Diamondbacks 7, Red Sox 6 (10)

 

A home loss and Arizona avoids the sweep, but I'm okay with the loss because the Sox at least tried. On the very first Arizona pitch of the game, Nick Sogard got his first MLB home run, so the Sox came out of the gates with guns blazing. Jarren Duran homered in the third, but the Diamondbacks jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the sixth inning. However, not conceding defeat, Mickey Gasper responded with a three-run homer in the bottom of the inning to tie up the game. 

In the tenth inning,  Jovani Morán basically shit the bed, first by allowing an RBI single and then loading up the baes with walks and then walking in a second run before a double play finally got him out of the inning. But the Red Sox still didn't give up, and scored one run in the bottom of the tenth to split Arizona's lead in half, but wasn't able to score that second run they needed. 

But at least they tried.

Starter Payton Tolle went five inning with six K's and three runs on six hits. However, reliever Greg Weissert gave up two runs in the bottom of the sixth, and let's not talk any further about Morán's tenth inning performance. 

The Red Sox (68-59) are 8½ back from Tampa Bay and 3½ back from New York. However, their path to the World Series doesn't run through the division title but through the Wild Card, where that have a  comfortable 5½-game cushion. 

They're off today, and start a weekend series against the woeful San Francisco Giants (52-74). However, if we're seen anything from the Red Sox this season, especially since the All-Star break, it's that they thrive against division-leading teams and struggle against the basement dwellers. However, ace pitcher and 20-win candidate Sonny Gray (15-3, 2.65) will start Friday night's game, so we have at least a chance of not getting swept at home by the Giants.