It turns out that the absence of perennial closer Koji Uehara does indeed have a monstrous effect on the reliability of the bullpen for the Boston Red Sox.
Out for the season with a wrist injury, Uehara could only watch as the Boston bullpen crumbled down the stretch, relinquishing a four-run lead only to witness the Miami Marlins tie up the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. That happened before second baseman Dee Gordon tripled to lead off the 10th inning and scored on a subsequent RBI single by first baseman Justin Bour to lead Miami to a 5-4 victory.
Justin Bour's walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning.
The Red Sox took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, however, incumbent closer Junichi Tazawa was unable to preserve the advantage. After retiring the leadoff batter, Tazawa yielded singles to catcher J.T. Realmuto and right fielder Ichiro Suzuki before the tandem advanced to scoring position on a wild pitch. Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria then sent an RBI sacrifice fly to right, tying up the game and pinning Tazawa with his fifth blown lead of the season.
Boston starter Steven Wright turned in another solid outing (five innings, two runs, five hits, five walks and four strikeouts), however, the bullpen's inability to preserve the lead forced him to accept a no-decision. Center fielder Mookie Betts went 3-for-5 with two RBIs in his return from a concussion, while left fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. (two runs) and shortstop Xander Bogaerts (one run) each garnered two hits for the Red Sox, who at first appeared primed to record their third victory in four games.
Miami starter Justin Nicolino struggled in 5.2 innings of work, allowing four runs on nine hits while failing to strike out a single batter, however, the Marlins bullpen turned in an astounding 4.1 innings of perfect baseball to keep their team within striking distance. Center fielder Cole Gillespie, Gordon, Bour, and Realmuto all captured two hits apiece for the Marlins.
The Red Sox reached the scoreboard first in the top of the third inning, as Bradley Jr. lead off the stanza with a triple over the outstretched glove of Gillespie in deep center and scored on an RBI single by Betts two batters later. The tandem struck again in the fifth inning, as Bradley Jr. lined a single to right with one out and came around to score on a two-out RBI infield hit by Betts, increasing the Boston advantage to 2-0.
Boston continued to pile on to their lead against Nicolino in the sixth inning, as Bogaerts and designated hitter David Ortiz lead off the top half of the stanza with consecutive singles. Bogaerts then scored on a wild pitch by Nicolino, and, after third baseman Pablo Sandoval and catcher Blake Swihart recorded consecutive flyouts, right fielder Rusney Castillo lifted a triple to deep right, scoring Ortiz and pushing the lead to a seemingly insurmountable 4-0.
The lead would not last, however, a process which was expedited by Wright allowing the first two batters he faced in the bottom half of the sixth inning to reach base. This prompted recently activated reliever Ryan Cook to enter the ballgame, which proceeded an RBI groundout by pinch hitter Casey McGehee and a two-out RBI single by Gordon to slice the Red Sox lead in half.
The Marlins cut the lead to 4-3 in the seventh inning, as Boston reliever Tommy Layne began the stanza by walking both left fielder Derek Dietrich and Bour. Right-hander Alexi Ogando then assumed control of the mound for the Red Sox, and, after relinquishing a bunt single to Gillespie and retiring Realmuto, yielded an RBI sacrifice fly to Suzuki which scored Dietrich.
Although Ogando was able to limit the damage in the inning to just one run, this set the stage for the damage Miami would inflict on Tazawa in the ninth, which tied up the game at four.
After the Marlins sent the contest into extra innings, Miami reliever Bryan Morris (W, 4-3) then set the Red Sox down in order in the top of the 10th inning. Boston situated left-hander Craig Breslow (L, 0-2) on to the mound, however, Gordon pounced immediately, leading off the stanza with a triple to deep center.
Breslow was able to retire Dietrich for the first out of the inning after walking third baseman Martin Prado intentionally, however, Bour knocked the second offering of the ensuing at-bat to left-center for a walk-off RBI single, sending Marlins fans to the exits grinning.