The Second Walk-Off Win In Two Nights Sends The Red Sox To The ALCS & Ends Tampa's Season

 

    What did I tell you? Anything can happen in the MLB playoffs, especially in a shorter series format. In the 2021 regular season, there was no question that the 100 win Rays were a far superior team to the Red Sox. However, get those same clubs in the pressure cooker of the ALDS and suddenly, all of Tampa's flaws (no starting pitching, shaky lineup, too many young guys, a robot manager, etc) is exposed for all of the world to see. Boston no-showed in Game 1 getting shut out 5-0 but they never looked back after that. They destroyed Tampa 14-6 in Game 2, won Game 3 by a score of 6-4 in 13 innings on Christian Vazquez's two-run homer last night and this evening at Fenway Park, they finished the job with a 6-5 victory at Fenway thanks to the hottest hitter in baseball center fielder Kike Hernandez's walk-off sacrifice fly that scored pinch runner Danny Santana.

    Nobody can question the Rays' method, to a point. Using analytics and an excellent farm system, they routinely outperform expectations and prove that you can get it done with a low budget. Tonight, I'm not sure if their nerds had fallen asleep when they were putting together their pre-game spread sheets for Tampa Bay's manager Kevin Cash but the fact that they even pitched to Kike with first base open (runners on 2nd and 3rd) and one out was puzzling to say the least. Bigger picture, using pitchers as openers and changing their roles from game to game doesn't work in the biggest contests against the toughest opponents. The Rays reached the World Series in 2008 (losing in 5 games vs. the Phillies) and last season vs. the Dodgers (losing in 6 games) so until they actually win a championship, you can't convince me that analytics are everything in baseball. You still have to use your eyes, brain and natural instincts in conjunctions with the endless numbers. 

    The Red Sox built an early 5-0 lead thanks to batting around and scoring five runs in the third inning. With the Rays on the ropes, it looked like it might be a blowout in favor of the home team. However, credit to Tampa as they methodically chipped away against Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez (5 IP, 2 ER, 3 hits, 6 Ks, 0 BBs) along with relievers Tanner Houck and Ryan Brasier. The Rays scored once in the fifth inning, twice in the sixth inning and twice in the eighth inning to tie things up at five. 

    Boston's star third baseman Rafael Devers (3-for-4) had the biggest swing of the game as he lofted a three-run shot (scoring Vazquez and first baseman Kyle Schwarber) to center field for a 3-0 advantage on his second home run of the playoffs. Left fielder Alex Verdugo added an RBI double that plated shortstop Xander Bogaerts and DH J.D. Martinez knocked in Dugie with an RBI single. Tampa's rally started innocently enough with an RBI groundout in the fifth. Their best player shortstop Wander Franco (who is just 20 years old!) blasted a two-run bomb (that scored center fielder Kevin Kiermaier as well) to almost the same exact spot as Devers, his second homer of the playoffs cut it to 5-3 in the sixth. Brasier melted down in the eighth as he allowed the two runs without recording an out. Kiermaier (2 runs) roped an RBI double that scored catcher Mike Zunino and right fielder Randy Arozarena (2 hits) knotted things at five with an RBI single that scored Kiermaier. 

    The two Red Sox relievers that excelled in Game 4 were lefty Josh Taylor who worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning with a strikeout on 10 pitches and Garrett Whitlock (1-0) who pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth inning that only required 15 total pitches. The other AL series has Houston leading Chicago 2-1 after today's game in Chitown was rained out. Whoever wins that series will have home-field advantage vs. the Red Sox and the ALCS is set to start on Friday night. Boston is the last AL East team alive in the playoffs after they held off the Blue Jays for a Wild Card spot, eliminated the Yankees in said Wild Card Game and now they sent the Rays packing as well. It might seem improbable but by reaching MLB's version of the Final Four, the Red Sox have turned this season into an unexpected success with a real chance to reach another World Series. I expect the Astros to beat the White Sox and if that happens, Boston will have their hands full since I believe that Houston has been their worst matchup for years. Regardless, we have quickly been reminded how fun October baseball can be and now we have at least four more games of it to savor. 

Sox Slugged (4 HRs) Their Way To Fourth Straight Win & They Are Tied With Astros For Best AL Mark

 

    I am already growing weary of bashing Red Sox pitcher Garrett Richards (5.2 IP, 5 ER, 11 hits, 3 Ks, 3 HRs) in his first season with Boston. Don't get me wrong, he deserves all the criticism that he's getting from every angle but how many ways can you say the same thing over and over again? The guy is a human puddle without his now illegal sticky substances. Despite his general ineptitude at his job, the Sox (48-31 overall, 24-17 home) won in spite of him. This evening they rallied from an early 5-1 deficit to beat the spiraling Royals (33-44 overall, 15-25 away) 6-5 at scorching Fenway Park in the series opener. I guess that he should be saluted for going that long after allowing all five runs in the first two innings but I'm not a Little League coach or his parent so I'm not here to pat him on his goofy head. He should not be in Boston's starting rotation anymore, they are playing with fire thinking that he'll turn it around anytime soon at the MLB level. 

    Anywho, the Red Sox hit four home runs led by right fielder Hunter Renfroe who had a pair of mammoth blasts. Unlike Richards, Renfroe was a great free agent signing by Boston's GM Chiam Bloom. Their fourth straight victory combined with Houston's (48-31) shocking 9-7 loss to lowly Baltimore (25-54) meant that Boston settles into a tie with the Astros for the best record in the AL. Furthermore, the Giants (50-27) are the only team in baseball with a better record than them. The Royals won two out of three against Boston a few weeks back in Kansas City but the Sox are catching them at a good time since they have now dropped five games in a row. First baseman Carlos Santana hit a three-run homer in the first inning (his 13th of the season) to right field for an early 3-0 KC lead. For the second game in a row, center fielder Kike Hernandez (2-for-3, BB) led off with a home run (his 8th of the season) in the bottom of the first that went over the Green Monster. Center fielder Michael Taylor (his 6th, to right center) and second baseman Whit Merrifield (his 7th, to center; 3-for-5, 2 runs) each hit solo shots in the second for that 5-1 advantage. 

    It was basically Home Run Derby a few weeks early as the Royals starter/opener (since he was working his way back from an injury) Danny Duffy also allowed three bombs in only 3.1 innings of work. First baseman Bobby Dalbec (2-for-4, 2 runs) started the comeback with a solo blast (his 10th of the season) of his own, over the Monster in the bottom of the second inning. Renfroe cut it to 5-4 Royals with a two-run laser (his 10th of the season) to center field that scored shortstop Xander Bogaerts as well. Michael Chavis tied it at five later in that frame with an RBI single that plated Dalbec. The last run of the contest obviously came from one last roundtripper as Renfroe smoked a solo homer over the Monster in the sixth inning. 

    Kansas City's offense-like the rest of their sorry club-is not good but regardless, Boston's bullpen was still excellent: they went 3.1 innings and only allowed one total hit. Hirokazu Sawamura (4-0)-another gem from Bloom-got four outs including a strikeout to kick things off. Josh Taylor pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning for his tenth hold of the season followed by closer Matt Barnes who recorded a 1-2-3 ninth inning on 13 pitches for his 17th save of the season. Tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) promises to be just as gross in terms of weather at the ballpark but Nick Pivetta (6-3) vs. Brad Keller (6-8) is a very winnable matchup for the Red Sox. These won't be the sexiest games of the season but it's a great time for Boston to pile up the wins while they take advantage of a bad team that is going nowhere fast.

The Red Sox Blew A 5-2 Lead To The Rays But Recovered In Time To Win 9-5 In 11 Innings

 

    Even the unanimous top prospect in baseball-Wander Franco-couldn't turn things around for the free-falling Rays (43-31 overall, 19-15 home) in his explosive MLB debut tonight at Tropicana Field. The 20-year-old third baseman (he is the first guy born in 2001 to appear in a Major League game!) went 2-for-4 with a three-run bomb, a double and a walk with two runs scored but Boston (44-29 overall, 24-12 away) outlasted Tampa Bay 9-5 in 11 innings. The Sox led 5-2 early in the series opener of a pivotal three-game set and they eventually improved to a perfect 4-0 vs. second-place Tampa who now trail Boston by a game and a half in the AL East. Oh and the Rays have lost seven games in a row, is that bad?

    Things started off on a shaky note for the Red Sox as star shortstop Xander Bogaerts' (3-for-5 with 2 runs) throwing error in the first inning allowed the Rays to take a cheap 2-0 lead. Boston's starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (6 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 7 hits, 7 Ks, 1 BB) entered winless in his last seven starts so the fact that he made it through six innings was a minor miracle. Of course, he was the one who served up Franco's first career home run, that found its way over the left field wall and tied it at five in the fifth inning. The Sox did much of their damage in the third inning as they scored five runs to take a 5-2 lead. DH J.D. Martinez's two-run double scored left fielder Alex Verdugo and center fielder Danny Santana which tied it at two. Third baseman Rafael Devers (2 doubles, run, 3 RBIs) knocked in Martinez with a sacrifice fly before former Rays great Hunter Renfroe (2-for-5, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) crushed a two-run homer to left center (his 9th of the season) that plated Bogey. 

    The bullpens took control from there until things got weird in the extra innings. For Boston, Josh Taylor (2 strikeouts), Northeastern's Adam Ottavino and UConn's Matt Barnes each pitched a scoreless inning. Hirokazu Sawamura got two outs then Darwinzon Hernandez (2-2) recorded the last four outs for the Red Sox. Tampa is still doing that silly opener thing so their first pitcher Andrew Kittredge recorded two outs in the first inning before he was pulled after 16 pitches. Fun! No wonder this game took four hours and 21 minutes. For Tampa Bay, Collin McHugh pitched three hitless innings, Matt Wisler had a clean frame and J.P. Feyereisen added two scoreless innings before Peter Fairbanks (1-3) cracked as he allowed four runs (3 earned) in two laborious innings (37 pitches) of work. 

    The middle game of the series is tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) and it pits Garrett Richards (4-4) vs. former Red Sox great Rich Hill (5-2). Tampa Bay is due to start winning again sometime soon but ideally, it won't be in the next couple days as they host the Sox. Boston has a nice opportunity here to take advantage of the Rays who are stuck in a rare terrible stretch of play. I still think that these will be the top two clubs in the AL East this season when it's all said and done so the Red Sox might as well pile up the wins against Tampa while they can. Haha keep in mind that including tomorrow, these two teams meet 15 more times this season.

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.

Go Figure: After An Embarrassing 18-4 Loss To The Blue Jays, The Red Sox Walk Them Off Yet Again

 

    The Red Sox (40-27 overall, 20-17 home) and the Blue Jays (33-31 overall, 20-18 away) just concluded one of the strangest four-game series that you will ever see at Fenway Park. To review: Boston walked off Toronto 6-5 on Friday night, the Jays beat them 7-2 on Saturday afternoon then absolutely wiped the floor with the Sox 18-4 on Sunday afternoon. That left tonight's series finale which naturally turned into a pitcher's duel that was ultimately won 2-1 by Red Sox third baseman's Rafael Devers' (2 hits) walk-off single that scored right fielder Alex Verdugo (2 hits). The net result of these bizarre four days was a series split for the Sox who remain three games back of the Rays (43-24)-owners of the best record in MLB. Toronto is in third-place in the AL East but I doubt that they'll ever catch Tampa Bay since they are 8.5 games behind them. 

    It's no coincidence that Boston's shaky at best starting rotation has completely fallen apart since Major League Baseball has turned its attention to foreign substances (Spider Tack!) used by pitchers all around the sport. The Red Sox pitching was so brutal on Sunday that reliever Ryan Weber allowed 11 earned runs (before he was promptly sent back to Worcester today where he belongs) and manager Alex Cora had to use not one but two position players-Marwin Gonzalez and Christian Arroyo-just to get out of the stupid blowout loss alive. For all of those reasons and more, it was heartening to see Nathan Eovaldi (6.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 hits, 4 Ks, 1 BB) pitch great against one of the best lineups in baseball. Toronto's prized rookie hurler Alek Manoah (6 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, 5 Ks, 1 BB) nearly matched Eovaldi except for one mistake that he made early in his stellar outing. 

    Verdugo drove in center fielder Enrique Hernandez with an RBI double in the third inning that gave the home team a 1-0 lead. Cora let Eovaldi try and get out of his own jam which paid off when he induced Jays center fielder Randal Grichuk to ground into a double play. That left DH Vladimir Guerrero Jr on third base and reliever Josh Taylor stranded him there by striking out first baseman Rowdy Tellez to end the top of the seventh. It's hard to believe but after his 1-2-3 eighth inning with two more strikeouts, Taylor has recorded 18 scoreless appearances in a row. 

    It looked like the Red Sox might escape with a 1-0 victory since their usually lights out closer Matt Barnes (3-1) struck out the first two batters that he faced in the ninth inning. After taking a strike on the first pitch of his at bat, Guerrero crushed a game-tying solo home run (his MLB-best 22nd of the season) over the Green Monster. Sox pitchers will no doubt be seeing Vladdy Jr. in their nightmares for weeks since he hit a home run in every game of this series. Luckily for Boston, Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoya keeps trying to make Rafael Dolis (1-3) as the closer against the Red Sox a thing. For the third time (!!) already this season, the guy with a 5.14 ERA cost his team a game as it only took him 11 pitches to cough this one up. Verdugo led off the bottom of the ninth with an infield single, DH J.D. Martinez followed with a single and shortstop Xander Bogaerts flied out to left before Devers rallied from down 0-2 in the count to take a splitter for a ball then he launched a shot to left center that bounced off the scoreboard on the Monster. 

    This was Boston's last game at Fenway for awhile: they are gone for the next 10 days on a road trip that includes eight games in three different cities. The Red Sox play two in Atlanta (30-33 overall,  17-17 home)-the third-place team in the NL East; three in Kansas City (30-35 overall, 16-16 home)-the third-place team in the AL Central; then three at Tampa Bay next week before finally coming home next weekend to play the mediocre Yankees (33-32 overall, 16-16 away)-the fourth-place team in the AL East. Tomorrow night (7:20, NESN), Eduardo Rodriguez (5-4) faces Braves rookie Tucker Davidson (0-0) and on Wednesday night (7:20, NESN), Garrett Richards (4-4) takes on another Braves youngster Ian Anderson (4-3). It's tough to have any faith in E-Rod or Richards at the moment so Boston will need to beat up on Atlanta's starting pitchers who have both been on a roll lately.

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.

After 6-5 Win In 10 Innings, Red Sox Earned Their First Series Sweep At Yankee Stadium Since 2011

 

    This weekend's three-game set in the Bronx served as a classic baseball snapshot of two teams headed in different directions. The Red Sox (36-23 overall, 20-10 away) put an exclamation point on a great few days at Yankee Stadium as they escaped with a 6-5 victory in 10 innings this evening. Down 3-1 in the seventh inning and allowing the tying run in the bottom of the ninth did not deter Boston as they kept grinding until they came away with their third win in a row against the fading Yankees (31-29 overall, 17-16 home) who have lost four straight games and they are 2-8 in their last 10 games which has dropped them into fourth-place in the AL East. For Boston, this exorcised some recent demons in NY as they picked up their first sweep at Yankee Stadium since 2011 and they ended their ugly streak of 12 series losses in a row there. 

    NY's starting pitcher Domingo German gave them their best outing of the series as he allowed a solo homer to left fielder Alex Verdugo (his 8th of the season) in the first inning but then he settled down to go 5.2 innings, allowing just that one earned run on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks. The Red Sox' starting pitcher Garrett Richards (5 IP, 3 ER, 8 hits, 6 Ks, 2 BBs) was not very good but Boston's bullpen (5 other guys) were able to outlast New York's (4 guys). Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez had a two-run double in the first that scored DH Aaron Judge (2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks) and shortstop Gleyber Torres (2 hits). Judge's ground out in the fourth inning plated another run for the home team and extended their lead to 3-1. 

    Second baseman Marwin Gonzalez tied it for the Red Sox with a two-run home run (his 2nd of the season) in the seventh inning that scored right fielder Hunter Renfroe. Boston took back the lead in the following inning as pinch hitter Christian Arroyo scored on Bogaerts' sacrifice fly. Each Red Sox reliever went one inning: Darwinzon Hernandez (2 BBs) had the sixth, former Yankee and Brooklyn native Adam Ottavino (1 BB) pitched the seventh, Josh Taylor struck out two in a scoreless eighth which set closer Matt Barnes up with a 4-3 lead in the ninth. He was working for the third game in a row and that probably played a major factor since he was not lights out as usual. Torres drove in Judge with a clutch RBI double to tie it up at 4-4. 

    I've said earlier this season that Bogaerts is the best shortstop in MLB but I'll extend that praise even further by calling him one of the top all-around players in baseball. He came through with another huge play: a two-run single in the 10th inning that scored catcher Christian Arroyo and first baseman Bobby Dalbec with the tying and go-ahead runs. Barnes threw 23 pitches in the ninth inning so who the hell did Boston's manager Alex Cora use in the 10th inning to wrap up the sweep? It was Phillips Valdez who allowed a run on an infield single but he also got a key double play and survived to record his first career save in MLB. 

    Boston returns home in second-place in the AL East-one game behind first-place Tampa Bay (38-23)-with an eight-game homestand about to begin. Before they can play three games with Houston (33-26) and a four-game series against Toronto (30-27), the Red Sox have a makeup date with Miami (25-33) tomorrow night (5:10, NESN). The Marlins are also 2-8 in their last 10 games so Boston hopes to keep them on their recent tailspin as Nick Pivetta (6-1) faces Pablo Lopez (1-3). After a series in Pittsburgh (23-35), Miami has to come here for one more game so hopefully their interest level isn't too high vs. an interleague opponent as they try to avoid a three-game sweep in their last meeting of the season with the Sox (haha assuming that Boston-Miami World Series ain't happening in 2021). Ideally, Boston doesn't get caught looking ahead to its more difficult opponents that they will see later this week.