Since they failed to do much (besides obtaining an injured Kyle Schwarber) at the trade deadline last Friday, it had been a rough few days for your Red Sox (64-45 overall, 31-23 away). They got swept by the Rays (65-44 overall) last weekend, they dropped to second-place in the AL East behind Tampa and they were generally falling apart as they lost a season-high five games in a row. Thankfully, that all changed-at least for a night-as Eduardo Rodriguez (8-6; 5 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, 10 Ks, 4 BBs) pitched five shutout innings this evening and Boston bounced back from last night's 4-2 loss to the Tigers (52-58 overall, 31-25 home) with a 4-1 victory tonight at Comerica Park. The starting pitching for the Sox has predictably crumbled lately so it was a boost to get a good outing for a change coupled with three home runs from the similarly struggling Boston bats.
Detroit has been playing much better lately but come on, this is a rebuilding club with future Hall of Famer slugger Miguel Cabrera and a bunch of guys that only the most hardcore baseball fans (raises hand) has ever heard of. One of the Tigers' top young pitching prospects Casey Mize (6-6) got the start and like E-Rod, he only lasted five innings but he gave up four earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk. The Red Sox never trailed as DH J.D. Martinez hit a solo homer to right field in the second inning-his 21st of the season. Boston got the rest of its offense in the fifth inning as ace leadoff hitter and second baseman Kike Hernandez crushed a two-run bomb to left field-his 15th of the season-and that was followed by an opposite field (to left) homer by rookie center fielder Jarren Duran (his 2nd of the season).
Stop me if you've heard this before but Rodriguez threw way too many pitches in five innings (99) so he gave way to Hirokzu Sawamura in the sixth who worked around a single and a walk to strike out two and get a scoreless frame. The Tigers only managed five hits in the entire game and they struck out a combined 18 times so their lone highlight was a solo homer by former Orioles great and second baseman Jonathan Schoop to left field (his 18th of the season) in the seventh inning off Josh Taylor. Boston's superb set-up man and closer combo were back in business as Northeastern's Adam Ottavino recorded the last out in the seventh and a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts while UConn's Matt Barnes recorded a 1-2-3 ninth inning on 11 pitches with two strikeouts for his 24th save of the season. We all got a scare before yesterday's contest as Barnes tested positive for Covid-19 (despite supposedly being fully vaccinated) but it all turned out to be a false positive and he came off the Covid-19 IL this afternoon after just one day on it.
As I'm sure you already know by now, tomorrow afternoon's (1:10, NESN) series finale is also the final meeting of the 2021 regular season between the Red Sox and Tigers. Boston is 3-2 against Detroit so that outcome will decide if the Sox take the season series 4-2 or it ends in a lame 3-3 tie. Sox lefty Martin Perez (7-7) will oppose Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal (6-10) in a game that despite being a getaway day for the Sox may take awhile since both of those guys stink. Boston has plenty of motivation since they only trail Tampa Bay by one game while the Red Sox will head out for an important four-game trip to Toronto (56-49) this weekend, marking the first time they've been to Canada since the 2019 season. It is a short flight from Detroit to Toronto but a win on Thursday would certainly make for an even more enjoyable ride North of the border.
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