Thanks To Verdugo's HR In The 8th, Sox Rally For Their MLB-Best 33rd Comeback Win Of The Season

 

    Their games still might take way too long to complete but at least the Red Sox (62-39 overall, 32-20 home) in 2021 are making it worth your while if you stick around for the later innings since they seem to have a special ability to never be out of almost any contest. Tonight in their series opener against the Blue Jays (49-47 overall, 27-25 away) at smoky Fenway Park (because of the wildfires in California), they trailed 4-3 in the eighth inning before left fielder Alex Verdugo crushed a two-run bomb (his 10th of the season) into the right centerfield seats that scored right fielder Hunter Renfroe (2-for-3 w/2B, 2 runs, BB). Closer and UConn product Matt Barnes worked an easy 1-2-3 ninth inning on just nine pitches to record his 22nd save of the season. 

    The win over the stunned Jays was the 33rd comeback victory of the season for Boston-the most in MLB-and it put them a season-high 23 games over .500 while their slim lead over the second-place Rays (60-40 overall) in the AL East slightly increased to 1.5 games while Tampa Bay has a game in hand. The Sox struck first with a pair of runs in the second inning on an RBI single by Verdugo that plated Renfroe and second baseman Michael Chavis drove in Verdugo with a ground out. Toronto tied it with a pair of RBI singles in the third inning by their superstar first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (that scored catcher Reese McGuire) and second baseman Marcus Semien (that scored UConn's George Springer). 

    Boston's star third baseman Rafael Devers (2-for-4) helped the Red Sox pull ahead again 3-2 with a solo homer (his team-leading 27th of the season) in the third inning that hooked a few rows back into the right field seats. Red Sox killer and Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette hit a two-run blast over the Green Monster (his 18th of the season also scored Springer) in the fifth inning that gave the Jays a 4-3 advantage. From there, it was a battle of the bullpens which the Red Sox predictably dominated as relievers Phillips Valdez (2.1 scoreless innings with two strikeouts) and Northeastern's Adam Ottavino (3-3; scoreless eighth inning) bridged the gap from the ineffective starting pitcher Nick Pivetta (4.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 hits, 3 Ks, 2 BBs) to Barnes. One of the main reasons why the Blue Jays currently sit where they are in the standings is due to their putrid bullpen.

    Boston improved to 8-4 against Toronto this season and they'll go for their fourth straight win against them tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) as good old Garrett Richards (6-5) faces Jays ace Robbie Ray (8-5). Obviously, Ray is a much better pitcher than Richards but this same matchup actually happened last Wednesday in Buffalo with Richards outlasting Ray in a 7-4 Red Sox triumph. The Sox are 7-3 since the All-Star break and they own the best record in the American League with the Giants (62-37) being the only team with a better mark than them at this point of the season. Oh yeah and the trade deadline is Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. so if you need me, I'll be busy reading juicy tweets and rumor-filled stories about possible deals until 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.

Down To Their Last Out, The Red Sox Rallied For An 8-7 Victory & Series Win Against The Blue Jays

 

    With their lead in the AL East dwindling, the Red Sox (27-18 overall, 14-6 away) picked the perfect time to stage their best comeback win of the season, 8-7 tonight in Dunedin, FL (Toronto's spring training home stadium) against the Blue Jays (23-19 overall, 10-7 home). Down 7-6 in the ninth inning with two outs against the Blue Jays' shaky closer Rafael Dolis (1-1), Boston's star DH J.D. Martinez hit a two-run bomb (his 12th of the season and the 250th of his career) to right center that scored second baseman Michael Chavis (2-for-4, 2B, 2 runs). From there, UConn's Matt Barnes worked around a walk to strike out the side in the bottom of the ninth for his 10th save of the season. 

    After getting blanked 8-0 in the series opener on Tuesday, the Sox won 7-3 yesterday and topped that with this evening's dramatic victory which leaves them one game ahead of Tampa Bay (26-19)-who has won seven games in a row; 1.5 games in front of the Yankees (25-19) who are 7-3 in their last 10 games and the Jays dropped to 2.5 games in back of Boston. With an absurd six no-hitters (1 fewer than the MLB record for an entire season) already thrown in 2021, it was refreshing to see something more along the lines of a softball game. The final score could have been much higher too since the teams combined for 25 hits and they left 17 on base.

    Nick Pivetta (5 IP, 5 runs, 4 ER, 7 hits, 8 Ks, 2 BBs) has surprisingly been the best starting pitcher for the Red Sox this season but he predictably came back down to Earth a bit with this outing. He was better though than the Jays starter Steven Matz (6 IP, 5 ER, 10 hits, 4 Ks, 2 BBs) who looked like the mediocre former Met that he has always been. Weirdly, Boston only scored in two different innings-the second and the ninth. After Toronto scored twice in the first inning on RBI doubles by first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2 hits, 2 runs) and right fielder Randal Grichuk, the Red Sox exploded for five runs in the second inning. First baseman Bobby Dalbec hit a three-run bomb that just stayed fair down the right field line for his fifth homer of the season that scored catcher Christian Vazquez (2 hits, walk) and right fielder Hunter Renfroe. The other two runs came on an infield single by center fielder Kike Hernandez (2 hits) that plated Dalbec and an RBI single by Martinez which scored Hernandez. 

    Toronto cut it to 5-3 in the bottom of the second with an RBI double by DH Bo Bichette (3 hits, 2 doubles, walk) that scored shortstop Marcus Semien, they tied it with a pair of runs in the fifth inning and they went ahead 7-5 in the sixth with two more runs. Semien scored on an error by Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers in the fifth and second baseman Cavan Biggio drove in Guerrero Jr. with an RBI single. Center fielder Jonathan Davis knocked in catcher Danny Jansen with an RBI single in the seventh then he was the tying run as Grichuk drove him in with an RBI single of his own. 

    Boston's bullpen finally settled things down beginning with Darwinzon Hernandez (1 IP, 1 K, 1 BB) who was followed by Phillips Valdez (2-0) who picked up four outs on just nine pitches to earn the win. Dalbec scored on a ground out in the ninth that preceded Martinez's heroics. This six-game road trip for the Red Sox ends with three games this weekend in Philadelphia (22-22 overall, 14-8 home) who is managed by former Yankees skipper Joe Girardi. Martin Perez (1-2) faces Phillies ace Aaron Nola (3-3) tomorrow night (7:05, NESNplus) followed by Nathan Eovaldi (4-2) against Chase Anderson (2-4) on Saturday night (7:15, FOX) and ending with the scuffling Eduardo Rodriguez (5-2 but 4.70 ERA) vs. Zack Wheeler (3-2, 2.52 ERA) on Sunday afternoon (1:05, NESN). The NL East is the worst division in baseball and the Phillies are 4-6 in their last 10 games so taking two more out of three games in another series would be a good way to end this trip for the Red Sox.