The Red Sox have some renewed life after a three-run seventh inning, but they’ll have to put their foot firmly on the gas if they intend to get the job done in the next two innings.
Unfortunately the Sox ended up allowing a couple more runs before they scored, and that came, predictably, when Andrew Miller entered the game. A pair of walks, a wild pitch, and a stolen base would put two men in scoring position with two outs. Falling behind 3-0 to Matt Joyce, Miller fired off three straight fastballs, two for strikes, and the third for a fly ball. It didn’t go far, but it fell in just fast enough for a two-run base hit.
With the game all-but-over, the Sox finally, finally started fighting back with two outs. Jake McGee finally showed some vulnerability, giving up a base hit to Marco Scutaro, but his replacement Cesar Ramos showed quite a bit more. Jacoby Ellsbury followed Scutaro’s hit with one of his own, and Mike Aviles stepped to the plate. Having cost the Sox a run with his earlier error, Aviles more than made up for it at the plate, taking a hanging changeup into the Monster seats he’s become quite familiar with over the last few games, cutting the lead to 8-5.