Nothing was coming simple for the Purple Sox on Monday, however within the prime of the ninth it appeared as if the membership lastly broke by way of when Roman Anthony gave Boston a 4-3 lead with a gutsy RBI single off Minnesota Twins fireballer Jhoan Duran.
Then the thunderstorms moved in and all hell broke free.
With the Purple Sox three outs away from clinching their third straight victory, extreme climate moved into the Minneapolis space, prompting a 90-minute rain delay. The sport finally resumed at 12:05 a.m. ET, at which level it solely took a few minutes for right-hander Jordan Hicks to soften down and blow the save.
The end result? A crushing 5-4 walk-off loss.
Hicks allowed a leadoff single after which hit consecutive batters to load the bases with no outs. After Alex Bregman made an exceptional play to nail the lead runner at residence on a groundout, Hicks gave up the game-winning two-run single to Brooks Lee, who despatched the small handful of Twins followers that remained at Goal Discipline residence blissful.
Following the sport Purple Sox supervisor Alex Cora instructed reporters in Minneapolis that with Aroldis Chapman down and Garrett Whitlock sick, Hicks was the final man accessible to pitch. He added that Hicks warmed up earlier than the rain delay, so having to sit down down and return out an hour and a half later was a troublesome scenario.
“That was uncomfortable within the sense that he acquired scorching and he needed to wait all that point,” Cora mentioned. “Not simple to do, he did strive his greatest but it surely didn’t work out.”
Even earlier than the disastrous ninth inning, the Purple Sox had been enjoying with hearth all evening.
Purple Sox starter Richard Fitts didn’t have a lot bother by way of the primary two innings, however within the backside of the third his command deserted him at a pricey second. Fitts first went to a full rely in opposition to Christian Vazquez earlier than strolling the previous Purple Sox catcher, after which No. 9 hitter DaShawn Keirsey Jr. despatched the primary pitch he noticed into the left area stands for a two-run residence run.
What had been the percentages of that? Keirsey entered Monday as certainly one of baseball’s least productive hitters, batting .099 with one extra-base hit in 74 plate appearances.
Fitts acquired out of the third with out additional incident however courted catastrophe within the fourth when he loaded the bases with no outs. The rookie managed to flee unscathed, nevertheless, placing out Ty France and forcing Vazquez into an inning-ending double play.
That saved it a two-run sport, and after squandering a pair of early scoring alternatives the Purple Sox offense lastly got here to life.
Abraham Toro led off the fifth with a single in opposition to Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson, Anthony drew a stroll and Alex Bregman smashed a three-run homer to place the Purple Sox forward 3-2. It was Bregman’s second straight day with a go-ahead residence run, placing him at 14 homers on the season.
Fitts was eliminated following the bases loaded escape after permitting the 2 runs over 4 innings on 4 hits, three walks and two strikeouts. Left-hander Chris Murphy got here on and threw a scoreless fifth, however bother began within the sixth when Murphy allowed a one-out single to Royce Lewis.
Alex Cora went to right-hander Jorge Alcala to face his former crew, choosing the anticipated matchup in opposition to pinch hitter Harrison Bader. However Alcala was all over, permitting Lewis to advance to 3rd on a wild pitch and a handed ball earlier than strolling two males to load the bases.
Vazquez tied the sport on a sacrifice fly, however as soon as once more the Purple Sox dodged a bullet as the previous Twins reliever struck out Keirsey to finish the menace.
By the point the sport went to the ninth inning the Purple Sox stood at 2 for 12 with runners in scoring place, whereas the Twins had been 1 for 7. Recognizing that it is perhaps powerful to maintain a rally in opposition to Duran, one of many sport’s most dominant closers whose fastball averages properly over 100 mph, Cora took an aggressive strategy after Toro led off the inning with a stroll.
Cora changed Toro with pinch runner David Hamilton, and the speedy infielder instantly acquired himself into scoring place by stealing each second and third. Now the Purple Sox had the go-ahead run 90 ft away with no outs, and Anthony completed the job by muscling a 101 mph fastball on his fingers into proper area.
Sadly each the Twins and Mom Nature finally rained on the Purple Sox parade.
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