The Red Sox starting pitcher Rick Porcello did everything he could last night to keep the game under control in hopes that the team could get some runs on the board against the Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman.
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Baltimore Orioles left fielder Michael Bourn pumps his fist after Boston Red Sox’s Hanley Ramirez struck out to end Wednesday night’s game at Fenway Park.
Elsewhere in the mens’ game Worcester shut out Johnson 8-Nil, and the Norwich Cadets lost to Plattsburgh 3-Nil.
With David Price lined up to pitch Game 162, Porcello will likely be on the mound for the Red Sox in a wild card game or division series opener.
“If anything it hardens us a little bit more knowing that pitches late in the ballgame, tight games have greater significance”, Farrell added.”These are great opportunities for us to continue to harden as we go through this remaining schedule”. And now we’re going back to a place, our city, that gets them and gets what they’re doing for the last four years.
Red Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-7, 4.70) gets the start Thursday as Boston opens a four-game series against the New York Yankees. They would then be in a world of trouble heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
Baltimore took two of three in the series to pull a game ahead of slumping Toronto for the top AL wild card. He has never allowed more than two runs in any of those six starts and has limited the Yankees to a single earned run on four occasions, including both of his starts against NY this season.
“(Hardy) put a good swing on it”, Porcello said.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun”, he said. This is what you train for.
Gausman (8-10) outdueled Porcello, the majors’ first 20-game victor, tossing eight scoreless innings while allowing four hits and one walk and striking out six.
Porcello (20-4) suffered his first loss at Fenway this season after going 13-0 in his first 14 starts at the ballpark.
“We have to score something to help him out”, said right fielder Mookie Betts, one of just four Boston players to get a hit.
The Sox really need one of their big wins against a very good pitcher tonight. He did his job. Gausman now has five starts this season in which he’s pitched seven or more scoreless innings, tying him for the AL lead with Yankees righty Masahiro Tanaka. He threw 120 pitches and lowered his ERA to 3.43.
Last night the Sox just could not handle the impressive pitcher of Gausman who was throwing in the high 90’s the entire night and even hitting 99 miles per hour in the 8th inning.
Boston had a scare in the second when J.J. Hardy hit a hard grounder up the middle and the ball bounced off Porcello’s calf to third baseman Travis Shaw. The game was delayed briefly to allow Porcello a few warm-ups before continuing.
We’re looking forward to the support I know we’ll have when we get home as we keep making our way through these landmines.
Red Sox: RHP Rick Porcello (20-3, 3.21) already leads the majors in victories and is unbeaten in home starts.
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“This is going to be a hard-fought division right to the final game of the season”, Boston manager John Farrell said.
