Boston Red Sox: 3 thoughts on thrilling victory over Texas Rangers

Boston Red Sox point No. 1: Lineup finally getting it’s act together

Things seemed to be following a familiar script for the Boston Red Sox in the bottom of the tenth. After squandering opportunities to add to their lead before eventually throwing it away, the Sox seemed set to walk away on the losing side of yet another winnable game. But then, with Rafael Devers down to his last strike, he was gifted a breaking ball on the outside part of the plate that he crushed into the triangle in centerfield, tying the game and giving the Sox life.

This came just moments after Christian Arroyo was thrown out trying to score off a groundball to shortstop with the infield playing in. It can only be described as an idiotic play at best, and seemingly demoralized an already battered down Sox team. But Devers changed their outlook with one simple swing of the bat.

We’ve seen comebacks like these from the Sox this season, just not in the second half of the season. Their fight and tenacity to pull off these upsets had seemingly vanished, and is a big reason they find themselves where they are on the standings now. That all changed when Devers launched that ball out to centerfield, giving the Sox another shot.

It was a chance they finally managed to capitalize on. They managed to load the bases for Travis Shaw, who then proceeded to launch a walkoff grand slam as his first hit in his second stint in Boston. It was the first time in awhile this team has looked to be enjoying themselves playing the game they love.

Maybe it’s jumping the gun a bit, but today’s victory should provide this team the spark it needs to go on a nice little run. Things looked quite bleak when Devers found himself down to his last strike, but they never gave up, and managed to rally all the way back to win this one. If that doesn’t let a team know they are still good enough to win baseball games, I don’t know what will.

Despite the Red Sox collapse over the last month and a half, they are still in position to atleast challenge for a playoff spot at this point. The lineup is supposed to be the strength of this team, but they have let this team down over that stretch. This game should provide them the spark to turn things around, and lead this team on a charge to the playoffs.