Game 2 features Ricardo Gomez (1-1, 4.61) going up against Sandy Hinojosa (0-1, 1.12), as Michael Pesco is still not quite ready to go following his ALCS Game 5 win. 7 games provides a lot more breathing room than 5 so a Boston win here just puts them in the drivers' seat rather than essentially winning this series. The gametime temps are all the way down to 49 degrees now, with that same right-to-left wind we had yesterday.
Top 1st: Jim James hit a groundball over to Kristian Schneider at 3rd, who throws him out for 1 away. Tom Depew lays down a bunt in an attempt to beat it out for a hit... and it works! Sandy Hinojosa is late with the throw. He is not known as a good fielder and if this was like 1911 he'd be getting bunted on left and right. Instead, Casey Satterfield tries to hit it further... and only smashes it to 2B Brian Long, who kick-starts a 4-6-3 DP. 0-0.
Bottom 1st: Jon Glynn hits a leadoff base hit to center. That's his first hit of the series. Good for him! He's been struggling. He's a threat to run whenever he gets on and... you guessed it, he runs. He's had 3 steals in October, which is especially big considering how few times he's managed to reach base. Brian Long makes it all moot with a deep fly to straightaway center field that clears the high wall out there for a homerun! It has to be said that Ricardo Gomez, who just gave up the longball, was very, very stingy with those in the regular season, allowing only 7 in 224.2 combined innings between Milwaukee and St. Louis. That's also Brian Long's 1st of the postseason and 10th of the year. Mike Miller continues his torrid pace with a line drive single to right. That brings up Tom Brown, who belts a double into right-center. Mike Miller holds up at third. Will Gomez even last the inning? He walks Kristian Schneider to load the bases and face his 6th batter, still no out. John Stuart barely saves the team from further disaster by blocking one in the dirt. Gomez fiiinally gets that first out by whiffing Jun Kim. He gets Oniji Handa too, only it's on a towering fly to deep center that scores Mike Miller ahead of the Jim James throw. 3-0! Jeremy Dolak pops a 2-1 pitch into short center, allowing Jim James to make a play on it for out #3. 3-0, Red Sox.
Top 2nd: Lorenzo Martinez pops out to right field... where the ball continues to get pushed over until Jun Kim catches it in Fenway's scant foul territory for the first out. Sandy Hinojosa hits Rafael Disla with 1 out. Disla exchanges some salty words with the Boston veteran as he walks to first. Mike Galeana flies out to Tom Brown in left field. John Stuart takes an outside knuckle-curve the other way but RF Jun Kim catches up to it for out #3. 3-0, Red Sox.
Bottom 2nd: Sandy Hinojosa hits an easy fly that carries a bit until LF Rafael Disla catches it near the warning track. Jon Glynn flies to right. Even with the hit earlier in the game he's hitting just .111 in the postseason. Brian Long hits one hard and near the place he hit the first homerun but it hangs up and this time around CF Jim James doesn't even have to go to the warning track to make the catch. 3-0, Red Sox.
Top 3rd: Dusty McCully singles into right field, the 2nd hit allowed by Sandy Hinojosa as well as McCully's 2nd in the postseason (he's 2-10). Ricardo Gomez keeps trying to bunt and eventually strikes out. That's a not super heavily deserved K for Hinojosa. Jim James hits one that carries to the left field warning track but Tom Brown is there for out #2. Tom Depew hits a regular old not-bunted ground ball to 3rd base. Kristian Schneider is there to throw him out. 3-0, Red Sox.
Bottom 3rd: Mike Miller strikes out looking on a 2-2 change. That's Ricardo Gomez' 2nd strikeout of this contest so far. He seems to have calmed down from that rough start. Tom Brown hits a routine groundball to 2B Tom Depew that ends in a 4-3 putout. Kristian Schneider flies out to medium left. 3-0, Red Sox.
Top 4th: The heart of the Cardinals' order is due up here. Maybe they can get on the board for the first time this Series. It doesn't start well, as Casey Satterfield watches a 1-2 change go by him for strike three. Lorenzo Martinez hits a hard fly that looked like his 2nd postseason HR coming off his bat but which winds up being a semi-loud out to right fielder Jun Kim. Rafael Disla flies to left and the answer is "no", they cannot score. 3-0, Red Sox.
Bottom 4th: Jun Kim flies out to center field. Oniji Handa grounds out to Dusty McCully, who has to run in a little bit to get the throw off in time, but as implied by the word "out" it arrives by a step. Jeremy Dolak hits a one-hopper just past SS McCully and into center for a 2-out base hit. The pitcher Hinojosa then hits a weak groundball to 2nd to retire the side. 3-0, Red Sox.
Top 5th: Mike Galeana takes a big cut at a low fastball that he misses for strike three and out #1. I think that's Hinojosa's first official whiff, unless you count a bunt K a whiff. John Stuart belts one to deep center, where it bounces off the wall just above the gate below the stands. CF Jon Glynn tracks it down and throws it into 2nd, where Stuart is already in standing up. Dusty Glynn hits one deep to the left-center gap himself... but Glynn somehow manages to track it down! F/X tracking rates that a 5-star catch and it couldn't come at a better time! Ricardo Gomez grounds to 2nd and the Cardinals squander the best chance they've had all series. 3-0, Red Sox.
Bottom 5th: Glynn grounds out to shortstop. Brian Long hits a fly to left that Rafael Disla easily gets to for the fly out. Mike Miller singles past Lorenzo Martinez, who can only wave at the ball until it gets to RF Casey Satterfield. That's another multi-hit game for Miller and it's one on, two out for Tom Brown. Brown flies to center to retire the side. 3-0, Red Sox.
Top 6th: Top of the order is due up for the Cardinals and do I sense some desperation in those 1s and 0s? Jim James draws a leadoff walk, the first issued by Hinojosa tonight. Tom Depew flies to deep-ish left field. Hey, there's one! Casey Satterfield belts a first pitch fastball into the right field seats for a 2-run homerun! That draws the game to 3-2 and gives Satterfield his 2nd HR and 4/5th RBIs of October. Lorenzo Martinez draws a walk as Hinojosa gets a little too fine with 4 pitches. Rafael Disla hits a liner to center except it's right at Jon Glynn. 2 out. Mike Galeana also walks - that's 3 walks just this inning by Sandy Hinojosa, who is now up to 81 pitches in spite of whipping through the first 5 innings. John Stuart flies out to right field, ending what could have been an even bigger inning. 3-2, Red Sox.
Bottom 6th: Schneider grounds it to Tom Depew, who drops it, picks it up, and still manages to deliver the ball to first base in time for out #1. Jun Kim hits a weak roller to first that Lorenzo Martinez easily takes to the bag. Oniji Handa flies out into left. 1-2-3 for Ricardo Gomez... for once? Twice? I haven't kept track. 3-2, Red Sox.
Top 7th: Pinch-hitting for Dusty McCully is the Pirates' longtime leadoff man Elijah Johnson. He grounds out to Kristian Schneider at third, 5-3. That brings up Ricardo Gomez; had Johnson done more I might have pulled him but as it stands, the man's only thrown 89 pitches and has calmed waaay down from that bad first inning. He goes down on strikes for the second time today. Jim James also grounds out to third and it's a 1-2-3 inning. 3-2, Red Sox.
Bottom 7th: Joe Wicker's in at shortstop for McCully; this is already his 4th October appearance, saying a lot since he only appeared in 29 regular season games (the Cardinals had a vet in the middle infield that they traded away midway through the season). I'll go ahead and leave Jeremy Dolak and his .421 postseason average in to face Gomez. He proves me right with a single to left. That brings up Sandy Hinojosa and even if Matt Brock was operating on all cylinders it wouldn't seem fair to pull him when he's been pitching so well (that one mistake in the 6th aside). He tries to lay down a bunt - I mean, I guess the attempt to lay down a bunt was successful - but Gomez picks it up and fires to second to catch Dolak in the 2-4 fielder's choice... but Dolak slides in ahead of the throw! Everybody's safe! What is happening? Jon Glynn bunts to take the count to 2 strikes, then grounds towards the hole at short. Joe Wicker is able to pick it up and make the throw to 2nd, although it's not close to a double play. Jeremy Dolak does get into 3rd and so we've got runners on the corners with 1 out. Ricardo Gomez still hasn't thrown 100 pitches yet but nevertheless this is going to be it for him tonight.
The new man up is Cardinals ace Billy Munoz, appearing in his 4th game and most likely pitching from here on out unless the Cards rally and need a pinch-hitter. The 30 year old flashed for Cleveland in 1968 but really came into his own as a stopper this year, setting career highs in wins (10), saves (24), and matching his high in strikeouts (80). Brian Long, 1-3 on the night and hitting .348 in October, kicks the dirt in the batters' box and waits for the first pitch. He hits a dying flare to left field... which Rafael Disla somehow catches up to! That's out #2! Since he's splayed on the ground, Jeremy Dolak takes the opportunity to tag up and go home... but Disla gets up and fires in time to throw him out! Inning over! Rafael Disla is by no means a Gold Glover but that is a Gold Glove play if I've ever seen one! 3-2, Red Sox.
Top 8th: Tom Depew grounds out to SS Oniji Handa for out #1. Casey Satterfield hits one kind of weakly to 2B Brian Long for the second out. Truth be told, he's been kind of feast-or-famine all October, with those 2 HRs and 5 RBIs for sure but also hitting only .227. Lorenzo Martinez works the count full to Sandy Hinojosa before biting on a fastball for out #3. 3-2, Red Sox.
Bottom 8th: Mike Miller cannot be stopped! He singles up the middle again - 3-4 on the night - and raises his postseason average all the way up to .483. Tom Brown, of course, is even hotter, currently with a .538 average. He's also next up... and he singles, too! The line drive up the middle puts runners on first and second with no out. Schneider takes a healthy cut at a 3-2 sinker but misses for the first out. Jun Kim maybe breaks out of his slump just in time to lace a solid single to right field. It scores Mike Miller from 2nd and gives the Red Sox a 4-2 cushion! Oniji Handa hits a good looking ball into left but for the 2nd straight inning Rafael Disla gives up his body to make a diving stop and rob the batter of a base hit. This time nobody tries to run on him. 2 out. Jeremy Dolak stays in and hits one up in the air to right-center, which Disla gets to easily for out #3. 4-2, Red Sox.
Top 9th: Sandy Hinojosa is juuuust over 100 pitches now and with the 5-6-7 guys up I think he deserves a chance to finish it. He only finished 6 games in the regular season as the team pumped the brakes on the 36 year old (he turns 37 on November 1st) but we aren't in the regular season anymore. Rafael Disla knocks a 1-2 pitch over to Mike Miller at first base. He picks it up and runs to first for out #1. Mike Galeana hits a roller to short that would bedevil a lot of shortstops but is just a routine play for Oniji Handa. John Stuart rips one down the left field line. It's not over yet! Tom Brown tracks it down in the corner and the catcher is in with a double. With Jeronimo Argumedo vaguely able to play shortstop, I remove the backup Joe Wicker for Ethan Keesee, who's yet to get a postseason base hit in 3 tries so far. Make that 1 for 4, as he also doubles. The tying run is on 2nd! Billy Munoz is out of the game in favor of PH Dylan Dockery. I just don't trust Matt Brock so Sandy Hinojosa's going to stay in for one more batter. Let's do it, Sandy! He... does not do it. Dylan Dockery slams a triple into right-center and we're all tied up!
As Hinojosa is due up in the 9th and the left-handed Jim James is due up, I'm bringing in lefty specialist Byron Pratt (1-1, 2.95). Pratt spent the first half of the year in Louisville and was very successful for the Sox in this role after the All-Star Break. He walks James. That brings up Tom Depew, also a left-handed batter. Depew hits one towards second base. Brian Long nabs it on the outfield grass and throws in time for out number 3. But it's tied! 4-4.
Bottom 9th: Argumedo takes over at short, where is not exactly a superstar, and Rick Legere comes in for his 3rd appearance in the postseason. He's yet to give up a run and has 2 Ks in 2.2 innings. Pinch-hitting for Pratt is Sam Marks, 0-4 in October with a walk. He flies out to deep left. Glynn hits an easy fly to right for 2 outs. We're one out away from extra innings. Brian Long hits a groundball right to Tom Depew at 2nd and that's where we're headed! 4-4.
Top 10th: In at pitcher is Matt Brock because at some point the guy's going to get right, right? He faces the heart of the Cardinals order and induces Casey Satterfield to ground out 5-3 to lead things off. Lorenzo Martinez pops out into short center field, where Jon Glynn is there to make the play. Rafael Disla hits a hot shot down the right field line for the 2 out double - St. Louis's 4th extra base hit in the last 2 innings. Mike Galeana hits a routine popup to Oniji Handa... which the star SS drops! Oh no! Everybody's safe. It's all good in the hood, however, as John Stuart strikes out swinging to retire the side. 4-4.
Bottom 10th: Mike Miller cracks his 4th hit of the night and first double with a shot off of Rick Legere down the right field line. If this were 2023, he'd be the ghost runner! I mean, if this were 2023, this game would be over now... well, it would be complicated. Let's just leave it at that. Tom Brown hits it to deep center - not a hit for once - and it's so far out that Mike Miller chooses to test CF Jim James' arm. He looks like a goner but James' throw into third is wide. One out and the winning run is 90 feet away. Kristian Schneider's hitting just .160 in the postseason... but he laces one into center field for a base hit and it's all over! 5-4, Red Sox!
I sweeeeeeeeeear, guys just like suddenly fall completely apart with the game on the line and it drives me CRAZY. Still, the Red Sox rallied and even got a good inning out of Matt Brock to put them up 2-0 heading into St. Louis.