The Red Sox Won Another Softball Game 10-8 Against The Braves To Sweep The Two-Game Set

 

    Who said that baseball is way too boring and the sport is in major trouble when a mid-June regular season game takes four hours and 10 minutes? Haha OK maybe don't answer those. While you were probably watching something else or at least flipping back and forth, the Red Sox (42-27 overall, 22-10 away) were winning by identical 10-8 scores last night and this evening against the underachieving Braves (30-35 overall, 17-19 home) at Truist Park. They swept the two-game series and have won their last three games in a row while the Rays (43-26) have dropped their last two games, leaving Boston only one game back of Tampa Bay for first-place in the AL East.

    This is obviously not sustainable in the sense that the Red Sox' starting pitchers have to be at least a little better while their offense is good but they won't be able to carry them for almost 100 more games in the regular season. For the second straight night, Boston had a comfortable early lead that wasn't nearly enough for their crappy starter-in this case Garrett Richards (4 IP, 6 runs, 4 ER, 7 hits, 3 Ks, 1 BB). Check Atlanta's record, the three-time defending NL East champs are currently struggling: they are tied with Washington for third-place in MLB's worst division with only one team (the Mets) above .500. Luckily for the Sox, Braves rookie pitcher Ian Anderson (4 IP, 4 runs, 4 ER, 7 hits, 5 Ks, 1 BB) wasn't much better. If you're wondering why this game took so long, each team used six relievers apiece and there were a combined 26 hits. Oy vey.

    Trailing for the first time all game (7-6 in the 7th inning), pinch hitter Christian Arroyo crushed a grand slam (his 4th HR of the season went 467 feet!) to left to put Boston ahead 10-6. Closer Matt Barnes wasn't available so Northeastern's Adam Ottavino got to fill in for him and he allowed an RBI double to Atlanta's superstar right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (3-for-5, 2 doubles) in the ninth but he settled down to record his fourth save of the season. The Red Sox bats got going early as right fielder Hunter Renfroe (2-for-5, double, run) hit a two-run single in the first that scored DH J.D. Martinez (2-for-5 w/2B, 2 runs) and center fielder Alex Verdugo. Atlanta got a sacrifice fly in the third inning that cut it to 2-1 before Boston scored twice in the fourth inning on first baseman Bobby Dalbec's RBI single that scored Renfroe and Richards surprised everyone by smacking an RBI double (his first career MLB hit) to the right field gap that plated Dalbec. 

    The Braves got two runs in the home half of the fourth on a ground out and an infield single to trim the Red Sox lead to 4-3. Atlanta's awful bullpen was exposed in both of these losses as Boston scored twice more in the fifth when shortstop Xander Bogaerts (3 doubles, 2 runs) hit a double and Martinez scored on an error then third baseman Rafael Devers followed with an RBI single that scored his buddy. The Braves got serious at that point as shortstop Dansby Swanson (2 hits, 2 runs) tied it with a three-run homer (his 11th HR of the season) off Richards in the fifth. First baseman Freddie Freeman (3B, 2 runs, 2 BBs) gave them that brief 7-6 lead with a solo shot in the sixth (his 16th HR of the season). 

    Yacksel Rios (WHO!?) picked up the win even though he only faced one batter: he got Swanson to line out to him with runners on first and second and two outs in the sixth. For that brief appearance, the guy making his Red Sox debut after being acquired earlier this week from Seattle for cash considerations earned his first win for Boston. Sox lefty reliever Josh Taylor notched his ninth hold of the season by recording a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts. Did you ever think that you'd live long enough to say truthfully that Taylor is one of Boston's best and most valuable relievers on a playoff contending club? 

    The last off day for the Red Sox was on May 27 so needless to say, they are long overdue for the one that they get tomorrow. After that short rest, they are in Kansas City (30-37) for three games this weekend. The Royals got off to a unexpectedly solid start to the season but they predictably have fallen apart like you read about, going 1-9 in their last 10 games and they have dropped their last six games. Sadly, we won't get to see former Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi in action since he just went on the IL with a rib injury. The opposite of his terrible team, he was off to a brutal start in 2021 but he had been on fire lately before he got hurt. You need to get out more if you have heard of any of the pitchers that are starting for the Royals in this series: Nick Pivetta (6-2) faces rookie Jackson Kowar (0-2) on Friday night in the opener (8:10, NESN), Martin Perez (4-4) takes on Kris Bubic (1-2) on Saturday afternoon (4:10, NESN) and Nathan Eovaldi (7-3) gets Brad Keller (6-6) for the series finale on Sunday afternoon (2:10, NESN). If there was ever a series for the Sox mostly terrible starting pitchers to regain some confidence (well at least for a little bit), this has to be that time.

With The Spotlight On Them For The Next Few Months, The Sox Walked Off The Jays In A 6-5 Win

 

    The Bruins and Celtics are done for the season while the Patriots don't have a real game for almost three months so let's hope that the Red Sox (39-25 overall, 19-15 home) can handle being the main focus for the summer around here. So far so good as they beat the Astros (36-27) 12-8 in a wild game last night at Fenway Park and they topped that with a 6-5 triumph tonight in their series opener against the Blue Jays (31-30 overall, 18-17 away) at Fenway on left fielder Alex Verdugo's (3-for-4, 2B, run, RBI) walk-off single that scraped the Green Monster and scored pinch runner Danny Santana with the winning run. Boston isn't a great team (at least on paper) but they are tough to knock out as proven by their MLB-best 23 comeback wins: tonight was the largest deficit they've overcome as Toronto led 5-1 in the top of the sixth inning. This was the second walk-off victory of the season for the Sox and the third time in Verdugo's career that he's done that in his MLB career. 

    The Jays have to be sick to their stomachs because this was a game that they frankly gave away for multiple reasons: besides that lead (which should have been enough), they had twice as many hits as the Sox (16-8) and they left five more guys on base (13-8) which when you add those all up is a perfect recipe for disappointment. Boston's starting pitcher Garrett Richards (5.1 IP, 4 ER, 11 hits, 3 Ks, 2 BBs) is back to being pedestrian at best and honestly, it's a miracle that he lasted that long after allowing a run in the first inning, two runs in the second inning and another in the sixth inning before manager Alex Cora finally came to get him. Toronto's starter Ross Stripling (5.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 hits, 6 Ks, 2 BBs) was handed all of those leads but none of them were enough for him or the crappy Jays bullpen.  

    Right fielder Teoscar Hernandez opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first that plated shortstop Bo Bichette. In the second, Dante's son knocked in catcher Reese McGuire with a run-scoring single and Hernandez followed with another RBI single to make it 3-0. Boston's offense woke up in the third when first baseman Bobby Dalbec crushed a solo homer to center (his 7th HR of the season). That was quickly forgotten as DH Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3-for-4, 2B, BB) smoked a two-run bomb (his MLB-leading 19th of the season) that went two feet (443) further than Dalbec's and off the Draft Kings sign that's above the Monster. The Red Sox scored three times in the sixth inning to cut it to 5-4 in favor of the Blue Jays. Right fielder Austin Renfroe knocked in Verdugo with an RBI single, shortstop Marwin Gonzalez (Xander Bogaerts was a late scratch with left knee soreness) walked with the bases loaded to score Renfroe and catcher Christian Vazquez came home on a wild pitch. 

    Toronto had something going in the seventh inning but Boston's lefty reliever Josh Taylor survived a bases-loaded with one out jam by striking out third baseman Cavan Biggio and pinch hitter Riley Adams to end the inning and keep it a one-run game. Arroyo tied it at five with a solo blast of his own (3rd of the season) into the Monster seats in the eighth inning. Garrett Whitlock (2-1) celebrated his 25th birthday with two scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts which earned him his second win of the season. Apparently, the Blue Jays really want Rafael Dolis (1-2) to be their closer but in his appearances vs. the Red Sox this season, he's been a complete disaster. After a throwing error by Bichette put Santana on second base with no outs, Boston didn't take too long to end it as Verdugo was the next guy up and you know what happened then. 

    This is one of those weird wraparound (aka 4-game) series so Boston and Toronto play three more times including on Monday night. Both weekend contests are day games: Nick Pivetta (6-1) starts tomorrow afternoon (4:10, NESN) for the Red Sox against Steven Matz (6-3). On Sunday afternoon, Red Sox lefty Martin Perez (4-3) takes on Blue Jays lefty Robbie Ray (3-2). Finally, Monday night (7:10, NESN) pits Nathan Eovaldi (7-3) against promising youngster Alek Manoah (1-0) who will be making his fourth career start in MLB. This was an important win as well for Boston from the standpoint that the Sox had to keep pace with the first-place Rays (40-24) who beat the Orioles (22-40) 4-2 this evening but remain only one game ahead of Boston while idle New York (33-30) trails Tampa by 6.5 games and Boston by 5.5 games.

The Red Sox Snapped Their Three-Game Losing Streak And Avoided A Sweep Against The A's

 

    After losing the first two games of the series with the A's (23-16 overall, 10-5 away) at Fenway Park, tonight the Red Sox (23-16 overall, 11-11 home) needed a win to salvage something from one of the toughest opponents (either them or the White Sox, take your pick) that they have seen so far early in the 2021 season. With their easy 8-1 triumph, the Sox were able to maintain a one-and-a-half game lead over Toronto (20-16) and remain two games ahead of New York (20-17) for first-place in the AL East. Boston's starting pitcher Garrett Richards (3-2) delivered the goods with six shutout innings of work: he allowed five hits, struck out four and walked three in 91 pitches. 

    It was not competitive for very long as the home team scored three runs in the first inning and three more in the second inning to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Oakland's starting pitcher Sean Manaea (2 innings, 10 hits, 7 earned runs, 2 strikeouts, 1 walk) got completely shelled as you can tell from his pathetic numbers. The Red Sox had 13 hits, led by shortstop Xander Bogaerts (3-for-3 w/HR, 2B, 3 RBIs, BB) and left fielder J.D. Martinez (3-for-4 w/run & RBI). Batting leadoff second baseman Michael Chavis added two doubles, first baseman Bobby Dalbec was 2-for-4 w/2-run HR and right fielder Hunter Renfroe was 2-for-4 with a run. Martinez got the party started early for Boston with an RBI single that scored Chavis in the first inning then Bogaerts followed with a two-run homer (his 8th of the season) over the Green Monster. Dalbec crushed a two-run homer (his 3rd of the season) to dead center in the second inning that scored Renfroe and Xander later notched an RBI double in the frame that plated shortstop Jonathan Arauz.   

     Boston made it 7-0 in the third inning as a run came home on a double play then Chavis scored in the sixth inning after an infield single by Martinez and a throwing error by third baseman Matt Chapman. Oakland was held to eight hits in the entire game and their lone run came in the eighth inning on a ground out. Red Sox manager Alex Cora must have been thrilled that he only needed to use one reliever as Garrett Whitlock covered the last three innings (3 hits, 1 ER, 2 Ks, 1 BB) all by himself and was credited with one of those goofy saves that MLB hands out in long relief blowout victories like that. What a silly rule.

    The other California team in the AL visits Fenway this weekend as the Angels (16-20 overall, 8-11 away) are here for three games. After a decent start to the season, LA is back where they have mostly resided for years: the basement of the AL West. Mike Trout is an all-time great player but in baseball, it takes more than one transcendent outfielder to get anywhere. The Angels are 3-7 in their last 10 games coming into this series. Sadly, we won't get to see Shohei Ohtani pitch against the Red Sox this time around after he started on Tuesday. Nick Pivetta (5-0) faces Griffin Canning (3-2) tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) followed by Martin Perez (0-2) vs. former Oriole Dylan Bundy (0-4) on Saturday afternoon (4:10, NESN) then concluding with Nathan Eovaldi (4-2) opposing Jose Quintana (0-3) on Sunday afternoon (1:10, NESN). I'm hoping that the Sox take at least two out of three against that crappy club. 

While You Watched The B's & C's, Garrett Richards Tossed A Gem & The Red Sox Beat The Mets 2-1

 

    With the team off to such an unexpectedly positive start to the 2021 season, there really haven't been too many players to truly despise so far on the Red Sox (15-9 overall, 7-1 away). However, starting pitcher Garrett Richards (1-2) definitely got off to a rocky beginning to his stay in Boston but all of that was forgotten for at least one night as helped the Sox beat the Mets (9-9 overall, 6-3 home) 2-1 tonight at Citi Field. The veteran righty had two disastrous outings sandwiched around two decent performances but nobody could have expected what he did tonight in 93 pitches: 7 innings, one earned run, seven hits, 10 strikeouts and no walks. Haha who the hell was that guy? 

    New York's lefty starter-something called David Peterson (6 IP, 2 ER, 4 hits, 3 Ks, 2 BBs)-was pretty good too but Boston's offense squeezed just enough out of their five hits to get the win. Richards' only mistake was a hanger that Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil hit to the second deck in right field for a solo home run (his 2nd of the season) in the second inning. The Red Sox answered in the next inning as rookie first baseman Bobby Dalbec finally connected on his first longball of the season to tie it at one. In the sixth inning, center fielder Kike Hernandez doubled and came around to score on a bloop RBI single from third baseman Rafael Devers. 

    You figure that any start by Richards is going to be a bullpen game but not this time as it only took two Boston relievers to finish the job for him. Matt Andriese pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning with a strikeout to get his second hold of the season which paved the way for lights out closer Matt Barnes who pitched a clean ninth inning (1-2-3 with two strikeouts) for his fifth save of the season. This is only a two-game series and winning the opener was very important for the Sox since tomorrow night (6:40, NESN), New York's ace Jacob deGrom (2-1, 0.31 ERA, 50 Ks, 0.55 WHIP) gets the ball against Nick Pivetta (2-0). deGrom has won two Cy Young awards (in 2018 and 2019) and at the moment, he is pitching as well as he ever has in MLB which is crazy to think. In other words, if you like baseball, you'll have to tune in to see him do his thing tomorrow (since let's be serious, you never watch the Mets otherwise).

Twins Avoid A Sweep & Snap Five-Game Losing Streak While Sox Lose For First Time In 10 Games

 

    It had been awhile but Boston (9-4 overall, 6-1 away) finally lost another game, 4-3 in the series finale at Target Field this afternoon against the Twins (6-7 overall, 2-5 home). The Red Sox' nine-game win streak ended while the Twins' five-game losing streak also came to a halt. Not to sound like a Little League coach here but even in defeat, the Sox proved that they are winners. They trailed 3-0 in the eighth when outfielder Alex Verdugo worked an amazing 10-pitch at bat before slashing an opposite field three-run double to left that scored second baseman Christian Arroyo, pinch hitter Marwin Gonzalez and right fielder Hunter Renfroe with the tying runs. That's where the magic would end though for Boston as right fielder Max Kepler drove in infielder Luis Arreaz (4 hits, run, 2 RBIs) with a bloop single in the bottom of the ninth to win it. 

    In many ways, the Red Sox were fortunate to keep it that close since Garrett Richards (5 IP, 2 runs, 4 hits, 4 Ks, 2 BBs) was their starting pitcher. He actually was ok by his crappy 2021 standards but they couldn't do anything against the Twins starter Michael Pineda (7 IP, 2 hits, 6 Ks, 1 BB) who completely shut them down with seven scoreless innings. Arraez gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead with a two-run single in the second inning that scored center fielder Jake Cave and catcher Ryan Jeffers. Hirokazu Sawamura was the first reliever out of Boston's bullpen and he promptly allowed a solo homer to infielder Miguel Sano-the first batter that he faced. 

    Former Rays reliever Alex Colome (1-1) earned his first win for the Twins by pitching a scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts. Northeastern's Adam Ottavino (1-1) suffered his first loss for the Red Sox. He never really gave himself a chance in the ninth as he allowed a leadoff single to Arraez, he drilled infielder Jorge Polanco in the foot with a terrible pitch, then surprisingly stuck out DH Nelson Cruz before allowing Kepler's game-winning hit. Still, it's tough to complain about much with the Red Sox right now after they just won three out of four at Minnesota and they currently own a three-game lead over second-place Toronto (6-7) in the AL East. 

    Speaking of the Blue Jays, Boston will get their first look at them next week since they are part of a 10-game homestand for the Red Sox which starts tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) with four games against the White Sox (6-7 overall, 3-4 away). Weather permitting (since it's supposed to rain on Friday), it'll be Nick Pivetta for Boston vs. Chicago's Dylan Cease. Even though the Marathon is not on Monday like it used to be in the before times, Chicago is here for the traditional four-game series over Patriots Day weekend including the 11:10 am start on Monday. Toronto is only here for two games followed by a four-game series starting on Thursday and into next weekend with the Mariners (8-5 overall, 5-2 away). It's been a great few weeks for the Red Sox, let's hope that they can keep that momentum going back at Fenway Park.