Last night’s Red Sox-Orioles game was the Sox’s 17th extra-innings game of the season, and boy, was it a rollercoaster. After falling behind 5-0 by the third inning, the Red Sox overcame that deficit to tie it up before ultimately taking a 10-8 lead in the 11th inning, winning their 14th extra-inning game of the season.
Two weeks before the end of the season, and I still don’t know what to make of this team. Sure, they’re resilient, but this is also their third extra-inning game this month, and it’s getting annoying. Can’t they win like normal teams? Apparently not. I had a migraine the minute Fister started giving up runs last night, and like the Red Sox themselves, my migraine persisted for 11 innings.
Ultimately, the Red Sox made an impressive comeback and picked up the win and my migraine dissipated. The magic number to clinch the AL East dwindles to four games, but the Yankees are hot on our heels…
Highs:
– Brock Holt was the catalyst for a few of last nights runs, including the first RBI when he came in to pinch hit for Dustin Pedroia. He went 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs.
– After a serious slump the past few weeks, Mookie Betts has been making a comeback of his own. He went 2-6 with a 3-run double and 4 RBIs.
– Xander Bogaert was the only Sox player to homer, hitting his 9th of the season
– Andrew Benintendi continued to make his case for Rookie of the Year with a tie-breaking 2-run single in the 11th inning
– With yet another dominant showing last night, Craig Kimbrel is poised to strike out 50% of batters he’s faced this season. It’s only been done once in MLB history, by Kimbrel himself!
– Carson Smith continued his triumphant return from the DL, closing out the game for the Sox with a scoreless 11th inning
Lows:
– Dustin Pedroia left the game early after fouling a ball off his own face. He walked back to the dugout, dripping blood.
– Doug Fister didn’t have it last night, lasting less than 3 innings, giving up 4 runs on 3 hits.
– None of the Red Sox had more than 2 hits in an average of 4 ABs, and Rajai Davis, Sandy Leon, Mitch Moreland, Sam Travis, and Hanley Ramirez all went hitless
– John Farrell left Fister in for too long, but in this case, too long was 2+ innings.
