After the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers exchanged shutout victories through the first two games, they met Sunday afternoon in the rubber match of their series. For Boston, it was the end of a 10-game road trip.
Brandon McCarthy got off to a rough start as he walked Mookie Betts to start the game. Betts then stole second base and advanced to third on one of McCarthy’s multiple wild pitches. Xander Bogaerts’ sacrifice fly gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.
David Price’s first inning of work was in stark contrast to McCarthy’s, as the southpaw retired the side in order on seven pitches.
The top of the second saw some more inconsistency from McCarthy, but he managed to work out of trouble by inducing an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.
Kiké Hernandez worked a one-out walk in the bottom of the second and Yasmani Grandal later singled to put runners on the corners with two down. Rob Segedin, who was called up prior to Sunday’s game, wasn’t able to capitalize as he grounded out.
While the Red Sox had a lead, their first hit in the game didn’t come until Andrew Benintendi singled to lead off the third. After Price popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt, Benintendi stole second base.
That was offset in some regard as McCarthy hit Betts with a pitch. Jackie Bradley Jr. walked to load the bases but McCarthy again worked out of trouble by getting a double play. McCarthy retired the first two batters faced in the fourth before running into trouble.
A pair of walks led to a Benintendi RBI single that extended the Red Sox lead to 2-0 and knocked McCarthy out of the game. Josh Fields struck out Price to get the Dodgers out of the small jam. Justin Turner got the Dodgers on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth.
Adrian Gonzalez followed with a double, and advanced to third base on Josh Reddick’s grounder up the middle. Bogaerts threw to third in time to get Gonzalez, but Brock Holt dropped the ball. After Grandal walked to load the bases, Segedin’s two-run double gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead.
Jesse Chavez entered in the fifth and retired the side in order. Corey Seager drew a leadoff walk in the bottom half of the inning but was erased on a force out. Gonzalez slapped a single to left that put runners on the corners.
Hernandez hit a slow chopper to Bogaerts, who rushed his throw and threw high to second base. All runners were safe and Turner scored to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 4-2. Grandal walked to load the bases and Segedin delivered again, lining a two-run single into right field.
Segedin’s four RBIs ware the most by a Dodgers player making his debut in franchise history. Luis Avilan replaced Chavez with one out in the sixth and gave up a base hit, RBI double and RBI single, which cut the Dodgers’ lead to 6-4.
Joe Blanton took over and walked pinch-hitter David Ortiz. Betts added to the Red Sox’s big inning with an RBI single. Blanton and Pedro Baez combined to throw a scoreless seventh inning, keeping the Dodgers’ lead at 6-5.
Gonzalez and Hernandez connected on back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the seventh. For Gonzalez it was the 300th home run of his career. Kenley Jansen struck out the side in a second consecutive appearance to complete the Dodgers’ 8-5 victory with his 34th save of the season.
