CHICAGO -- For the third straight night, the Red Sox produced some late-inning magic to pull out a comeback victory.
Trailing 4-0 after seven innings, the Sox rallied with four in the seventh, then tacked on five more in the ninth to clinch a 9-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Mookie Betts blasted a two-run homer to tie the game as part of the seventh-inning uprising, and a three-run shot by J.D. Martinez finished off the fireworks in the ninth.
Rick Porcello was rocked for three runs in the first and another in the second before settling down. Four Red Sox relievers followed him with an inning each of scoreless work.
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
11:05 Strong relief innings from both Joe Kelly and Ryan Brasier. Kelly seems to have regained some of his early-season mojo and has now had seven straight scoreless appearances. Brasier, meanwhile, needed just 10 pitches to record three outs.
10:33 There's something about the late innings this week for the Red Sox. On Tuesday, they scored three in the eighth as part of their comeback against the Marlins. On Wednesday, of course, the Sox pushed across 11 runs in the eighth in another comeback win. And tonight, the Sox went from being shutout after six to tied 4-4 after a four-run seventh, led by a two-run, game-tying homer from Betts.
10:03 Red Sox lineup can't seem to generate anything. In each of the last two innings, they've put the leadoff man on, but haven't been able to score. A leadoff single by Mookie Betts in the sixth looked like the start of something, but Giolito attacked the next three hitters -- Andrew Benintendi, J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts -- and retired them on just seven pitches.
9:42 First hit of the night for the Red Sox is a two-out single to left by Ian Kinsler. Giolito had allowed only two of the first 15 hitters to reach -- one on a walk, one on an error earlier this inning.
9:12 White Sox starter Lucas Giolito came in with an ERA of nearly 6 (5.85) and has walked 75 in 144.2 innings coming into tonight. But after walking the first hitter of the night, he's held the Sox hitless (0-for-8) with five strikeouts.
8:55 Eduardo Nunez wasn't nearly as aggressive as he should have been there. As the throw came from Jackie Bradley Jr., Nunez was waiting for baserunner Nicky Delmonico, ball in glove. Had he reached out to apply the tag quicker, he could have recorded the out and possibly negated the run that crossed the plate as Delmonico slid into third.
8:25 The homers are starting to pile up again for Rick Porcello. He allowed a two-run shot to Avisail Garcia, and has now allowed at least one homer in six of his last seven starts, including three two starts ago. He allowed seven homers in his first 14 starts, but in his last 14, including tonight, has yielded 16
WHO: Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox
WHERE: Guaranteed Rate Field
WHEN: 8:10 p.m.
WHAT'S UP: After a period that saw them drop six of eight games, the Red Sox rebounded in a mini-homestand, taking two in a row from the lowly Miami Marlins, though, each time, they had to come from behind in the late innings to pick up the victory. The Red Sox have regained a 7.5 game lead -- seven in the loss column -- over second-place New York and their next win will equal their victory total for all of 2017 with better than four weeks still remaining in the season. Since the start of 2014, the Sox are 4-0 in series at Guaranteed Rate Field, having won 8-of-12 here. That said, the White Sox took two-of-three from the Red Sox in Boston back in early June, and though they almost 30 games under .500, have played better of late, beating the Yankees in New York Wednesday night, having won seven of their last 10.
STARTING PITCHERS: Rick Porcello (15-7, 4.18) vs. Lucas Giolito (10-9, 5.85).
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Benintendi LF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Nunez 3B
Holt 1B
Kinsler 2B
Leon C
Bradley CF
WHITE SOX
Sanchez 3B
Delmonico LF
Garcia RF
Palka DH
Anderson SS
Moncada 2B
Davidson 1B
Smith C
Engel CF
NEWS AND NOTES:
- David Price didn't travel with the team Wednesday night, remaining in Boston so he could see a hand specialist and undergo further tests Thursday morning in Boston. Price was struck just below the left wrist on a comebacker in the third inning of Wednesday's win over Miami. "Everything is fine,'' said Alex Cora. "From everything I've heard, he's fine. He's on his way (to Chicago). For how bad he wants to (hit) in Atlanta (in his next scheduled start), we'll see how it goes. We haven't seen him yet. We'll see how he feels over the next few days and go from there. I'm not 100 percent sure he'll make his start in Atlanta.'' Cora said it "makes sense'' to hold Price out of the Braves series entirely so he doesn't have to swing the bat and risk further injury the wrist. "But at the same time,'' noted Cora, "if he feels ready to pitch and he can convince me, we'll let him go. We trust him.''
- Chris Sale played catch for the fourth day in a row and is expected to do the same again Friday before the Sox map out further plans.
- 1B Mitch Moreland, who's been bothered by a knee which was aggravated last week when he crashed into a camera pit near the Red Sox dugout, was out of the lineup Thursday but was feeling better. "He's a little bit sore,'' said Cora, "but giving him one or two or maybe three days (off), it's going to benefit him. Tonight, he'll be available, but hopefully, we'll stay away from him. We've been playing him a lot. Lately, he's been swinging the bat better and hitting the ball solid, but keeping him off his feet is going to benefit him and obviously benefit us.''
- Cora confirmed that some players not currently on the 40-man roster are under consideration for callups when rosters expand Saturday.