Boston Red Sox: Bats Come Alive with Solid Day at Plate
Eight starters pounded out 17 hits as the Boston Red Sox won their second straight with a 7-5 victory.
On a day when a starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox continued to struggle, they let their bats do the talking.
Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, and Christian Vazquez each had three hits as the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-5 on Sunday afternoon.
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A day after a near dominating performance by Chris Sale, the Red Sox needed every hit they could muster in Sunday’s win. A shaky–if not at times dominating–performance by Drew Pomeranz dug Boston into an early hole. Thanks, though, to every starter collecting a hit (sans Dustin Pedroia), Boston was able to win their second straight.
Offense Heating Up
For the second time in three games, the Boston Red Sox collected double digits in hits. This time, though, the result was in their favor.
Though Boston collected 17 hits, the score might have been not as close if more timely hitting could have been found. The Red Sox put runners on base in every inning but the sixth.
Down 3-0 in the first, Boston was able to get two quick ones back. Betts and Benintendi hit back-to-back doubles, followed up by an RBI single from the still hot first baseman Mitch Moreland.
Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run home run in the fourth to tie things up at four. Sandoval has driven in nine runs so far this season.
Down 5-4 in the seventh, Moreland struck again with a two-run single. Moreland has nine doubles in the young season while batting .356.
Vasquez, who is hitting .667 and has eight hits in four games, added an insurance run with an RBI double in the eighth.
Part of the success of last season’s team was an offense that produced from top to bottom. It seems, despite only six hits in Saturday’s victory, the team is getting some of that continuity back over the past week.
Now, if they can just figure out how to not leave the bases stranded, they can get back to outslugging teams.
Pomeranz Inconsistent in 2nd Start
Outside of Sale’s 12-strikeout performance, the starting pitchers for the Red Sox have struggled over the past few games.
Pomeranz was no different on Sunday.
The lefty lasted only 4.1 innings. The majority of his struggles were in the first as he gave up 3 ER on two hits and two walks.
He did settle down after that, giving up only three hits. Two of those were solo home runs by Corey Dickerson and Tim Beckham.
Pomeranz did look encouraging in striking out ten of the possible 13 outs he was responsible for. Taking the positive will only help him going forward.
The bullpen responded nicely, led by Joe Kelly (2-0), who picked up the victory. Kelly pitched 2.2 innings while only allowing one hit.
Craig Kimbrel picked up his fifth save, pitching a perfect ninth while striking out two.
Looking Ahead
-Boston will finish up their series with Tampa Bay with a Monday morning, Patriots Day game.
–David Price threw a bullpen session on and will hopefully help stabilize the Red Sox rotation soon.
-And for news out of Pawtucket, Rusney Castillo is off to a solid start. Castillo is batting .300 with six runs batted in and is coming off a streak in which he picked up two hits four games in a row.
Next: Celtics-Bulls First Round Preview
After Monday, the Red Sox will take to the road for a series with the Toronto Blue Jays.