Red Sox Recap: Joe Kelly Allows 2 Runs, Earns 7th Straight Win, 7-4
Boston was looking to leave the recent ugly loss against the Yankees behind, and acomplished that by sending the recent-dominant Joe Kelly (9-6, 4.84) to the mound for the series opener against the Phillies. The right-hander starting pitcher started the game with a historic month of August, by winning all of his six games of the month. Meanwhile, Philadelphia had their rookie Adam Morgan to start the game. Morgan had a strong outing in his last start with 6.0 IP, 4H, 2R and 0 ER.
Kelly allowed a single to Odubel Herrera to begin the inning, but Xander Bogaerts got him out at second when Cesar Hernandez grounded into a force out for the first out of the inning. When Aaron Altherr was batting, Kelly picked off Hernandez at first. It was the second time Kelly did that this season, and the fourth in his career. The Red Sox offense attacked first in the first inning, when Mookie Betts began the bottom half of the first with a double, and was followed by back-to-back singles from Brock Holt and Bogaerts to give Boston a 1-0 lead, without a single out being recorded. However, Morgan recovered quickly by striking out David Ortiz in three pitches and retiring Travis Shaw and Allen Craig in order to end the inning.
The score remained the same until the top half of the fourth when the Phillies gained a 2-1 lead. Philadelphia had runners on first and second to begin the inning when Hernandez hit a single and Kelly hit Altherr with a pitch. The long-time Phillie Ryan Howard grounded out to allow Hernandez and Altherr to ove to 2nd and 3d respectively. Hernandez scored when Darnell Sweeney grounded out to first, and Altherr when Darin Ruf singled his way to first base. Kelly found himself in trouble again when he walked Cody Asche and Ruf stole 3rd when Cameron Rupp was batting, but he managed to end the inning with a strikeout.
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The Red Sox seemed to have an outfield problem when the year began, but now Jackie Bradley Jr., Betts and Rusney Castillo have taken over the green grass. Since the three outfielders have been CF at some point in their careers, the Red Sox now have three watchmen with an incredible defensive range watching over the outfield, and that was shown in this game. The Phillies began the fifth inning with Freddy Galvis hitting the ball extremely hard to center field. It almost seemed that Galvis had a chance of having a single, but Betts eliminated his hope with an amazing running catch for the first out. Herrera followed Galvis with a single to left-field and since the ball came close to hit the Green Monster, the center field tried to stretch his hit into a double but was out when Castillo threw the ball hard to second base.
Boston retook the lead in the bottom half of the fifth with the help from their 8th and 9th batts. Ryan Hanigan began the inning with a single and Bradley Jr. followed with a walk that ended up being crucial for the Red Sox. Betts hit his second double of the game to tie the game, while Holt hit a sac fly that scored Bradley Jr. and gave the Red Sox a 3-2 lead. Morgan struck out Ortiz and Bogaerts to end the inning, but the damage was done.
Alexi Ogando replaced Joe Kelly to begin the 7th inning and put the Red Sox in trouble when he issued a double to Asche and a walk to Rupp. The right hander got the first out of the inning when Galvis tried to bunt but ended up being a pop out to first base. Alexi Ogando and Tommy Layne managed to end the inning with a pair of strikeouts to Herrera and Hernandez.
Started by a home run from Bradley Jr., the Red Sox offense came up alive in the bottom half of the 7th. After Hanigan grounded out to begin the inning, Bradley Jr. hit his seventh home run of the season. Betts and Holt continued the offense atack with a walk and a single that ultimately convinced the Phillies that Morgan’s night was done. Jeanmar Gomez replaced the starting pitcher, but surrendered a forceout to Bogaerts that brought Betts home and boosted the Red Sox lead to 5-2. Big Papi had his first hit of the game when he hit his 28th double of the season and allowed Bogaerts to score. Shaw ended up giving the Red Sox a 7-2 lead when he hit a single to right field. Ortiz scored and Shaw moved to second when Altherr throw to first base to get the out missed the first baseman glove.
The Red Sox were on route to a secure win, but we all know that nothing is safe with this bullpen. Junichi Tazawa replaced Noe Ramirez to begin the 8th inning and had a strong perfomance with one hit allowed and three strikeouts, but trouble showed in the 9th when Jean Machi replaced Tazawa. Machi retired the first batter he faced, but surrendered a single to Galvis. The Phillies cut the Red Sox lead to 7-4 when Herrera followed Galvis with a two-run homer. Machi struggled to record the last out of the game and earned another run when he gave up a hit to Herandez and a double to Altherr, but ultimately ended the 9th with a strikeout to Howard.
Game Notes:
- Pablo Sandoval was a late scratch from the game with back tightness. The third baseman injured himself during batting practice. Travis Shaw replaced him at the hot corner.
- With 129 at-bats, Bradley Jr. is now hitting .287 with seven home runs. Last season he only had one homer with 384 at-bats.
- At the end of the game Bogaerts was third in batting average in the American League, trailing only Miguel Cabrera and Michael Brantley.
- Joe Kelly is the fourth Red Sox pitcher since 1999 to win at least 7 consecutive starts. Josh Beckett (2007), Curt Schilling (2004) and Pedro Martinez (1999) are the three others.
Grades:
A-. As I’ve been mentioning during this whole article, the right hander has been nothing but excellent since the start of last month. His numbers from the the last seven starts are now being surrounded by great names such as Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling.. Game Ball. Joe Kelly. STARTING PITCHING
A 5-run lead shouldn’t feel unsafe in the 9th inning, but this Red Sox team always finds new ways to surprise us.. Game Ball. . RELIEF PITCHING. D
A-. The Red Sox offense is now being fueled by their group of youngsters lead by the starting shortstop. The 22-year old sensation finally caught up to the hype that was around him in 2014. He would be a solid MVP candidate if the Red Sox weren’t in last place. In a similar case to Joe Kelly, when your numbers are now being surrounded by great names (Miguel Cabrera in Bogaerts’s case) it’s a sign of good things to come.. Game Ball. Xander Bogaerts. OFFENSE
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