Small Ball Sox Beat Jays (7/26/26)

Before the game the Boston Red Sox organization made some shocking and non-shocking moves. The Greenville Drive released 21 year old outfielding prospect Natanael Yuten after he hit just .165 with 4 home runs this season. Its one thing to be struggling hitting .200-220, its another to be an automatic out. Better luck with another team. The Sox also sent Alec Gamboa back to Worcester to make room for the returning Ranger Suarez. His groin and illness healed so he's ready to return to active duty. 

The big story was the trade at midnight last night. The Sox sent injured starter Connelly Early to the Washington Nationals for 25 year old third baseman Curtis Mead. After Dylan Cease carved up the Sox last night, Sox GM Craig Breslow didn't wait around, he went out and got a right handed power bat they needed. Early was supposed to be the next Jon Lester going 8-7 with the Sox the last 2 years but his elbow injury had Sox fans and apparently the front office concerned. With the rise of Jake Bennett and the fiery personality of Payton Tolle, Breslow apparently felt Early was the odd man out with Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray rolling (Gray's last start not withstanding). Mead was a light hitting backup infielder for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2023-25 before getting traded at the deadline to the Chicago White Sox. He was traded to the Washington Nationals in the off-season where he broke out this season smacking 17 rbis and driving in 48 runs. The half empty way of looking at it is you might have just traded a potential lefty ace for a below average defensive infielder that might have had a fluke offensive half season. The Sox would be stuck with another below average defender that couldn't hit. The half full way to look at it is the Sox desperately needed a right handed hitting power hitter. If Mead figured something out to be a potential 20-30 homer hitting guy, there's your new DH. You can move Masataka Yoshida to left for a Yoshida/Jahmai Jones platoon and sit Duran down. If Trevor Story comes back your 3-7 would be Wilyer Abreu, Willson Contreras, Curtis Mead, Trevor Story and Caleb Durbin. That's pretty good. Time will tell.

                                                                           OUT

                                                                         IN

As for the game, how about the small ball Red Sox? With power hitting at a premium for another 24 hours, the Sox did something they rarely did under Alex Cora, the little things. As they say in football, the Sox nickel & dimed the Toronto Blue Jays in today's game. Ranger Suarez came off the Injured List to toss 4 shutout innings but the Sox bats stepped up. Carlos Narvaez dropped down a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the third and Ceddanne Rafaela knocked in Andruw Monasterio shortly after. In the bottom of the fourth, Romy Gonzalez dropped down a bunt and Jarren Duran knocked in 2 runs. Narvaez dropped down another bunt in the seventh and Jahmai Jones knocked them in. Apart from Ryan Watson allowing a run in the ninth, the bullpen pitched in to hold the Jays to that run. The Sox won the game 6-1 at Fenway Park.

                                                Jackson Koivun approves of the win

Suarez got the ball in the top of the first inning and Nathan Lukes struck out swinging to start. Vladimir Guerrero Jr took strike three and Alejandro Kirk lined out to right to end the inning. Gausman took the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Masataka Yoshida popped up to short to start. Daulton Varsho robbed Ceddanne Rafaela with a base hit with a great diving catch and Wilyer Abreu struck out swinging to end the inning.

George Springer got a base hit to center to start the top of the second but Varsho grounded into a double play. Kazuma Okamoto popped up to short to end the inning. Willson Contreras flied out to right to start the bottom of the second and Caleb Durbin struck out swinging. Romy Gonzalez got a base hit to in the hole at first but Jarren Duran flied out to left to end the inning.

Ernie Clement flied out to left to start the top of the third but Andres Gimenez doubled to center. Davis Schneider struck out swinging and Lukes took strike three to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the third as Andruw Monasterio singled to left to start. Carlos Narvaez dropped down a bunt to move Andruw to second and Yoshida moved him to third with a grounder to first. Rafaela got a base hit to left to score Monasterio but Abreu took strike three to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.

                                                          Sox strike first

Guerrero Jr struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth but Kirk got a base hit over the head of Monasterio. Gimenez got a base hit to right but Varsho forced him at second Okamoto froze for strike three to end the inning. That was it for Suarez who the Sox didn't want to push after coming off the Injured List. He tossed 4 shutout innings allowing 4 hits.

                                                              Short but sweet

The Sox rallied in the bottom of the fourth as Contreras walked to start. Durbin got a base hit to right and Gonzalez dropped down a bunt to move the runners over. Duran drilled a base hit to right to score both runners. Monasterio flied out to center and Narvaez was rung up for strike three to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.

                                                      Duran drives in a pair

Greg Weissert came in to pitch the top of the fifth and Clement struck out swinging to start. Gimenez singled over the head of Monasterio but Schneider lined out to center. Lukes grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Yoshida lined out to left to start the bottom of the fifth and Rafaela grounded out to second. Abreu grounded out to second as well to end the inning.

Tyron "Flamethrower" Guerrero came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Guerrero Jr lined out to right to start. Kirk got a base hit to right but Springer popped up to second. Varsho walked on 4 straight pitches but Okamoto flied out to right on a 2-0 count to end the inning. Contreras struck out swinging to start the bottom of the sixth and Durbin grounded out ton short. Gonzalez struck out swinging to end the inning.

Justin "Incinerator" Slaten came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Clement grounded out to short to start. Gimenez grounded out to first and Yohendrick Pinango pinch hit for Schneider. Pinango struck out swinging to end the inning. Braydon Fisher came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Duran greeted him with a base hit to center. Duran stole second and Monasterio walked on four pitches. Narvaez dropped down a bunt to move the runners over to chase Fisher. Brendon Little came in to face Yoshida and Sox manager Chad Tracy countered by pinch hitting Jahmai Jones and he doubled off the centerfield wall to bring in both runners. Rafaela struck out swinging but Abreu doubled off the Monster to score Jones. Contreras grounded out to to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-0.

                                                               Jones is all fired up

Ryan Watson came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Lukes grounded out to second to start. Guerrero Jr flied out to right and Kirk grounded out to third to end the inning. Adam Macko came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Durbin lined one off of Adam for a single to start. Gonzalez banged into a double play but Duran hit a roller to first with no one covering for a single. Lukes made a great sliding catch on a Monasterio liner to end the inning.

Watson returned for the top of the ninth and Springer grounded out to short to start. Varsho beat ou grounder to Contreras and Okamoto struck out swinging. Clement then hit a ball that got caught under the left field barrier for a ground rule double. Naturally Gimenez hit a grounder that ate up Durbin to score Varsho but Pinango lined out to Duran to end the game. The Sox had won it 6-1.

                                                             Sox win

Hero of The Night is Jarren Duran. He was 3 for 4 and his 2 run single iced the game.

                                                                  Our Hero

The Good:

Caleb Durbin was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Romy Gonzalez was 1 for 3.

Andruw Monasterio was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.

Ranger Suarez tossed 4 scoreless innings allowing 4 hits while striking out six.

Greg Weissert got the win with a scoreless fifth inning.

Tyron Guerrero pitched a scoreless sixth inning.

Justin Slaten pitched a scoreless seventh inning.

Jahmai Jones hit a 2 run double, stole a base and scored a run as a pinch hitter.

The Bad:

Masataka Yoshida was 0 for 3.

The Ugly:

Ceddanne Rafaela was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run.

Wilyer Abreu was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drive in a run.

Willson Contreras was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.

Ryan Watson allowed a run in 2 innings of work.

Carlos Narvaez struck out in his only official at-bat but dropped down two key bunts.

Final Thoughts:

Good win by the Sox and now they're going to find out if they have enough to make a run. Sox manager Chad Tracy has states they're going to stick Curtis Mead at second base for now meaning Anthony Seigler's out of the starting lineup. Durbin has turned into a fine defensive third baseman and they want to keep Yoshida in the lineup so unfortunately Seigler was the odd man out. As for this game, its been mentioned before but Alex Cora refusing to go small ball cost them a lot of games, especially in extra innings. They'd fail to score, lose the game and he'd fold his arms and say coldly "We play for two, not one." Well Tracy was playing for whatever he could get and it worked three times. Carlos Narvaez and Romy Gonzalez were just as important as the guys that drove in the runs. On days where the power isn't there, that's what they have to do. Suarez looked fine in his return from the sniffles and a groin pull so no one should be concerned about him. The real concern is with Connelly Early gone for good, their rotation is now Sonny Gray, Suarez, Payton Tolle, Jake Bennett and Patrick Sandoval with Brayan Bello as the piggybacker. They're not winning anything without Garrett Crochet come October but this might be enough to get them there. Standings wise the Tampa Bay Rays once again beat the Cleveland Guardians and the Philadelphia Phillies smacked around the New York Yankees so the Sox are 1.5 games ahead of Cleveland and 4.5 behind New York for the first wild card. They're still in pretty good shape so unless something drastic happens in a week, they might just roll out what they have and pray they get Trevor Story, Triston Casas, Crochet, etc back at some point. The win improved the Sox to 54-50, 7.5 games behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox now have a brutal seven game west coast trip beginning tomorrow night against the Oakland A's. Payton Tolle (5-6, 3.31 ERA) takes on Jack Perkins of the A's at 9:40 PM eastern time at Sutter Health Park.