Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Kutter Crawford was activated from the Injured List as the corresponding move to Ryan Sherriff being sent to Worcester yesterday.
The bad news was the Boston Celtics lost Game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat but the good news was THIS is the James Paxton (1-0, 2.45 ERA) that Sox GM Chaim Bloom envisioned when he signed him to a contract last off-season. It only took a year and two months but James got his first win with the Red Sox in a dominating effort against old friend Xander Bogaerts and the San Diego Padres. Paxton held San Diego to just 1 run in 6 solid innings while the Sox bats erupted for six runs against Blake Snell. Rafael Devers hit two home runs including a three run shot to pace the offense. Rob Refsnyder also drove in a few runs as well. Josh Winckowski tossed 3 shutout innings to earn the save and the Sox had won the game 6-1 at Petco Park.
Snell got the ball in the top of the first inning and Alex Verdugo struck out swinging to start. Justin Turner took strike three and Rob Refsnyder grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Paxton got the ball in the bottom of the first and Fernando Tatis Jr got a base hit to left but was thrown out at second by Refsnyder trying to stretch a double. Ha-Seong Kim singled to right but old friend Xander Bogaerts flied out to right. Juan Soto walked but Nelson Cruz struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second when Rafael Devers mashed his 12th home run of the lead to put Boston in front. Masataka Yoshida singled to left but Kike Hernandez was frozen for strike three. Pablo Reyes flied out to left and Jarren Duran lined out to center to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Jake Cronenworth struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Brandon Dixon popped up to first. Austin Nola lined out to right to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third as Connor Wong doubled to left to start. Alex Verdugo and Justin Turner drew back to back walks to load the bases and Refsnyder doubled to center, scoring two runs. Devers then clobbered a three run blast to ice the game. Yoshida grounded out to second, Hernandez grounded out to first and Reyes flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox up 6-0.
That's two for Devers
"Sorry Bogey" - Verdugo
The Padres struck back in the bottom of the third when Adam Engel popped up to third to start. Tatis Jr hit a home run all the way to Venezuela to cut the lead. Kim struck out swinging and Bogaerts took strike three to end the inning.
Duran struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth before Wong went down hacking as well. Verdugo flied out to right to end the inning. Soto lined out to left to start the bottom of the fourth but Cruz got a base hit to left. Cronenworth singled to left but Dixon struck out swinging. Nola walked to load the bases but Engel popped up to first to end the inning.
Brent Honeywell came in to pitch the top of the fifth and Triston Casas pinch hit for Turner. Casas took strike three before Refnsyder walked. Devers lined out to second and Yoshida grounded out to short to end the inning. Tatis Jr grounded out to short to start the bottom of the fifth before Kim flied out to center. Verdugo made an outstanding catch to rob Bogaerts of a hit to end the inning.
Hernandez took strike three to start the top of the sixth before Reyes grounded out to second. Dixon booted a grounder by Duran for an error but Wong lined out to center to end the inning. Soto grounded out to first to start the bottom of the sixth before Cruz lined out to third. Cronenworth popped up to third to end the inning. That was it for Paxton who allowed 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5.
Verdugo got a base hit to right to start the top of the seventh before Casas flied out to center. Refsnyder grounded into a double play to end the inning. Josh Winckowski came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Dixon flied out to center to start. Nola walked and Trent Grisham pinch hit for Engel. Grisham grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Tom Cosgrove came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Devers struck out swinging to start. Yoshida grounded back to the mound but Hernandez singled to left. Reyes flied out to left to end the inning. Tatis Jr grounded back to the mound to begin the bottom of the eighth and Kim lined out to center. Bogaerts grounded out to third to end the inning.
Duran singled in the hole at second to start the top of the ninth and moved to second on a wild pitch. Wong grounded out to short and Verdugo was retired on a nubber in front of the plate to move Jarren to third. Casas grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Winckowski returned to close out the bottom of the ninth and Soto grounded back to the mound to start. Cruz struck out swinging and Cronenworth struck out swinging as well to end the game. The Sox had won it 6-1.
Hero of The Night is James Paxton. He tossed six innings of 1 run ball holding the Padres to just 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks. He also struck out five batters.
The Good:
Justin Turner walked and scored a run before leaving the game.
Rob Refsnyder was 1 for 3 with a walk, 2 rbis and a run scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with 2 home runs and 4 total rbis.
Josh Winckowski earned the save with 3 shutout innings.
The Bad:
Triston Casas was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Pablo Reyes was 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Masataka Yoshida was just 1 for 4.
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Connor Wong was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run
Final Thoughts:
Big win by the Sox especially with Paxton on the mound. The offense was Rafael Devers and Rob Refsnyder but getting good pitching means not having to worry about scoring 8 runs a game to have to win it. Also kudos to Sox manager Alex Cora for sticking with Winckowski to finish it off, saving the rest of the bullpen for tomorrow's game. Paxton was damn good before he got hurt and this was definitely a sign of his old self by dominating a damn good Padres team. Too bad Bogaerts is on the other side of things now, thank you Chaim Bloom. If the Sox want to get back in the race they need to go on a nice winning streak, maybe this will be the catalyst. The win improved the Sox to 25-20, 7.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it two in a row over the Padres tomorrow night when Chris Sale (3-2) takes the hill against Joe Musgrove of San Diego. The game begins at 10:10 PM Eastern time at Petco Park.
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