Ronald Torreyes hit a game winning three-run homerun Sunday afternoon, as the Philadelphia Phillies took the rubber game of a three game series with a 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. That marks the end of the first half of the season, as all teams head into the All-Star break.
Xander Bogaerts took the first pitch of the bottom of the second inning over the monster seats in left for a 1-0 Boston lead. That was the last lead the Sox would hold though, as Philadelphia got an RBI single by J.T. Realmuto in the third and another one on the same play on a throwing error by Hunter Renfroe to make it 2-1. Torreyes took Nick Pivetta deep over the wall in left center with two on that made it 5-1 in the fourth. The hosts got within striking distance with one in the fifth on a Alex Verdugo groundout, and two more in the sixth on an RBI single by Bobby Dalbec and a run scoring double by Christian Arroyo. Boston (55-36) had a good chance in the eighth with the bases loaded and two outs, but Verdugo grounded out and they would go quiet in the ninth as the Phillies took the series.
Pivetta (7-4) took the loss on the hill allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 4.0 innings. The bullpen combo of Yacksel Rios, Darwinzon Hernandez, Hirokazu Sawumara, Adam Ottavino, and Matt Barnes shut things down after Pivetta left combining to allow no runs on two hits with five strikeouts over the final 5.0 innings. Renfoe and Christian Vazquez each had two hits. Torreyes had three hits to lead Philadelphia (44-44) to the win. Brandon Kintzler was the opener and pitched 1+ innings, with Cristopher Sanchez (1-0) getting the pitching victory. Ranger Suarez also picked up his second save. Boston, who is up by 1.5 games over second place Tampa Bay in the American League East, opens up the second half at Yankee Stadium for a four game showdown with the New York Yankees beginning Thursday night.
