After giving up the lead in the bottom of the seventh, the Red Sox regained it for good in the top of the ninth, with pinch-hitter Andrew Benintendi supplying a tie-breaking sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, giving the Sox a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Sox broke a scoreless tie in the seventh on a double to left-center by Christian Vazquez. But in the bottom of the inning, Eduardo Rodriguez, who had blanked the Phils for the first six innings, hit a batter to load the bases and walked another to force in the tying run.
That cost Rodriguez the win and with it, probably the chance to win 20 games this season. He has 17 wins and just two more starts remaining.
WHO: Red Sox (77-70) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (76-70)
WHERE: Citizen Bank Park
WHEN: 7:05 p.m.
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: Philadelphia 2-0
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (17-6, 3.73) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (12-5, 3.70)
TV/RADIO: NESN, WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
10:11 Andrew Benintendi, off the bench, shoots a fly ball to left field, deep enough to score pinch-runner Chris Owings.
10:04 Smart use of the hit-and-run option by Alex Cora, knowing that Vazquez almost always makes contact.
9:28 Rough way for the night to end for Rodriguez, who hits Adam Haseley to load the bases and then walks Maikel Franco to force in the tying run. He leaves with two outs; he can't win tonight, and probably won't get to 20 wins now.
9:02 Huge double to the left-center gap for Christian Vazquez, scoring Rafael Devers from second and snapping an 0-0 tie.
8:52 Rodriguez has been dominant -- 10 strikeouts, two hits and no walks. But, for someone who has gotten great run support all season, he hasn't gotten any tonight.
8:13 Poor communication between Jackie Bradley Jr. and J.D. Martinez and a ball hit by Rhys Hoskins falls in on the right-center warning track for a two-out double.
8:03 Seems odd that the Sox would send Xander Bogaerts, especially since, with the close pickoff attempt on the pitch before, the Phils were aware he was looking to run.
7:35 Mitch Moreland makes a diving backhand stop on a ground ball, but as has become habitual, Eduardo Rodriguez is late getting to first to cover the bag and Cesar Hernandez beats the flip by Moreland.
7:27: Terrific play from third baseman Maikel Franco, who makes a play behind the bag, on the line, and makes a strong jump throw across the diamond to nab Christian Vazquez at first.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
M. Hernandez 2B
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Martinez RF
Moreland 1B
Vazquez C
Bradley CF
G. Hernandez LF
Rodriguez P
PHILLIES
Segura SS
Realmuto C
Harper RF
Hoskins 1B
Kingery CF
Hernandez 2B
Hasely LF
Franco 3B
Nola P
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox snapped a five-game losing streak with a win Thursday night in Toronto, but are still just 4-8 in their last 12 games and have lost each of their last three series -- two at home (MINN, NYY) and one on the road (TOR)….The Red Sox are 19-11 all-time at Citizen Bank Park and are 7-1-3 in 11 series there...After going 0-3-1 in their first four interleague series this season, the Sox have their last two...Over their last 61 interleague games, the Red Sox are 44-17, but are just 7-8 against National League teams this season.....Tonight marks the beginning of a stretch of five straight interleague games -- two with the Phils this weekend and a three-game series at Fenway against the San Francisco Giants getting underway Tuesday...The Sox have had a winning record in interleague play in 13 of the last 14 seasons....Over his last five starts, Eduardo Rodriguez is 4-1 with a 1.11 ERA...Boston is 22-8 in his first 30 starts this year...He's managed to go at least five innings in each of his last 24 starts...Among American League starters, only Houston's Justin Verlander (14) and Gerrit Cole (14) have had more starts in which they've gone at least six innings and allowed one or no runs than Rodriguez (11)….Over the last three seasons, the Red Sox have won all 12 of Rodriguez's starts against N.L. teams. He's 7-0 with a 2.71 in those starts...You probably shouldn't expect much from Rodriguez at the plate tonight, however. This year, Red Sox pitchers are a combined 1-for-17 with one sacrifice bunt, one RBI and one run scored with eight strikeouts. Sox pitchers are hitless in the last 15 plate appearances; the last hit by a Boston pitcher was April 6 when David Price singled against Arizona....The Sox are one of just seven teams in history with four players with 70 or more extra-base hits. Rafael Devers has 83, Xander Bogaerts has 81, Mookie Betts has 73 and J.D. Martinez has 70....The last team to do it was the 2008 New York Mets. The last American League to do it was the 2000 Anaheim Angels...No team has ever had four players with least 75 extra-base hits....Bogaerts recently joined David Ortiz as the only player in team history with at least 30 homers and 50 doubles. Devers can join the exclusive club with one more homer....Jay Bruce is 3-for-7 with a homer against Rodriguez lifetime while Bradley is 2-for-5 with a homer off Nola.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- Mookie Betts was scratched from the lineup with a left foot, first incurred in Toronto. Betts is going to be examined though at this point, the Sox don't believe he needs to have any imaging done on the foot. He's not expected to be out of the lineup long.
- Brock Holt was not feeling well and is out of the lineup. The Red Sox will attempt to stay away from him tonight.