slam on the 13th pitch of his at-bat, but that is obviously completely impossible, so I don't really know what I'm supposed to do ...."

Deadspin: "Mookie Betts's 13-Pitch Grand Slam At-Bat Is Best Viewed In Its Entirety" (Lauren Theisen calls it "the best short film of the summer".)

What I also find interesting is that if Betts had struck out on that pitch, Happ would have thrown 46 pitches in the inning and allowed only one run. NESN reported that the most pitches thrown by a pitcher in an inning this season is 51, by Ivan Nova of the Pirates. I found the game: May 8 against the Cubs. He threw the 51 pitches in the first inning!

We have reliable pitch-by-pitch data only to 1988. But no Red Sox player had ever ended an at-bat of 13+ pitches with a home run before. Dustin Pedroia (May 27, 2007) and Adrian Gonzalez (April 6, 2011) both homered on the 12th pitch of an at-bat. (Alex Cora ended an 18-pitch at-bat with a home run (after 14 consecutive foul balls) off Matt Clement on May 12, 2004.)

The last player to hit a grand slam on a 13+-pitch at-bat was Gary Scott of the Cubs, who homered off Phillies pitcher Kyle Abbott on April 20, 1992. Scott hit only three home runs in a career that lasted only 67 games over two seasons.

The five-run inning erased Toronto's lead, which they grabbed in the first inning when Gurriel doubled and Teoscar Hernandez homered to center. Price allowed a solo dong to Kendrys Morales leading off the seventh. Boston got an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh when Bradley doubled off the Wall and scored on Betts's single off the scoreboard in left.

Matt Barnes gave up a leadoff single in the eighth and Justin Smoak's one-out double cut the lead to 6-4. Hernandez singled to center, sending Smoak to third. Curtis Granderson pinch-ran for Smoak. The potential tying runs were on base and there was only one out - and there was nothing going on in the Red Sox bullpen. That did not seem like a good idea. But Barnes struck out the next two batters - Morales and Martin - relying heavily on his curveball.

Travis hit his fourth single of the night off Craig Kimbrel with one out in the ninth, again giving the Blue Jays a shot at tying the game with one big swing. With Yangervis Solarte at the plate, Kimbrel threw a wild pitch (that Solarte swung at and missed) and Travis took second. Solarte grounded to third and Randal Grichuk flied out to Betts in right-center.

The win was the tenth in a row for the Red Sox, who have two winning streaks of nine or more games in the same season for the first time since 1948.

The Red Sox are 37 games over .500 (66-29) for the first time in almost seventy years. The 1949 team was 40 games over (96-56) on September 30. I don't know what happened after that.

[Note: The Red Sox were 37 games over .500 on August 30, 1978, when they won the first game of a doubleheader to improve to 84-47. Thanks to fenfan.]

Finally ... MLB cannot do anything right. On its YouTube page, the title of the video says it was a 12-pitch at-bat.

J.A. Happ / David Price

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

The two starters have very similar stats:

Happ  - 18 starts, 4.44 ERA, 10-5, 95 ERA+, 1.177 WHIP
Price - 18 starts, 4.44 ERA,  9-6, 98 ERA+, 1.273 WHIP
  
Happ  - 105.1 IP, 90 H, 55 R, 52 ER, 34 BB, 115 K, 16 HR Allowed 
Price - 101.1 IP, 95 H, 53 R, 50 ER, 34 BB, 101 K, 16 HR Allowed

July 12 in Baseball History:

1911: In the bottom of the first, Athletics pitcher Harry Krause walks Ty Cobb, who steals second, third, and home on the next three pitches. The Tigers win 9-0.

1921: Babe Ruth becomes the all-time home run leader, passing Roger Connor with home run #137.

1931: A record crowd of 45,715 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis helps establish major league records for doubles in one game and in a doubleheader. Easy fly balls drop for ground rule doubles among the fans encroaching on the field. There are nine doubles in the first game and 23 in the second game.

1979: The White Sox forfeit the second game of doubleheader against the Tigers when over 5,000 fans refuse to leave the field during a Disco Demolition Night promotion. Mike Veeck's promotion involves admitting fans for 98 cents with a disco record and then blowing up the albums in center field after the first game. (video)

AL East: MFY/CLE, 7 PM. ... The Yankees are 3.5 GB.

Marvin Hudson Did A Bad Job Of Calling Pitches Last Night. We Need Robots.

Wednesday's Rangers/Red Sox game did not start off well for Chris Sale. That was because the amorphous strike zone in Marvin Hudson's head did not align very well with the one in MLB's Rule Book (i.e., that Hudson is expected to (and is paid to) enforce).

Sale had to throw six strikes (#1-5, 7) before Hudson demurred and finally rang up Delino DeShields in the top of the first inning. (Hudson called balls for #2 and #5. But if he had called #2 correctly, #4 would have been strike 3.)

Sale then likely struck out Elvis Andrus, but Hudson thought otherwise, and Andrus eventually doubled. (Hudson should have called strike 3 on #4.)

Hudson seemed to blow a call against the third hitter (#2), although Sale fanned Nomar Mazara with his next pitch.

When the Red Sox batted in the bottom of the first, he called a strike on J.D. Martinez that was obviously outside (#3). It should have resulted in a 3-0 count. Martinez ended up striking out with a man on second.

Mitch Moreland walked on four pitches in the third inning. Or did he? These blown calls by Hudson went in the Red Sox's favour but - call me crazy - I'd rather have every pitch be called what it actually is.

Hudson's strike zone was consistently inconsistent and he blew calls throughout the entire game. His judgment about where the outside corners of the zone were located changed batter-to-batter and inning-to-inning. A called strike in one spot would be ruled a ball a few batters later. Pitches called balls to a specific batter would turn into strikes the next time he came up.

In one at-bat (Joey Gallo in the top of the eighth), two consecutive pitches in the same spot resulted in a 1-1 count (#1 was a ball, #2 was a strike).

Craig Kimbrel walked the first batter he faced in the eighth, which forced in Texas's second run. But Hudson had clearly blown the call on the first pitch. Kimbrel did not throw four balls.

MLB needs to adopt a computerized strike zone - yesterday. If pitchers throw strikes, they should be called strikes. If a keen-eyed batter lays off a close pitch that is outside the zone, it should be called a ball.

But that is not what's happening, not often enough, anyway. There are numerous blown calls in every single game, every single day, and many of those blown calls come at crucial moments. Those incorrect calls could occur in the third inning or the ninth inning. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the outcome of dozens of games each year are being altered by wrong calls behind the plate. A computerized system has to be better than what fans are forced to endure right now.

G94: Red Sox 4, Rangers 2

Rangers - 000 000 020 - 2  9  2
Red Sox - 010 030 00x - 4 11  0

Chris Sale (7-6-0-1-12, 110) continued his masterful run of pitching since June 8. In his last seven starts, Sale has allowed five runs in 48 innings (0.94 ERA), while walking 10 and striking out 78. He is routinely hitting 98-100 with his fastball. Tonight, he also had a devastating slider, diving down and inside to both left- and right-handed hitters.

A couple of Texas errors led to Boston's first run and J.D. Martinez's double in the fifth made it 3-0. And after having zero triples coming into this series, Xander Bogaerts has hit one in each of the last two games. Tonight's three-bagger was a flare to center that fell between - and rolled beyond - two outfielders who nearly collided.

There was a bit of a scare in the eighth inning when Heath Hembree allowed one run and left the bases loaded with two outs for Craig Kimbrel. The Red Sox closer walked Robinson Chirinos on four pitches to force in a run (though the first ball was an obvious strike). He went to 2-2 on Joey Gallo before striking him out with a high fastball at 99. Kimbrel was more himself in the ninth, staying ahead of every hitter and striking out the side.

The win gave the Red Sox their second nine-game winning streak of the season (the first one was March 30-April 10). They also have an eight-game streak (April 12-20). The Red Sox's lead remained at 3.5 games as the Yankees blanked the Orioles 9-0.

Andrew Benintendi went 2-for-4 and now has six consecutive multi-hit games. The last two Red Sox batters to have multiple hits in six straight games did it at almost the exact same time: Xander Bogaerts (May 9-14, 2016) and Jackie Bradley (May 8-13, 2016).

The Red Sox all-time record (or at least since 1908) is nine games:

Roy Johnson - June 17-23, 1934
Jim Rice - May 1-9, 1978
Kevin Youkilis - May 20-29, 2007

Four players have had streaks of eight games, all between 1909 and 1940, with Ted Williams being the last one.

The Red Sox are also the only team with three players who have at least 30 multi-hit games this season (Benintendi, Mookie Betts, and J.D. Martinez).

Bogaerts singled to lead off the second and went to second when Colon committed an error on a pickup throw. Brock Holt's groundout put Bogaerts on third. Eduardo Nunez hit a popup to shallow right-center. Rougned Odor called for it and staggered around. The ball to the grass beside him and Bogaerts scored.

In the fifth, Betts and Benintendi both singled with one out. Martinez ripped a double into the left field corner and both runners scored. Colon struck out Mitch Moreland, but Bogaerts lofted his triple to medium-depth center and neither Gallo (LF) nor DeShields (CF) could grab it.

Two tweets from Alex Speier:

Chris Sale now has 3 streaks of at least 5 straight 10K games since becoming a starter in 2012. The rest of MLB combined has 4 in that time.

Pitchers with multiple career streaks of 11+ strikeouts in at least 5 straight games:
Randy Johnson (3)
Pedro Martinez (2)
Chris Sale (2)

Thanks to Baseball Reference's Play Index, I can expand that list to all pitchers who have multiple career streaks of 11+ strikeouts in at least 5 straight games:

Randy Johnson (3)
Pedro Martinez (2)
Chris Sale (2)
Corey Kluber (1)
J.R. Richard (1)
Nolan Ryan (1)

Johnson also had eight streaks of at least five straight starts with 10+ strikeouts. Pedro had six.

Bartolo Colon / Chris Sale

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

The Red Sox called up lefty Robby Scott and sent Jalen Beeks down.

Dustin Pedroia will continue his rehab in Arizona. He understands that he may not be back in the Red Sox's lineup until 2019:

There's no timetables. I can't control how the human body heals. ... It's going to happen. But the timeframe I expected and the team expected, it's going to be a little longer than that. ... I can't do anything about time.

The Legendary Bartolo Colon has been pitching in the major leagues for 21 years. He has pitched for 11 teams, including the Red Sox (seven games in 2008). The Big Sexy can do it all.

Pitch:

Hit:

Field:

Take a 102-mph line drive to the belly from less than 60 feet away (and then calmly throw the batter out at first, laugh and shrug his shoulders, and get on with his work):

Also: On April 19, 2012, Colon threw 38 consecutive strikes. ... For more than three innings - the fifth, sixth, seventh, and into the eighth - Colon did not throw a pitch that was called a ball by the plate umpire.

Two months ago, Colon turned 45:

He is older than six current MLB managers (Cora, Cash, Hinch, Kapler, Callaway, Green)

He has struck out six current MLB managers (Boone, Cora, Molitor, Hinch, Kapler, Matheny)

He has struck out...
Paul Molitor, born August 22, 1956
Rafael Devers, born October 24, 1996

You should also read this oral history of Colon's home run on May 7, 2016.

Back to 2018! On May 4, Colon allowed only five hits to the Red Sox over seven innings. But four of those hits were home runs - and Boston won 5-1.

Two of those four taters were hit by Rafael Devers, who was only 23 weeks old when Colon made his major league debut in April 1997. ... Andrew Benintendi was still three months shy of his third birthday, Eduardo Rodriguez was about to turn four, and both Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts were 4½ (they were born six days apart). Chris Sale was 8½ years old.

Today, Rafael Devers is more than two years younger (21 years, 260 days) than Colon was when he debuted with Cleveland (23 years, 315 days).

Chris Sale has allowed only one run in his last 21 innings. ... He has a 1.10 ERA in his last six starts, with 10+ strikeouts in five of those games (66 strikeouts in 41 innings).

AL East: MFY/BAL, 7 PM. ... The Red Sox lead the division by 3.5 games.

G93: Red Sox 8, Rangers 4

Rangers - 010 102 000 - 4  7  1
Red Sox - 005 011 10x - 8 12  0

For most of this month - July 2-29 - the Red Sox are playing only teams below .500. Eight games into that 23-game stretch, Boston is 8-0.

For the seventh time this season, the Red Sox knocked out seven extra-base hits. Among their six hits in the third inning were three doubles and a triple. They batted around against Yovani Gallardo (5-7-6-2-2, 97), erasing the Rangers' one-run lead and putting themselves on the road to their eighth straight victory.

The Red Sox also play 39 of their remaining 69 games (57%) at home, where they are 30-12 (.714), 2nd-best in the majors (only .003 behind the Yankees).

Down in Baltimore, the Yankees blew a 5-3 lead in the seventh inning and Dellin Betances gave up the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. The Orioles' 6-5 win dropped the Yankees 3.5 games out of first place. That's the Red Sox's biggest division lead since April 26, when they led by 4.0 games.

Four Red Sox had two hits: Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Blake Swihart, and Jackie Bradley.

Four Red Sox drove in two runs: Benintendi, Mitch Moreland, Xander Bogaerts, and Bradley.

The Red Sox tied a season-high with six doubles: Benintendi (2), Bradley (2), Swihart, and Betts.

Gallardo had allowed only one walk through the first 2.1 innings, but then he fell apart. An over-reliance on off-speed pitches and the Red Sox facing him for a second time spelled disaster for the Texas starter. Swihart smashed a one-out, ground-rule double into the triangle. Bradley hit an opposite-field double that short-hopped the wall in left-center, tying the game at 1-1. Betts struck out, but Benintendi doubled off the garage door in center, scoring JBJ. J.D. Martinez singled to left and Moreland singled to right, making it 3-1. Bogaerts crushed an 0-1 pitch to deep center. Delino DeShields gave chase and leapt for it, but it hit off the heel of his glove for a two-run triple.

Betts doubled and scored on Moreland's sac fly in the fifth,. Swihart singled with two outs in the sixth and scored on Bradley's second double to left-center. When the Rangers threw home, Bradley tried for third, but was thrown out. Betts led off the seventh with a single and scored on Benintendi's double.

Hector Velazquez (3-2-1-2-2, 49) dealt with five baserunners in his three innings, but the only one that scored was Rougned Odor, who cranked a home run to deep right in the second. Odor scored three of the Rangers' runs.

Jamel Beeks allowed four hits, one walk, one HBP, and three runs in 2.1 innings, but it could have been much worse. Beeks was helped out tremendously by three greats plays in the field. With runners at first and third in the fourth, Beeks fielded a comebacker. His throw to second base was low and Bogaerts made an exceptional scoop while keeping his foot on the bag and then completed the double play. Betts robbed Nomar Mazara of a two-run home run in the fifth, leaping over the bullpen wall in right center for the catch. Bradley sprinted in and snared Ronald Guzman's line drive with a man on first and no outs in the sixth. (Beeks then gave up a double and Brandon Workman allowed both inherited runners to score.)

Matt Barnes struck out the side in the seventh and was credited with the win. The Red Sox led 7-4 while Barnes was pitching and they added a run before he was officially relieved, so I guess the official scorer gave him the W based on his performance. I think Velazquez deserved the win more, even though he pitched fewer than five innings. Of the six Boston pitchers, he faced the most batters (13) and recorded the most outs (9). When he left the game, the Red Sox led 5-1. And because the lead was never fewer than two runs, I don't see any real reason to believe the guy who pitched the top of the seventh was more deserving of the W. ... #KillTheWin.

Also: Shin-Soo Choo walked twice, extending his on-base streak to 48 games. ... The four longest streaks in history are: Ted Williams (84 games in 1949), Joe DiMaggio (74 games in 1941), Ted Williams (69 games in 1941), and Orlando Cabrera (63 games in 2006).

Yovani Gallardo / Hector Velazquez

Betts, RF
Benintendi, LF
Martinez, DH
Moreland, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Holt, 2B
Devers, 3B
Swihart, C
Bradley, CF

Christian Vazquez had surgery on his fractured right fifth finger today. He will be out for 6-8 weeks.

The Red Sox have had three winning streaks this season of at least seven games (for the first time since 1990):

9 games: March 30-April 10
8 games: April 12-20
7 games: July 2-9

Mookie Betts has scored 72 runs in 72 games this season. Only one player since 1940 has averaged at least one run scored per game (min. 50 games): Rickey Henderson, who scored 146 runs in 143 games for the 1985 Yankees (1.02/G).

The Red Sox called up Jalen Beeks and sent down William Cuevas.

AL East: MFY/BAL, 7 PM. ... The Red Sox lead the division by 2.5 games.

The Ace Of Spaeder: J.D. Martinez Hits A Baseball Better Than Almost Everyone

Some of the things you will learn if you follow Ryan M. Spaeder on Twitter:

July 2
David Ortiz had a career-high 363 total bases over 159 games played in 2005.
J.D. Martinez has 405 total bases over his last 159 games played.

July 7
11 different Red Sox players knocked in a run tonight, marking the first time that a team had at least 11 players with an RBI in game since the Diamondbacks on August 2, 1999.
Last team with 12 players knocking in a run: New York Yankees in Game 2 of a doubleheader on August 14, 1955.

July 8
Players hitting three home runs in a game in which their team lost by 12+ runs:
Wil Myers - July 7, 2018 (Arizona Diamondbacks 20, San Diego Padres 5)
Jack Manning - October 9, 1884 (Chicago White Stockings 19, Philadelphia Quakers 7)

July 9
Mark Reynolds's weekend:
Friday: Hit game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth
Saturday: 5-for-5, 2 home runs, 10 RBI
Sunday: Pitched in a blowout (0.1 inning, 3 pitches)

July 9
J.D. Martinez last 151 games played - 59 HR & 149 RBI.
Players with at least 59 HR & 149 RBI in a season:
Sammy Sosa 2001 (160 games played)
Sammy Sosa 1998 (159 games played)
Babe Ruth 1927 (151 games played)
Babe Ruth 1921 (152 games played)

July 9
J.D. Martinez is batting .321/.385/.682 with 121 runs, 60 homers, and 153 RBI over his last 162 games played.

MLB Highlight Clip Claims Max Scherzer Struck Out "12 Straight" Batters In A Game

I mute MLBTV between innings so I do not have to hear the same highlight clips night after night after night. Much to my surprise, some new clips from this season have been added to the rotation. One of them features Max Scherzer of the Nationals pitching against the Phillies on May 6.

The caption for the clip reads: "Scherzer K's 15 For 5th Time In Career Including 12 Straight".

MLB is correct in stating that game was the fifth time in his career that Scherzer struck out at least 15 batters, but did he strike out "12 straight" Phillies?

I have known since I was about 13 years old that Tom Seaver of the Mets set the major league record when he struck out the final 10 Padres on April 22, 1970. I was extremely skeptical that this long-standing record had been broken approximately two months ago. Was it possible I had missed the news?

No.

I did not miss it, because it never happened.

It would appear that MLB is wildly ignorant of its own history - and does not understand what simple words mean - because Max Scherzer most certainly did not strike out "12 straight" batters.

What Scherzer and the Nationals did was record 12 consecutive outs by strikeout, which is a completely different thing. (And - as you will see below - it's nowhere near the major league record.) The Phillies had no fewer than five baserunners during that span of 12 outs.

Here is Scherzer's play-by-play. The 12 consecutive outs by strikeout is in bold. Scherzer was relieved with one out in the seventh inning.

1st: L7, K, double, K
2nd: P3, single, K, K
3rd: K, K, K
4th: K, K, double, intentional walk, K
5th: K, K, walk, K
6th: Double, HBP, K, GIDP/5-4-3
7th: Single, stolen base, K

It's worth noting that Scherzer became the first pitcher in history to record 15 strikeouts in 19 outs or fewer. ... But he struck out "only" seven consecutive batters on May 6.

Will MLB fix its obvious error? I doubt it. I have been seeing the clip of Didi "Gregorious" driving in eight runs on April 3 for almost three months and there is a new clip of Andrew McCutchen's return to Pittsburgh with a caption referring to Kris Bryant hitting 100 home runs faster than anyone in Cubs history. Now I don't know about you, but I have never looked at McCutchen and wondered: Hey, isn't that Kris Bryant?

On September 25, 2016, Boston pitchers Eduardo Rodriguez and Heath Hembree teamed up to strike out 11 consecutive Tampa Bay hitters. Rodriguez fanned his last six batters and Hembree struck out all five men he faced. Red Sox pitchers struck out a total of 23 Rays in 10 innings.

As I wrote at the time:

Rodriguez and Heath Hembree combined to strike out 11 consecutive batters in the middle innings, a new major league record. From the second inning to the eighth, the Red Sox recorded 17 straight outs by strikeout. There were two walks, a HBP and a single in that stretch, so 21 Rays batters came to the plate over parts of seven innings and hit only one fair ball. MLB.com reports there was an "astonishing two-hour and 11-minute drought in between balls put in play".

G92: Red Sox 5, Rangers 0

Rangers - 000 000 000 - 0  5  0
Red Sox - 200 000 03x - 5  9  1

Home runs by Steve Pearce and J.D. Martinez bookended the Red Sox's shutout of the Rangers. Boston won its seventh consecutive game and moved its MLB-best record to 63-29. The Red Sox are now 2.5 GA because the Yankees split a doubleheader with the Orioles, losing 5-4 and winning 10-2.

Eduardo Rodriguez (5.2-3-0-3-5, 105) has said he wants to pitch more economically, but putting that desire into practice on the mound has proven difficult. Rodriguez threw over 20+ pitches in three of the first four innings (23-20-11 28-13-10). He did not allow a hit until the fourth, however.

Mike Minor (5.1-6-2-0-4, 93) retired the first two Boston batters in the first inning, but Martinez lined a single to center and Pearce lashed a full-count pitch over the Wall in left. It was his first home run for the Red Sox. He is hitting .458 (11-for-24) since joining the team on June 29.

(Minor's first three pitches to Pearce were called balls by plate umpire Todd Tichenor, but the first two may actually have been strikes. Pitch #1 is on the line near Pitch #5; Pitch #2 is on line at the top of the zone.)

The Red Sox had runners at second and third in the third (thanks to a single by Sandy Leon and a double from Andrew Benintendi) but Martinez popped to center and Pearce grounded to shortstop.

Rodriguez issued two-walks in both the first and second innings, but got the next man both times. Adrian Beltre singled with one out in the fourth and Jurickson Profar singled with two down before Rodriguez got Isiah Kiner-Falefa to fly to left.

Rodriguez was also helped by two nice catches in the fifth; Xander Bogaerts leapt skyward to snare Delino DeShields's liner and Mookie Betts ran down Elvis Andrus's long drive to right-center.

With two outs in the sixth, Texas had runners at first and second and manager Alex Cora brought in Heath Hembree, who struck out Kiner-Falefa.

Chirinos tripled off Brandon Workman to start the seventh, but Workman struck out pinch-hitter Joey Gallo (who came into the game having fanned in 36.2% of his plate appearances (343 PA, 124 K)) for the first out. DeShields grounded to third and Rafael Devers, playing in on the grass, gloved the ball and froze Chirinos with a stare, before throwing to first. Andrus grounded to second to end the inning.

Jesse Chavez was on the mound in the eighth when Betts grounded a single into center and Benintendi followed with a hit to right. Martinez turned on an inside fastball and drove his 28th home run out of the park to left-center.

Mike Minor / Eduardo Rodriguez

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

Since May 16, the Red Sox are 26-1 when they score five or more runs. (The lone blemish came on June 15, when they lost 7-6 to the Mariners after leading 6-3 in the fifth inning.)

Speaking of which, you may have noticed that Dave O'Brien often says things like "The Sox are 12-1 when Jackie Bradley hits a double"*. Those statements sound good, but they mean nothing. The fact of Bradley hitting a double does not give the Red Sox some near-guarantee of victory. But what if I'm wrong and there is a direct correlation? With that in mind, I did some poking around this past weekend and discovered:

When Brock Holt walks twice, the Red Sox are 4-0

When Chris Sale allows three hits, the Red Sox are 0-1

When Sale gives up two home runs and hits one batter or when he gives up one home run and hits two batters, the Red Sox are 2-0

When Mookie Betts is caught stealing, the Red Sox are 2-0

When Betts grounds into a double play, the Red Sox are 3-0

When Andrew Benintendi triples, the Red Sox are 5-0

When Betts triples, the Red Sox are 0-1

Okay. If Mookie gets a triple ... it's BAD! You can bet your paycheck on a Red Sox loss! But if he gets thrown out trying to steal, start cheering - because the win is in the bag!!

*: The Red Sox actually are 12-1 when that happens, by the way.

AL East: The Yankees will play two games in Baltimore. The teams will make up a May 31 postponement at 4 PM, followed by tonight's regular scheduled contest. The Red Sox lead the AL East by 2 games.

Andrew Benintendi's 10-Game On-Base Streak

Andrew Benintendi came to the plate 15 times in the Red Sox's three-game sweep in Kansas City last weekend. He reached base 12 times, including in 10 consecutive plate appearances.

He went 8-for-11, hitting .727/.800/1.000. He also scored seven runs.

A closer look:

Friday, July 6 - Red Sox won 10-5
1st inning - bbc - Line Out to CF
2nd inning - cbb - Single, Scored
4th inning - b - Single
6th inning - bccc - Strikeout Looking
(Blake Swihart replaced Benintendi in LF in the 8th and singled and scored in the 9th.)

Saturday, July 7 - Red Sox won 15-4
1st inning - cfbbbb - Walk
3rd inning - fbbbsb - Walk
5th inning - bbbb - Walk, Scored
7th inning - fbbbb - Walk, Scored
8th inning - fbbff - Home Run (solo), Scored
9th inning - fbbf - Double, RBI, Scored

Sunday, July 8 - Red Sox won 7-4
1st inning - cfbfb - Single
3rd Inning - sbbf - Single
5th inning - Single, Scored
7th inning - Double, Scored
8th inning - cfbbs - Strikeout Swinging

In the 10 consecutive plate appearances in which he reached safrely, Benintendi saw 45 pitches: 24 balls and 21 strikes. He swung at 19 of the 21 strikes.

21 Strikes
Called Strikes: 2
Swing/Miss: 2
Foul Balls: 11
Singles: 3
Doubles: 2
Home Run: 1

Elias Sports says the previous three Red Sox batters to reach base in 10 or more consecutive plate appearances are:

Dustin Pedroia – 12 (2016)
David Ortiz – 10 (2013)
Kevin Youkilis – 13 (2009)

The Mets Make History. Pathetic History.

The Mets lost to the Rays on Saturday 3-0. That may not seem like a big deal - it was the seventh time the Mets were shutout this season - but they did something they had not done in their previous 9,106 regular season games. And because this is the Mets, it was a bad thing.

For the first time in franchise history the Mets were shut out despite their leadoff hitter reaching base in at least seven of nine innings. The Mets went 0-for-17 with runners on base.

1st: Brandon Nimmo doubles. Three pitches later, he is thrown out trying to steal third base.

2nd: Wilmer Flores doubles. He is on third with one out, but: K, BBI, K.

3rd: Brandon Nimmo walks. The next hitters: K, F7, K.

4th: Wilmer Flores singles. Then: K, 5-4-3 DP.

5th: Amed Rosario grounds out 4-3.

6th: Jose Bautista strikes out.

7th: Wilmer Flores singles. The next batter hits into a 1-4-3 double play.

8th: Jose Reyes doubles. He is on third with one out, but: P4 and F8.

9th: Michael Conforto singles. Then: F8, L8, Conforto to 2B on DI, K.

h/t Elias

G91: Red Sox 7, Royals 4

Red Sox - 001 120 300 - 7 14  0
Royals  - 002 100 001 - 4 12  1

Andrew Benintendi knocked three singles and a double in his first four times up on Sunday, extending his string of reaching base to 10 consecutive plate appearances, before finally making an out in the eighth inning. Going back to Friday, Benintendi has reached base in 12 of his last 14 trips to the plate.

Benintendi wasn't the only hot hitter behind Boston's 62nd win of the season. Steve Pearce singled twice and walked twice. Xander Bogaerts also was on base four times, with a single, double, walk, and a Royals error. X had two RBI, as did Eduardo Nunez, who singled twice. Rick Porcello (7-9-3-1-9, 111) worked with baserunners in all but one of his seven innings, so he never really got into a steady rhythm, but he held the Royals to only two hits in 11 at-bats with RATS.

The Red Sox could have scored more than seven runs, but they hit into five double plays (in the first, second, fourth, seventh, and ninth innings). Sandy Leon and Nunez both hit into two and Mitch Moreland grounded into one. Boston last hit into five double plays on June 19, 2015 -- strangely enough, in a 7-3 win over the Royals in Kansas City! (The team record for DPs in a game is six.)

With one out in the third, Betts walked and went to third on Benintendi's single. Pearce's fly to left gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. Porcello gave up two runs in the bottom half, on singles by Drew Butera and Whit Merrifield (5-for-5) and a two-run double from Jorge Bonifacio.

Boston tied the game 2-2 in the third when Bogaerts reached second on an infield error and scored on Nunez's single. But the Royals took the lead again in their half of the third. Alex Gordon singled, went to second on a groundout, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on Adalberto Mondesi's two-out single.

The Red Sox retook the lead for good in the fifth, chasing Heath Fillmyer (4.1-8-4-3-0, 73) in the process. Singled by Betts, Benintendi and Pearce loaded the bases with one out. Fillmyer walked Moreland to force in a run and Bogaerts hit a sac fly off new pitcher Glenn Sparkman to make it 4-3.

Benintendi opened the seventh with a double against Sparkman. Pearce and Moreland singled to score one run and Bogaerts doubled to make it 6-3. Nunez had a run-scoring single against Enny Romero.

Porcello began the seventh inning at 96 pitches. Butera singled and Merrifield doubled, and manager Alex Cora paid a visit to the mound. Porcello stayed in the game. He struck out Jorge Bonifacio and Mike Moustakas and walked off the mound as Lucas Duda flied to center.

The Royals scored a run off Tyler Thornburg in the ninth before Craig Kimbrel ended the game by striking out Moustakas and Duda (both of whom represented the potential tying run).

AL East: The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 2-1 in 10 innings. Boston remains 2 GA.

Rick Porcello / Jakob Junis Heath Fillmyer

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

Christian Vazquez fractured the pinkie finger on his throwing hand last night on a slide into second base and is now on the 10-day disabled list. ... Brian Johnson was also placed on the 10-day DL (retroactive to July 5) with left hip inflammation. William Cuevas was called up from Pawtucket.

Manager Alex Cora said Joe Kelly was taken out of last night's game because he felt "lightheaded" after covering first base on a ground ball.

Peter Abraham tweets that Andrew Benintendi is the only player since 1908 (and likely the only one in baseball history) to have at least one home run, one double, four walks and four runs scored in a game.

Benintendi is also the first Red Sox player with four walks and one home run since David Ortiz (who did it exactly 11 years earlier, July 7, 2007). A Red Sox batter has walked four times and homered 12 times since 1908. Ted Williams did it five times (including twice in 1946); no other Boston batter has done it more than once.

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweeted yesterday that the Red Sox have their eye on Fernando Rodney, the 41-year-old Twins reliever. I would not enjoy seeing his stupid theatrics in a Boston uniform.

Sean McAdam, Boston Sports Journal: "Remember earlier in the year when the Red Sox were belting grand slams left and right? Well, they haven't hit one in a long time." ... It's been a mere eight days (June 30) since Rafael Devers hit a grand slam. Granted, that has been Boston's only slam since hitting six in April, but eight days is not "a long time".

After starting the season 17-2, the Red Sox are 44-27, which a 100-win pace (.620).

AL East: MFY/TOR, 1 PM. The Red Sox are 2 GA.