Holt’s walk-off single completes Red Sox’ comeback
By Joe Meehan
Bring on the youth movement.
With a new look lineup, Brock Holt ripped a ninth inning walk-off single as the Red Sox completed the comeback against the White Sox, 5-4.
The night started slow for the Sox offense, as Chris Sale was dominant through the first seven innings. Unlike previous nights though, the bats came to life late.
Trailing 4-0 in the eighth, Mookie Betts led off with an infield double. Sale then got both Christian Vazquez and Brock Holt to ground out. That’s when the Sox’ prayers were answered with a questionable managerial decision.
Robin Ventura decided to remove Sale from the game at 107 pitches, opting for Jake Petricka to face Dustin Pedroia. Petricka promptly served up a single, two doubles and a walk to make it a 4-3 game.
In the ninth, with Javy Guerra in to close, Betts was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a Daniel Nava pinch-hit double. Holt then sent Fenway into a frenzy with the single.
The game provided a glimpse into the Red Sox future, as they started six rookies: Holt, Betts, Vazquez, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Rubby De La Rosa.
De La Rosa went 5.0 innings, surrendering only three runs. He was plagued a bit by the long ball as Jose Abreu took him deep in the first and Conor Gillaspie did the same in the second. Fortunately they were both with the bases clear.
The series wraps up tomorrow night at 4:05pm as Jon Lester (9-7, 2.73) squares off against Jose Quintana (5-7, 3.20).