Red Sox 1, Tigers 0 (10)

 

Fenway, baby! The Sox are back, both back at home and back in the swing of things!

The Boston Red Sox win a second straight game, the third time this season they put together back-to-back victories. They're 6-3 in their last nine starts. The bats are finally coming alive and the pitchers are locking down. We're going to the World Series, baby!

Last night was a pitcher's duel - nine scoreless innings before Boston finally broke through in the 10th. Ranger Suarez went 8 full innings with no runs and only two hits, the same number of hits as Aroldis Chapman got in his 9th inning relief. Garrett Whitlock went three up and three down in the top of the 10th.

Finally, in the bottom of the 10th, with one out and Jarren Duran on third on a wild pitch, pinch-hitter Macho Man Masataka Yoshida knocked a single into right center, bringing Duran home. Red Sox win, 1-0, in 10 innings.  

Shout it from the mountaintop: THE RED SOX ARE NO LONGER IN LAST PLACE IN THE AL EAST! Not only are they not the worst team in MLB any longer, they aren't even the worst team in their division. That would be the Blue Jays, but that's another matter. Right now, the Red Sox are 8-11, one ahead of Toronto and three back from first-place Tampa Bay. The Red Sox have a better record than the White Sox and the Royals, than Houston and Seattle, then the Mets, the Giants, and the Rockies. 

Can they make it three in a row for the first time this season? This afternoon (4:10 pm), Brayan Bello (1-1, 6.14) takes the mound to face Detroit's Tarik Skubal (2-2, 2.22). Speaking of twos, the Sox are 2-2 against Skuball in five starts with 29 hits, including four home runs. Skubal's career ERA versus Boston is 4.91, tied with the Dodgers for the fourth highest of any team.  Unfortunately, Bello has yet to beat the Tigers in three attempts, with one loss, an ERA of 5.74, and 14 strikeouts.