Its always something when it comes to the Boston Red Sox this season. Not a week goes by without a catastrophic injury and today was no different. The Red Sox snapped the Minnesota Twins 12 game win streak but Rob Refsnyder had to be carried out with what's being described as a bad hamstring. The injury overshadowed a game where the Red Sox finally outplayed the Twins, outhitting them 11-9 and shutting down their bats. Cooper Criswell pitched 4 1/3 innings of 1 run ball and the bullpen allowed just one run the rest of the game. The bats finally woke up to take a 3-1 lead courtesy of a two run Ceddanne Rafaela home run off Joe Ryan. Vaughn Grissom stepped up with a two run double in the eighth and Rafael Devers pounded a two run home run in the ninth. No one knows how long Refsnyder will be out but the Sox hung on to win 9-2 at Target Field.
Ryan got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren popped up to short to start. Rafael Devers took strike three and Rob Refsnyder popped up to short to end the inning. Criswell got the ball in the bottom of the first and Alex Kirilloff lined out to center to start. Edouard Julien took strike three and Ryan Jeffers lined out to short to end the inning.
Wilyer Abreu struck out swinging to start the top of the second inning before Vaughn Grissom lined out to left. Dominic Smith flied out to center to end the inning. The Twins blew a huge chance in the bottom of the second as Max Kepler singled in the hole at third to start. Carlos Correa got a base hit to left and Trevor Larnach got a base hit to right to load the bases. Willi Castro and Carlos Santana both struck out swinging and Jose Miranda forced Kapler at home to end the inning. Good Houdini job by Criswell.
Reese McGuire struck out swinging to open the top of the third before Ceddanne Rafaela took strike three. Zack Short grounded out to short to end the inning. The Twins struck first in the bottom of the third as Kirilloff took strike three to start. Julien struck out swinging but Jeffers hit a home run to Andrews Air Force Base to put the Twins on top. Kepler flied out to center to end the inning with the Twins up 1-0.
The Sox struck back in the top of the fourth as Duran doubled to left to start. Duran moved to third on a grounder to first by Devers and Refsnyder doubled off the glove of Corea to score Jarren. Abreu flied out to right and Grissom grounded out to short to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Correa walked to start the bottom of the fourth but Larnach grounded into a double play. Castro flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fifth as Smith flied out to center to start. McGuire got a base hit to center and Santana mucked a pickoff throw to move Reese to second. McGuire was thrown out at third trying to steal....but wait! Sox manager Alex Cora challenged that McGuire was safe and Reese was shown to get the hand in. The call was overturned and Rafaela cracked his third home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Short popped up to Correa and Duran flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox up 3-1.
David Hamilton took over for Refsnyder, who had to be carried into the runway with a bad hamstring, to start the bottom of the fifth and Santana doubled to right to start. Miranda popped up to first and that was it for Criswell. He lasted 4 1/3 innings and allowed just one run on 5 hits and a walk. Brennan Bernardino (1-1, 0.64 ERA) came in and got pinch hitter Manny Margot to pop up to second. Julien took strike three to end the inning.
Devers struck out swinging to start the top of the sixth before Hamilton drew a walk. Abreu flied out to center and Grissom lined out to right to end the inning. Zack Kelly came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Jeffers lined out to right to start. Kepler and Corrrea drew back to back walks before Larnarch struck out swinging. Castro flied out to center to end the inning.
Kody Funderburk came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Smith struck out swinging. McGuire got a base hit past Funderburk and was sacrificed to second by Rafaela. Short struck out swinging to end the inning. Santana got a base hit to center to start the bottom of the seventh before Miranda struck out swinging. Margot forced Santana at second and Cam Booser was brought in to face Julien. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli countered by pinch hitting Kyle Farmer for Julien. Farmer forced Margot at second to end the inning.
The Sox put the game away in the top of the eighth as Duran grounded out to second to start. Devers got a base hit to right and Tyler O'Neill pinch hit for Hamilton. Tyler doubled to left while Abreu drew a walk to load the bases. Grissom got his first big hit with the Sox by pounding a double off the right field wall to score Devers and O'Neill. Smith doubled to left to score Abreu and Grissom to ice the game. Jay Jackson came in to face McGuire and Reese grounded out to first to move Smith to third. Rafaela flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox up 7-1.
Josh Winckowski came in to get tagged in the bottom of the eighth as Jeffers flied out to left to start. Kepler doubled to right but Correa lined out to right. Larnach singled to center to score Kepler but Castro grounded out to second to end the inning with the Twins down 7-2.
Twins get a run back
The Sox wrapped up the scoring in the top of the ninth as Short went down hacking to start. Duran smacked a triple to right and Devers mashed his fourth home run of the season to increase the lead. O'Neill popped up to second but Abreu walked. Grissom grounded back to Jackson to end the inning with the Sox up 9-2.
Home run Devers
Kenley Jansen came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Santana lined out to right to start. Rafaela booted a grounder by Miranda for an error but Margot flied out to right. Miranda moved to second on defensive indifference and to third on the Farmer base hit to right. Farmer moved to second on defensive indifference and Jeffers popped up to Grissom to end the game. The Sox had won the game 9-2.
Sox win
Ceddanne Hero
Hero of The Night is Ceddanne Rafaela. His two run home run put the Sox up for good.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 5 with a 2 run homer and two total runs scored.
Rob Refsnyder was 1 for 2 with an rbi before leaving with an injury.
David Hamilton walked as a pinch hitter.
Tyler O'Neill was 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Reese McGuire was 2 for 4 with a stolen base and a run scored.
Cooper Criswell tossed 4 1/3 innings of 1 run ball allowing 5 hits and a walk while striking out 5.
Brennan Bernardino tossed 2/3 of a scoreless inning to earn the win.
Zack Kelly tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Cam Booser got the final out of the seventh inning.
Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Zack Short was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Josh Winckowski allowed a run in the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked twice and scored a run.
Vaughn Grissom was just 1 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Dominic Smith was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in 2 runs.
Final Thoughts:
Is it possible to go one week without a serious injury? Its bad enough that the Sox lost Triston Casas, Trevor Story and Masataka Yoshida to long term injuries but now their sparkplug Refsnyder is gone. Refsnyder was the only consistent hitter they had after he was activated from the Injured List and he's hurt AGAIN. They think its just a hamstring pull but knowing this year, he probably tore it completely off the bone. This overshadows what was a great win against a team that won 12 in a row. The bullpen stepped up big time after Cooper was pulled early AGAIN but thankfully there's an off-day tomorrow to rest everyone. Abreu continues to show improvement and Grissom got his first big hit with the Sox. If it wasn't for all the injuries, the Sox record would be better than it is. Good news is fresh troops are on the way as Brayan Bello is scheduled to pitch in Portland on Tuesday night for a rehab start and rumor is Nick Pivetta will be starting Wednesday's game against none other than Chris Sale. The win improved the Sox to 19-16, 4.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow, the Sox are back in action Tuesday night in Atlanta for a two game set with the Braves. Kutter Crawford (2-1, 1.56 ERA) takes on Reynaldo Lopez of Atlanta. The game begins at 7:20 PM at Truist Park.
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