Hanley Ramirez helped the Boston Red Sox jump out to an 8-0 lead against the San Francisco Giants, smashing two home runs to spark the Sox. Then, when the pesky Giants narrowed the lead to one run, Ramirez helped the Red Sox pull away one last time from the Giants, blasting his third home run of the game, sparking the Red Sox to a 11-7 win over the skidding Giants.
Ramirez's big night backed a shaky first start from Drew Pomeranz, who was very good for three innings and then terrible in the fourth frame. Pomeranz failed to retire a batter in the fourth inning, ending on a sour note in his first start as a member of the Red Sox. Boston built an 8-0 lead, watched it dwindle to 8-7, then used late blasts from Ramirez and Sandy Leon to pull away, sealing the victory thanks to some clutch pitching from Matt Barnes. Travis Shaw also homered for the Red Sox.
Ramirez sparks the early offensive outburst
Ramirez and the Red Sox wasted little time in jumping all over Matt Cain, making his first start in over a month due to a hamstring injury. After needing just seven pitches in the first inning, Cain ran into big trouble in the second frame. He issued a leadoff walk to David Ortiz, bringing up Ramirez. Cain delivered a high, outside fastball to Ramirez, who extended his arms and muscled it for an opposite-field home run, staking Boston to a 2-0 lead. One batter later, Shaw got all of another fastball from Cain, rocketing the ball into the right field stands, about ten rows above the Red Sox bullpen for a 3-0 advantage after the second inning.
The floodgates really opened in the third inning, with Ramirez again serving as the sparkplug. With Bogaerts on first base and one out, Cain made another mistake to Ramirez, serving up a pitch on the inner half of the plate, which Ramirez swiftly deposited over the centerfield wall, the ball clearing the 379 foot marker just to the right of the Green Monster, a two-run blast for a 5-0 lead. The Red Sox continued to mash the ball in the inning, as Cain would not make it out of the inning. Bradley doubled, eventually scoring on a two-out triple from Leon, the first of his career. Holt slapped a RBI double to left field, scoring Leon, and came around to tap home plate for Boston's eighth run on Mookie Betts' RBI double.
Pomeranz looks strong but collapses in the fourth inning
Drew Pomeranz looked good early on in making his debut against a familiar foe in the Giants. It was his fourth start of the year against the Giants, who he had held to two runs in his last thirteen innings against the San Francisco squad. He held the Giants scoreless in the first three innings, long enough for Boston to get eight runs on the scoreboard. He racked up four strikeouts in those three frames, three coming on his 92 mph fastball, the other coming on his curveball, his favorite offspeed offering. He stranded a runner on second in the first inning, and a runner on third in the second inning.
After a smooth third frame, Pomeranz looked very good, but he waited for 26 minutes in the dugout as the Sox put up a five-spot on the scoreboard in the third inning. The long wait appeared to affect Pomeranz in the fourth inning, as he was unable to record an out. After walking the leadoff batter, the lefty surrendered a single and a three-run blast to Mac Williamson to cut the lead to 8-3. Another single and another home run, this one off the bat of Trevor Brown, got the bullpen busy for Boston.
An infield single and bunt single put two runners on and ended Pomeranz's night. Robbie Ross entered the game for Boston and immediately got out of trouble with a lineout, fly out, and ground out.
Giants continue comeback
After Pomeranz left, the Giants weren't done causing trouble. Ross looked like he had the fifth inning in hand with two quick outs, but he issued a two-out walk to Grant Green, prompting another pitching change, as Heath Hembree came in to pitch. Hembree immediately gave up three straight singles, allowing two runs to cross before securing the third out on a spectacular catch from Shaw, who battled the fans, reaching into the stands and securing the ball among a throng of reaching hands. The catch ended the inning with the Red Sox still clinging to an 8-7 advantage.
Matt Barnes clutch pitching keeps Red Sox ahead
Matt Barnes entered the game in about as tough a situation a pitcher can inherit: With the bases loaded and nobody out, a situation created by southpaw Tommy Layne, Barnes entered with the job of preserving Boston's rapidly disappearing lead. Barnes induced a high hopper to Ramirez at first base. Ramirez tagged the bag and fired home to Leon, who whirled and tagged the runner out at home for a critical double play. The next batter popped it high into foul territory, eventually descending into Ramirez's glove for the third out. Ramirez rewared Barnes' spectacular pitching in the sixth inning with his third blast of the day, this one yanked just over the top of the Green Monster.
The two-run bomb gave Ramirez 6 RBI on the day and the Red Sox a 10-7 lead. Barnes provided the Sox with two more innings of relief, both scoreless innings. In the seventh, with runners on first and second, Barnes struck out the potential tying run to end the inning, eliciting a shout of excitement from the young relief hurler. Leon added a solo blast, his second in four games and fourth of his career, to cushion the Red Sox's lead further. Brad Ziegler fired a perfect ninth inning, as the Red Sox held on to win, claiming the lead in the A.L. East division.
Flashing the Leather
Shaw's catch was not the only defensive highlight of the night. Both sides were very smooth defensively, saving several runs and not making an error in the slugfest. Hanley Ramirez did it all at the plate, and he was very impressive in the field as well. In the first inning, with a runner on first and nobody out, Ramirez made a diving catch to prevent runners from advancing to the corners with nobody out. In the second inning, he made a diving stop, cradling an in-between hop, and got up in time to race to the bag for an out that saved a run as well.
Then there was the double play he helped turn in the sixth inning, again saving a run. Not only did Hanley drive in six runs in Wednesday's game, but he also saved at least three runs from the Giants. Dustin Pedroia was not a big part of the offensive fireworks, but he provided some slick glovework as well, saving a run with a spectacular play on a ground ball up the middle. In the ninth inning, putting a stamp on the wild victory, the Red Sox made a few more plays to stuff into the highlights, as Bogaerts barehanded a deflected ground ball and whipped it to first for the out, and Holt made a neat running catch in shallow left-center field for the final out of the ballgame.
The Giants made some very nice plays in the field as well. The most spectacular play on either side came from third baseman Ramiro Pena went sprinting into shallow left field on a high pop up off the bat of Shaw. With a runner on third and two outs, a catch was necessary to prevent a run from scoring. Pena went sliding into left field, his back to the plate, and barely snagged the pop up, securing the ball during his lengthy slide in the grass.
That was the most notable play of the day, although the Giants certainly had some other very nice plays, including another one from Pena, who was playing in shallow right field in the shift against Ortiz, and went far to his right snagged a grounder and made a spinning, off-balance throw to retire Ortiz.
Up Next
The Giants lose their fifth straight game coming out of the All-Star Break and are looking for an answer, as the Los Angeles Dodgers have narrowed a once-comfortable division lead in the West for the Giants. They head to play the New York Yankees.
The Red Sox, victors in eleven of their last fourteen, stay at home to take on the Minnesota Twins, where they will try to pad their newly attained division lead.