Red Sox 7, Phillies 5: Sox survive Machi implosion to down Philadelphia

The Red Sox started the game off with a golden, but largely wasted opportunity in the first. The first three batters of the game to face Adam Morgan would reach base, with Xander Bogaerts singling home Mookie Betts and leaving the Red Sox in position to score more. But David Ortiz, Travis Shaw, and Allen Craig went down in order to keep it a one-run game.

That wastefulness would ultimately leave them behind come the fourth. Joe Kelly had been doing fairly well through the first three innings, but started off the fourth in trouble by allowing a leadoff single and hitting Aaron Altherr to give the Phillies a chance with runners in scoring position and zero outs. They made slightly more of their opportunity, with ground outs from Ryan Howard and Darnell Sweeney grounding out to push across one run, and Darin Ruf bringing in a second on an infield single to put the Phillies up 2-1.

Their lead would not last long, though. Once again, in the fifth, the Red Sox would find themselves with a golden opportunity, with Ryan Hanigan and Jackie Bradley Jr. reaching to start the frame. Mookie Betts would come through with an RBI double, once again putting the Red Sox in great position for a big rally. But as before, the attack largely died out there, with Brock Holt's sacrifice fly bringing home just the one additional run.

Still, the Red Sox had a 3-2 lead, and they would build on that in the seventh. Jackie Bradley Jr. made it 4-2 with his seventh homer of the year with one down, crushing an Adam Mogan fastball to dead center. That was just the beginning, too, as Mookie Betts and Brock Holt followed it up with a walk and single, with Betts scoring on a ground out from Xander Bogaerts, David Ortiz doubling home Bogaerts (who had replaced Holt at first), and Travis Shaw bringing Ortiz in to score and make it 7-2.

You'd think that's a safe lead. Five run with two innings to go. But...Boston bullpen. Junichi Tazawa handled a relatively uneventful eighth, but the ninth saw Jean Machi make things interesting, all with two outs. A Freddy Galvis single set up Odubel Herrera for a two-run shot, and the hits just kept coming, with Cesar Hernandez singling, and Aaron Altherr doubling him in to make it 7-5. Finally, though, with the tying run at the plate, Robbie Ross Jr. was called in to face Ryan Howard, who struck out swinging to mercifully end it.