Before the game it was announced Alex Cora would not be managing the Boston Red Sox today, choosing to attend the high school graduation of his daughter. Congratulations to her. Will Venable was named acting manager for today's game.
It was a great night for Boston sports. The Boston Bruins defeated the New York Islanders in Game 1 of their second round NHL playoff series and the Red Sox grinded out a win against the Miami Marlins. The Sox got two runs off Marlins ace Taylor Rogers while Nathan Eovaldi (6-2, 4.01 ERA) pitched a shutout into the sixth inning. The bullpen was very shaky but held together by getting outs when they had to. The Marlins held the Sox to just 3 runs but Boston made them count. Bobby Dalbec drove in Rafael Devers, Kevin Plawecki drove in Hunter Renfroe and Renfroe scored Devers for the only runs the Sox would need. Matt Barnes got tagged but it wasn't too bad as the Sox had beaten the Marlins 3-1 at Fenway Park.
Eovaldi got the ball in the top of the first inning and Magneuris Sierra flied out to left to start. Starling Marte doubled to left but Jesus Aguilar struck out swinging. A wild pitch moved Marte to third but Garrett Cooper struck out swinging to end the inning. Rogers got the ball in the bottom of the first and Kike Hernandez flied out to right to start. Alex Verdugo lined out to second and JD Martinez lined out to center to end the inning.
Eovaldi turned up the heat in the top of the second as Corey Dickerson struck out swinging to start. Jon Berti took strike three and Isan Diaz struck out swinging. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second although Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging to start. Rafael Devers singled in the hole at first, Hunter Renfroe singled to left and Bobby Dalbec dropped a base hit to left to score Devers to give Boston the lead. Kevin Plawecki took strike three but Christian Arroyo dropped a base hit to left. Dickerson came up gunning and nailed Renfroe at the plate to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Sandy Leon popped up to third to start the top of the third and "Cousin Jose" Devers struck out swinging. Sierra singled to right and Marte walked, but Aguilar lined out to third to end the inning. Hernandez popped up to first to start the bottom of the third and Verdugo struck out swinging. Martinez doubled to left and took third on a passed ball, but Bogaerts grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Marlins threatened in the top of the fourth as Cooper singled to right to start. Dickerson hit a blast to right but Renfroe caught it at the all. Berti hit a routine grounder to Devers who threw 100 feet over the head of Arroyo for an error. Eovaldi recovered to get Diaz to hit one up the elevator shaft and Leon to ground out to short to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fourth as Devers grounded out to first to start. Renfroe doubled to left but Dalbec struck out swinging on a high fastball. Plawecki dropped a base hit to right to score Renfroe with another run. Arroyo struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Eovaldi came back for one more inning in the top of the fifth as Devers lined out to right to start. Sierra struck out swinging and Marte grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fifth as Hernandez popped up to short to begin. Verdugo flied out to left but the wind turned a Martinez fly out into a double in front of Marte. Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the inning.
Eovaldi returned for the top of the sixth and Aguilar lined out to a running Renfroe to start. Cooper singled to center and with lefties coming up, that was it for Eovaldi after 5 1/3 shutout innings. Josh Taylor came in and Dickerson hit a squibber in front of the plate that Plawecki hit him with a throw for an error. Berti struck out swinging and Diaz flied out to right to end the inning.
Rogers returned for the bottom of the sixth and Devers hit a grounder up the middle that Diaz couldn't make a play on, Rafael sprinting to second for a "double". Renfroe grounded out to short but Devers took third anyway on a wild pitch. Dalbec struck out swinging and Plawecki grounded out to third to end the inning.
Taylor returned for the top of the seventh and Leon struck out swinging to start. Things went south as Devers hit a cue shot ground rule double down the left field line and took third on the swinging bunt base hit by Sierra. That was it for Taylor as Adam Ottavino was brought in to clean up the mess. Naturally Sierra stole second and Marte walked to load the bases. Somehow Ottavino struck out Aguilar swinging on a full count and Cooper on a 1-2 count to end the inning as the crowd went wild.
Adam Cimber came on for the bottom of the seventh and Arroyo grounded back to the mound to start. Hernandez grounded out to second and Verdugo grounded out to third to end the inning.
Darwinzon Hernandez came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Dickerson grounded out to short to start. Berti struck out swinging but Diaz walked to chase Hernandez. Hrio Sawamura came in to face pinch hitter Jorge Alfaro (for Leon) and Devers threw another ball away for another error to put runners at the corners. A wild pitch moved Alfaro to second but Sawamura got Devers swinging on a nasty splitter to end the inning.
The Sox added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth as Martinez grounded back to the mound to start. Bogaerts lined out to Diaz but Devers atoned for his errors with a double off the Monster. Renfroe singled to right to score Devers and took second on the throw from home to second. Dalbec hit a grounder up the middle Diaz couldn't make a play on to put runners at the corners. That was it for Cimber as Richard Bleier came in to pitch. Plawecki lined out to left to end the inning but it was now 3-0 Sox.
The run proved big when Matt Barnes came in to close out the top of the ninth when Sierra caught the Sox asleep with a drag bunt single to second to start. Barnes blew away Marte but Sierra swiped second. Aguilar dropped a base hit to center to score Sierra but Cooper banged into a double play to end the game. The Sox had won it 3-1.
Hero of the Night is Hunter Renfroe. He was 3 for 4, scored a run and drove in the insurance run.
The Good:
JD Martinez was 2 for 4.
Rafael Devers was 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Bobby Dalbec was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Christian Arroyo was 1 for 3.
Josh Taylor tossed a full scoreless inning.
Adam Ottavino got the final two outs of the seventh inning.
Darwinzon Hernandez got the first two outs of the eighth inning.
Hiro Sawamura got the final out of the eighth inning.
The Bad:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4.
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Matt Barnes allowed a run in the bottom of the ninth.
The Ugly:
Kevin Plawecki was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
That was a gutsy win considering the Sox had to go up against Miami's best pitcher. Also its amazing how the Sox managers are coaching circles around Marlins manager Don Mattingly. First Donnie Baseball leaves in his starter to give up a 3 run bomb yesterday and today Will Venable had all the relievers lined up for the sixth inning on. If it wasn't for some costly errors, the game would have been a lot easier to navigate with Donnie asleep at the wheel. The offense wasn't much but they got hits when they had to, some days that's all you need. The win was also doubly important since the New York Yankees lost and the Tampa Bay Rays won. The Yankees offense just hasn't been there so far this season but the Rays pitching has been out of this world. The Sox need to catch fire again if they hope to leapfrog Tampa. The win improved the Sox to 32-20, a 1/2 game back of Tampa for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to sweep their three game set with the Marlins tomorrow afternoon. Eduardo Rodriguez (5-3, 5.06 ERA) looks to snap a 3 game losing streak when he takes on Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins. The game begins at 1:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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