Boston 7 NYY 5
Alex Bregman hit two homers and Blake Snell and Collin McHugh held on long enough for Kimbrel to shut the door in the 9th as Boston bested the Yankees 7-5.
It didn’t look promising for Boston and Blake Snell (W 1-1) early. In the 2nd Gleyber Torres singled to start the inning and Gary Sanchez drove a double off the wall in left center to drive him in making it 1-0. Two outs later Greg Bird singled to center scoring Sanchez and the score was 2-0
Boston came right back against Luis Severino (L 1-1) Alex Bregman started with a leadoff shot over the Monster seats and after walks to Rhys Hoskins and J. T. Realmuto Nick Ahmed hit a one out double to center scoring both giving Boston the lead. The Sox managed a two out single to right by Ben Zobrist but Ahmed was held at 3rd and Severino was able to end the inning down only 3-2.
That was a lead Snell couldn’t hold with to outs he walked Giancarlo Stanton and Torres put his own drive over the Green Monster and the Yanks had the lead back 4-3 and when Snell walked Miguel Andujar, Aaron Hicks and Greg Bird to load the bases with nobody out in the 4th it looked like the Bombers would break the game wide open. But Snell bore down striking out Austin Romine, Aaron Judge and Adeiny Hechavarria in succession to end the inning and keep the deficit at 1.
That would prove to be the critical moment of the game. In the bottom of the inning Realmuto singled to the mound and Ronald Acuna JR. followed with another putting runners at the corners. with one out Jose Altuve singled in Realmuto and sent Acuna to 3rd tying the game and when the yanks failed to turn the double play on Zobrist’s grounder to 1st Acuna scored and the Bo Sox were up 5-4. When Chad Green in relief of Severino in the 5th walked J. D. Martinez and gave up Bregman’s 2nd ball into the monster seats and it was 7-4.
That would be a sufficient cushion for Snell who inspired by his hold in the 4th would retire the Yankees easily in the 5th & 6th coming out for Colin McHugh after a leadoff single in the 7th and while that runner would be erased by a Stanton double play Torres would reach on a Rhys Hoskins error move to 3rd on a Gregorius single and score on a Andjuar single to right putting the tying runs on base with Aaron Hicks at the plate in a 7-5 game. McHugh would however not only retire Hicks but the next three men he faced until Craig Kinbrel (S2) came in and after hitting Luke volt to start and walking Gregorius with two out struck out Andujar to preserve the win.
Notes: Boston Pitchers only allowed the Yankees 5 hits but walked seven and hit one over the course of the game. This was Boston’s 3rd straight win and the Yanks 4th straight loss. Luke Volt was pulled for a pinch runner after being hit by a fastball in the 9th but should be available tomorrow. Hoskins error was his 2nd in three games and led to an unearned run. Jameson Tallon (1-0) will start for Boston tomorrow against JA Happ (0-1) tomorrow.
Rivertown 8 Washinton 3
Nelson Cruz hit a massive bomb off the light tower and Rivertown’s bullpen held while the Senators didn’t as Rivertown took the 1st game of a two game series 8-3.
The Senators struck 1st with some small ball in the 2nd off of Aaron Nola (W 2-0) Trevor Story singled and stole 2nd to lead off the inning, after Nola retired the next two DJ LeMahieu stroked a single to right for a 1-0 lead.
In the 3rd Rivertown struck back Lorenzo Cain singled with one out and moved to 2nd on a grounder. Paul Goldschmidt took the next ball to the wall in right off Marco Gonzalez (L 1-2) scoring Cain and tying the game setting up Cruz’s massive homer that traveled 460 feet and Rivertown was up 3-1.
Washington came right back with more small ball and the same case. Story singled & stole 2nd again this time with one out and Billy Hamilton drove him home quickly with a single to right making it 3-2. However Nola managed to hold Hamilton long enough to erase him on a force play then struck out LeMahieu to keep it 3-2.
In the 5th the Raiders added some distance with a solo shot by Goldschmidt making it 4-2 and Rivertown tried to answer. Jesus Aguilar led off with a double and the speedy Dee Gordon ran for him. Nola k’d Story and Hamilton but a throwing error put Gordon on 3rd and pinch hitter Marwin Gonzalez on 1st for LeMahieu who once again punched a single through to left scoring Gordon and it was a one run game again.
It stayed that way till the 7th when the Raiders Trea Turner lead off with a double. Jeurys Familia came in and struck out pinch hitter Matt Carpenter but Cain singled to center scoring Turner Cain going to 3rd on a throwing error by Hamilton and it was 5-3.
In the 8th Cruz led off with another single but due to a mix up Ender Inciarie was anounced as a pinch hitter rather than a pinch runner and after after a short conference was make to go to the plate for Marcell Ozuma rather than running for Cruz. He promptly doubled to center scoring Cruz all the way from 1st and scored along with Joey Wendle who was hit by a pitch with two when Turner doubled and it was 8-3.
That led to a little bit of defensive gymnastics bit ti didn’t matter Edwin Diaz who got the 3rd out of the 8th retired 3 of 4 in the ninth and when the dust had settled Rivertown had sole possession of 1st place.
Notes: The Mixup in the 8th which ended happily for Rivertown was the subject of a lot of post game questions but due to the result nobody in the dugout seemed to mind taking the blame. Familia’s 3 earned run in 1 2/3 innings was the 1st poor outing we’ve seen from him this season. In addition to his error Hamilton got an assist in the 1st when Jose Ramirez took too wide a turn as Cruz hit third and Hamilton nailed him 8-3-4. 4 different relievers pitched two innings for Rivertown giving up no runs. Carlos Martinez (1-0) will take the mound for the Senators tomorrow against Rivertown’s Patrick Corbin (2-0)
Juneau 10 Texas 4
Juneau stroked 16 hits and 3 home runs while Mike Foltynewicz pitched pitched just well enough to get by as Juneau broke it’s losing streak with a 10-4 thumping of Texas.
It looked at first like the long ball was going to sink the Muffen men again as Foltynewicz (W 2-1) started the game with a fat pitch that Michael Brantley took over the fence in right to make it 1-0 but the Muffen men came right back again Corey Kluber (L 0-2) with a Matt Chapman lead off with a double, went to 2nd on a Kolton Wong Grounder and socred on a 2nd grounder form Harrison Bader to tie things up.
In the 3rd they struck again. Andrelton Simmons and Mookie Betts singled with one out and after a K Bryce Harper took Kluber over 465 feet to dead center and the Muffen men were up 4-1. The Muffen Men had men in scoring position every inning off Kluber until the 5th when he was finally chased by a Betts homer followed after one out by Harper’s 2nd shot of the day making it 6-1. Carlos Carrasco replaced him and it the 6th got more of the same as Juneau socred four runs on a Benintendi walk and stolen base, a Simmons double driving him in, And Othani sngle that drove in Simmons a Harper single that sent Ohtani home and a Matt Chapman double. And while the 10-1 lead was shrunk by two massive shots a two run job in the 6th inning by Javier Baez and another by Nolan Arenado in the 7th the outcome was never in doubt.
Notes: Yoshihisa Hirano pitched 3 1/3 inning for his 1st save. Juneau continues to be plagued by the long ball as Texas hit three homers, the final two going 489 and 475 feet respectively Betts continued his torrid hitting going 4-5 raising his avg to .395 but was thrown out at 3rd by Jackie Bradley Jr. David Price goes for his 1st decision in game two against Zach Greinke (1-0)
King Ragnar’s Vikings 1 LA Dodgers 0
Eddie Rosario’s 6th inning RBI single was all the Vikings would need as Max Scherzer spun a 3 hit 18 strikeout masterpiece leading the Vikings to a 1-0 win vs the Dodgers
Scherzer (W 2-1) was dominant from 1st to last. When Jean Segura Muffed Cody Bellinger’s grounder to start the game Scherzer responded by striking out the side. He would do so again in the 5th and 6th and most importantly in the 9th when the Dodgers Joc Peterson doubled with two outs to get the tying run in scoring position.
Scherzer would need that performance because his counterpart Walker Buehler (L 0-1) while not as dominant was just as effective pitching out of a two on one out jam in the 2nd and bearing down in the fifth after committing an error on a Rene Rivera grounder following a Segura single put runners on 1st & 2nd with nobody out.
It would not be till the sixth that Rosario would stroke the two out single scoring Juan Soto who had doubled that the Vikings would break through and even then when Kike Hernandez misplayed Charlie Culbertson’s grounder to put two men on he retired Segura to stop the threat.
But good as his performance was it couldn’t compare to Scherzer who when the Dodgers tried to answer in the 7th with a Yasiel Puig single and a Peterson walk to put two men on with none out retired Yasmani Grandal on a fly out, struck out pinch hitter Justin Turner swinging and coaxed a grounder from David Freese to end the Dodgers best threat as easily as he struck out Grandal to end their final one.
Note: Both pitchers pitched around potentially critical errors without incident. Rosario’s single was the only hit by either team with men in scoring position (Vikings 1-7 LA 0-4) Bueller while giving up 7 hits and striking out only 6 did not walk a batter while Scherzer gave up three 3 passes. Dodger reliever Josh Fields struck out all three men he faced in the 8th.
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