It was good news all around the city of Boston as the Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat in Game 1 of their first round NBA playoff series and the Boston Red Sox swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in their three game weekend series. The Sox are missing 33% of their roster but the pitching held up in this one including timely hitting. Josh Winckowski allowed a run in a spot start and it was the only run allowed by Boston. The offense was a balanced attack with Wilyer Abreu doing the damage with two big rbis. Rob Refsnyder knocked in another big run and Reese McGuire knocked in two runs coming off the bench. Justin Slaten (1-0, 0.63 ERA) got credit for his first major league win as the Sox beat the Pirates 6-1 at PNC Park.
Old friend Martin Perez got the ball in the top of the first and Ceddanne Rafaela walked to start. Jarren Duran took strike three but Rafaela swiped second. Rob Refsnyder drew a walk but Wilyer Abreu forced him at second to put runners at the corners. Connor Wong struck out swinging to end the inning. Winckowski got the ball in the bottom of the first and naturally Connor Joe doubled to left to begin. Bryan Reynolds grounded out to first to move Joe to third and Connor scored on the sac fly to right by Ke'Bryan Hayes. Jack Suwinski grounded out to short to end the inning with the Pirates up 1-0.
Bobby Dalbec looked at strike three to stop the top of the second before Reyes grounded out to short. Taylor Heineman made his Sox debut by flying out to center to end the inning. Andrew McCutchen flied out to the centerfield warning track and Rowdy "Roddy" Tellez grounded out to Dalbec. Joey Bart lined out to a running Duran to end the inning.
Enmanuel Valdez struck out swinging to start the top of the third but Rafaela got a base hit to right. Duran grounded a base hit past Jared Triolo and Rafaela moved to third on the hit. Refsnyder hit a double to the left field wall to score Rafaela and Abreu dumped a base hit to center to score Duran. Refsnyder moved to third on the hit but Wong struck out swinging. Dalbec took a questionable strike three to end the inning but the Sox led 2-1.
Oneil Cruz took strike three to start the bottom of the third but Triolo singled to center. Joe popped up to short and Reynolds grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Reyes doubled to left to start the top of the fourth and Heineman was hit with a pitch. Valdez dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over but Rafaela looked at strike three down the middle. Duran walked on a full count to load the bases but Triolo ran down a bloop by Refsnyder to end the inning. Hayes lined a ball off the glove of Rafaela for a base hit but was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double to start the bottom of the fourth. That was it for Winckowski who allowed just 1 run in 3 1/3 innings of work. Cam Booser came in to pitch and Suwinski dumped a base hit to right. Abreu made a shoestring catch to rob McCutchen of a hit but Tellez lined a base hit to right to move Suwinski to third. Booser struck out Bart swinging on a 96 mph fastball to end the inning.
Abreu doubled to right to start the top of the fifth before Wong drew a walk. That was it for Perez as Ryder Ryan came in to face Dalbec. Bobby lined out to third but Reyes was hit with a pitch to load the bases. Reese McGuire pinch hit for Heineman and dumped a base hit just inside the left field foul line to score both Abreu and Wong. Valdez struck out swinging and Rafaela flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-1.
Cruz grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the fifth but Sox manager Alex Cora brought in Greg Weissert to face Triolo. Jared flied out to right and Joe took strike three to end the inning.
Duran swung and missed at what should have been ball four in the dirt for strike three to start the top of the sixth. Refsnyder popped up to Triolo.....but wait! Apparently Joey Bart stuck his mitt out too far for a violation and Rob was credited with first base Refsnyder promptly stole second and scored on the broken bat single to center by Abreu. Wong popped up to short but Dalbec walked to load the bases. Reyes flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-1.
Justin Slaten came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Reynolds struck out swinging to start. Hayes got a base hit to left and Suwinski got a base hit to right. Hayes made it to third but Refsnyder gunned down Suwinski trying to stretch a double on the play. Dalbec made a great throw on a grounder by McCutchen to end the inning.
Josh Fleming came in to pitch the top of the seventh and McGuire struck out swinging to begin. Valdez grounded out to second and Rafaela was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to end the inning. Tellez flied out to the right field warning track to start the bottom of the seventh before Bart was retired on a comebacker to the mound. Cruz walked but Triolo struck out swinging to end the inning.
Aroldis Chapman came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Duran walked to start. They had Duran picked off but the ball got away for a "stolen base", but Refsnyder struck out swinging on a ball in the dirt. A balk moved Duran to third and Cruz dropped a pop up by Abreu for an error to score Jarren. Wong earned the hat trick with another swinging strikeout and Dalbec struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 6-1.
Chase Anderson came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Joe grounded out to short to start. Reynolds flied out to center and Hayes popped up second to end the inning.
David Bednar came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Reyes struck out swinging. McGuire lined out to center and Valdez popped up to third to end the inning. Anderson came back to close out the bottom of the ninth and Suwinski popped up to left to start. McCutchen lined out to a running Duran and Tellez popped up to short to end the game. The Sox had won it 6-1.
Hero of The Night is Wilyer Abreu. He was 3 for 5, knocked in two big runs and scored a run.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, a stolen base and 2 runs scored.
Rob Refsnyder was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi, stolen base and a run scored.
Taylor Heineman was hit with a pitch in two at bats.
Reese McGuire was 1 for 3 with 2 rbis.
Josh Winckowski allowed just 1 run in 3 1/3 innings off 3 hits.
Cam Booser tossed a full scoreless inning.
Greg Weissert got the final two outs of the fifth inning.
Justin Slaten tossed two scoreless innings to earn the win.
Chase Anderson pitched two scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Enmanuel Valdez was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Ceddanne Rafaela was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Connor Wong was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked and scored a run.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked.
Pablo Reyes was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox are decimated by injury but they find ways to win. Today Wilyer Abreu, Reese McGuire and the Sox bullpen were the heroes in this one. With all the injuries, the guys that are left are for the most part getting it done. Bobby Dalbec is 1 for 30 so he'll be one of the first to go when others get back but the tag team of McGuire and Wong are doing great so far. Winckowski only pitched into the fourth inning but Weissert, Booser, Slaten and Anderson held the fort. Refsnyder coming back was a shot in the arm they needed and when Vaughn Grissom is ready, things will start to look up. The loss of Casas is really going to hurt and its a shame that there's no backup plan because so many others are hurt. According to Sox manager Alex Cora, Rafael Devers and Tyler O'Neill are due to return Tuesday so hopefully they'll get some much needed power back until Casas returns....if he ever does. After an off-day the Sox are back in action Tuesday night in Cleveland for a three game set with the Guardians. Tanner Houck (3-1, 1.35 ERA) takes on Ben Lively of the Guardians. The game begins Tuesday night at 6:10 PM Eastern time at Progressive Field.
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