Red Sox Trail All Night, Take Their First Lead Of The Game In The 9th And Close It Out With Craig Kimbrel's 300th Career Save

The Rangers aren’t even good. They’re a last place team. Blah, blah, blah. Shut the fuck up. It was a good game.

The Rangers might be in last place, but Cole Hamels ain’t no last place pitcher. That dude’s got some skins on his wall and some notches on his bedpost. He’s been places, he’s seen some shit, and he’s won some shit. He’s not out there paying any attention to how bad his team’s record is; he’s out there trying to beat you when he’s on the mound, because that’s what he’s wired to do.

Hamels held the Red Sox to just one run through five innings, that one run being a solo shot off the bat of Mitch Moreland. On Saturday night, Boston featured a lineup that had Moreland at first base, Hanley Ramirez at DH and JD Martinez in left field with Jackie Bradley Jr. on the bench. Bradley later entered the game as a defensive replacement, but we’re starting to see Alex Cora put more of an emphasis on Boston’s offense with the Red Sox struggling to score runs over the last couple of weeks. That, and the Yankees gaining so much ground in that small window of time.

With Moreland in the lineup, it’s an upgrade defensively at first base, of course, but it’s a downgrade in both left and centerfield. That being said, it’s been worth it because Moreland has homered in each of his last three starts. Martinez’s offense hasn’t been impacted whatsoever based on if he’s been at DH or in left field, as he’s climbed up to sixth in the American League in batting average (.344) and eighth in OPS (.978). Hanley went 1-for-4 on Saturday, but he’s cooled off a little bit this month. He’s hitting .143 with a .446 OPS since the start of May, but guys like Mookie Betts, Martinez and Moreland have picked him up after Hanley was the offensive catalyst for the entire month of April.

Eduardo Rodriguez was very sloppy his last time out against Kansas City, and didn’t exactly turn things around in this outing. Joey Gallo got him in the second inning for his first of two homers on the night, Delino DeShields hammered a first-pitch high fastball for a three-run homer in the fifth, and then Gallo came back and got him again in the sixth to make it 5-3, Rangers.

Rodriguez’s day was done after six innings, allowing just four hits but three of them were homers, so it was five earned runs for E-Rod. If there’s a silver lining here, it’s that Rodriguez struck out ten batters for the first time since September 25, 2016 when the lefty struck out 13 batters in Tampa.

In the seventh inning, Andrew Benintendi doubled in a run for one of his three hits on the night, and then Martinez shot a base hit up the middle to drive in the tying run with two outs. A sac fly by Hanley in the ninth gave Boston their first lead of the game, and a one-run lead was plenty for Craig Kimbrel, who came in and retired the side in order, striking out the last two batters he faced to record his 300th career save, becoming the youngest reliever in history to reach that milestone.

But the moment of the night goes to Joe Kelly AKA Jim Buchanan, who inherited a one-out, bases loaded situation in the 8th inning. Kelly’s first task, try to retire Gallo, who had already homered twice. Kelly blew him away with 98 MPH gas upstairs to record the second out of the inning. He then battled Jurickson Profar for 11 pitches before painting the low, outside corner with 98 again. Christian Vazquez was so pumped up that he made the strike three call before home plate umpire Adrian Johnson even had the chance to.

With the win, the Red Sox keep the Yankees one game back of first place. In the series finale today at 3:05pm, it’s Chris Sale versus former Red Sox righty Doug Fister. His last time out, Sale went seven innings, held the Royals to one earned run and struck out six batters. It was the fifth time in seven starts this season that Sale has held his opponent to one earned run or less.

Fister was great for Boston last year when he filled in for the injured David Price, and he’s off to a great start in Texas, too. He’s got a 2.88 ERA, and although he hadn’t gone longer than five innings in his first four starts, he went six and two thirds scoreless his last time out against the Indians in a game that the Rangers went on to win.

Final score: Red Sox 6, Rangers 5

PS — Tough look for Hubbs chirping me for going to Fenway last weekend and not blogging the Friday-Saturday games, then going to Yankee Stadium yesterday and not blogging the game after. Just a tough, tough look. Hate to see hypocrisy like that.