For a second consecutive night, the Boston Red Sox trailed late, and once again, they rallied for a win. Behind 1-0 going into the top of the eighth inning against the Mariners in Seattle, the Red Sox comeback started with a solo home run by Aaron Hill, his first since being acquired by the Red Sox, and then another solo home run by Mookie Betts to lead off the top of the ninth gave the Red Sox the lead for good in a 2-1 victory.
Despite those two home runs, this game was all about pitching, and while that hasn't been the Red Sox strength this season, it sure was last night. Hard to tell which is the more encouraging, the fact that Eduardo Rodriguez, who pitched so badly earlier this season that he was demoted to Triple A Pawtucket, turned in another excellent performance, going six and a third while giving up just three hits and one run, or the fact that in his first game back from knee surgery, closer Craig Kimbrel closed out the game, picking up his eighteenth save of the year.
Kimbrel allowed a walk, and Seattle's Kyle Seager reached on a third strike wild pitch, but Kimbrel rebounded to strike out two more to end the game and give the Red Sox their second late inning comeback win in a row. The win went to Junichi Tazawa, who pitched a scoreless eighth, and the Sox picked up a half game in the standings, now tied for second place with Toronto and just a game behind the division leading Baltimore Orioles.
As for the trade deadline the Red Sox did make a move, nothing splashy like trading for White Sox ace Chris Sale, but Dave Dombrowski did improve the bullpen depth by trading for Fernando Abad of the Minnesota Twins. He sports a 2.65 earned run average and will likely be used as a specialist against left-handed hitters, with lefties hitting just .163 against him this season. And while that was the only trade the Sox made, there will be another new face as the team is calling up one of their top prospects, outfielder Andrew Benintendi, their number one 2015 draft pick. The twenty-two year old has a .312 average with thirty-one doubles, twelve triples, and nine home runs in Single and Double A ball. He'll be available for tonight's game in Seattle with David Price getting the start for the Sox.
The NY Yankees kept dealing at the deadline, sending their best hitter, Carlos Beltran, to the Texas Rangers for three pitchers. They also shipped starter Ivan Nova to the Pittsburgh Pirates for two players to be named later, so while the Yankees are looking past this season, they have stocked the cupboard with some very highly ranked prospects, and even if just a few of those pan out, the Yankees will not be in rebuilding mode for very long.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Yankees not traded at the deadline beat the NY Mets 6-5 in extra innings at Citi Field last night. Didi Gregorius hit a game-tying single with two outs in the eighth and Starlin Castro's sacrifice fly in the tenth held up as the game-winner after Dellin Betances struck out Curtis Granderson with runners at the corners to end the game, snapping the Yankee's four game losing skid.
The Mets, meanwhile, were without their slugger Yoenis Cespedes, who continues to battle injuries, but they did trade for some offense, acquiring Jay Bruce from the Cincinnati Reds. Bruce is the National League's RBI leader this season with 80 knocked in, and until now had spent his entire nine year career with the Reds. The Mets have been on a slide that has them in third place in the NL East and they're hoping Bruce can jump start their offense, which has been the weak link to their strong pitching staff.
In New York Penn League action, the Connecticut Tigers hit three home runs in a 13-1 romp over the Vermont Lake Monsters at Centennial Field, although Eric Marinez had a good night at the plate for Vermont, going four for four.
In the NECBL Mother Nature yesterday, rained out the double header between the Upper Valley Nighthawks and Vermont Mountaineers. They'll make it up today, with both teams needing to secure fourth place in the northern division to make the post-season. The Hawks and Mountaineers are currently tied for sixth, a game and a half out of that coveted fourth position.
