Entering the 9th inning yesterday, the Sox trailed 3-0. They had lost 5 of their last 6 and 7 of their last 9, many in frustrating, brutal fashion. They were headed for a humiliating series defeat at the hands of a dead last place team. Their offense had been completely absent all day, and their manager had already been ejected.
But then, just as the playoffs seemed to be a fading prospect, things began to turn. JBJ worked a walk. Aaron Hill blooped a single. With 2 outs, Mookie Betts roped a base hit to right center, scoring Jackie Baseball and extending the game. Then, as broadcaster Dave O'Brien was talking about how Angels closer Houston Street likes to throw the kind of high strikes that Dustin Pedroia hits so well, Street grooved a fastball that Petey crushed. Dustin may be diminutive, but he had no doubt that this one was gone, to dead centerfield no less. Before the crowd could figure out what happened, Xander Bogaerts followed up with his own blast to left. 5-3 Boston.
Brad Ziegler shut the door in the 9th, which was a nice result after two straight losing efforts from the Sox 3rd choice closer. So, the Sox get a four game split with Anaheim, which isn't a terrible start to the road trip. Oh, and they also activated Craig Kimbrel from the DL today, and Blake Swihart could be back as soon as next week. Reinforcements are on the way, and things are looking up.
One last note, the Sox sent Joe Kelly down to Pawtucket to make room for Kimbrel, which means that Clay Buccholz has won the competition to fill the middle/long relief spot in the Sox bullpen. I definitely don't love him in that role, but Kelly has been awful and Clay has been decent there, and it's certainly better than having ether of them start. On to Seattle!
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