Boston Red Sox need to close out June with a bang
Try as they might, winning series after series, the Boston Red Sox cannot seem to make up much ground in the A.L. East.
That’s because the teams ahead of them keep winning, too.
The Red Sox headed into Monday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers in fourth-place. A victory on Monday improved Boston to 37-31. Their win, coupled with a Tampa Bay loss, moved the Red Sox to third place, still 13.5 games behind the 1st-place New York Yankees.
As Boston dukes it out in Wild Card land, an important stretch of games is upcoming. These last ten days of June, plus the first series in July, is especially meaningful because looming on the horizon is a very important stretch of 14 games against the Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.
Boston Red Sox: Upcoming schedule
The cold play of Boston in April and early May is slowly becoming a distant memory. Wins have been plentiful and they are in the thick of the Wild Card race, currently sitting in the third spot.
Boston has continued to play solid baseball in the month of June, posting a 14-4 record. And things look impressive since May 8, as Boston is 27-12 after dropping to 10-19 on that day. (Comparably, one reason for not making up much ground is that the Yankees are 31-10 since May 8 and 16-2 in June).
More impressive for Boston as of late is that they are still winning despite being bit by the injury bug. Kiké Hernandez has been out since June 8 with Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock both on the IR as well.
Hernandez and Whitlock could both re-join the team by this weekend, while Eovaldi may end up being out longer than the 15 days initially anticipated.
The good news on the starting pitcher front is that the Red Sox have received some good spot starts. Nick Pivetta continues to deal aces and the bullpen, despite some tough outings in victories over St. Louis last weekend, has been better lately.
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First up in this stretch to close June is a home series with the Detroit Tigers (26-40). Boston took two of three from Detroit back in April, scoring 14 runs in the two victories.
Rafael Devers was 6-14 that series, scoring three runs and driving in three. Devers added a 1-3 performance with an RBI in Boston’s 5-2 victory on Monday.
After the Tigers series, Boston hits the road for nine straight games, starting with a series in Cleveland for the first meeting between the clubs in 2022. The Guardians head into the week with a 12-4 record in June and are in a virtual tie with the Rays for the second and third Wild Card spots.
Cleveland just took two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers and play three in Minnesota against the Twins before hosting the Red Sox.
Boston will close out June with a trip to Toronto. The Red Sox are only 2-5 against the Blue Jays so far in ’22, with all seven games happening in April.
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Scoring runs was rare in those seven games for Boston. They only scored five in the first series (three games) and were slightly better in the second series, scoring 14. Toronto picked up three 1-run wins against Boston this season, with Red Sox picking up 1-run victory of their own.
The Red Sox finish up their road trip with first-weekend in July visit to Wrigley Field. Then, the 14-game gauntlet match begins, where the continued support from outside the normal stars will be needed.
Supporting cast for Boston Red Sox
Devers, J.D. Martinez, and Xander Bogaerts have been up to their usual tricks in 2022, with Trevor Story and Alex Verdugo tossing in occasional hot streaks.
However, it is the supporting cast coming to life that has helped the Red Sox continue to win.
It’s not exactly All-Star level production from this crew but they have had timely hits and been better on offense in recent weeks.
Jackie Bradley Jr. is hitting .279 with 6 RBI in June, his best month to date in ’22. Bradley has picked up hits in four of his last five games.
Christian Vazquez had a huge three-run home run in Sunday’s victory against the Cardinals. Though Vazquez is hitting only .196 in June, he’s coming off a .356 clip in May, where he also had an OPS of .919 and 16 RBI.
The pleasant surprise is Rob Refsnyder, who began seeing more time with the injury to Hernandez. Refsnyder is 7-18 in six games and come up with some key plays at the plate and in the field.
Franchy Cordero and Bobby Dalbec have also had their moments. Dalbec seems to finally awakened from early season struggles. Though still not displaying overwhelming power, Dalbec is hitting .250 in June and hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games.
And Cordero began the week by going 3-4 with 2 RBI against Detroit.
Next. Boston Red Sox need to either pick Xander Bogaerts or Rafael Devers. dark
The Red Sox will need these players continue to compliment the core group of stars. Winning each series is an absolute must as June comes to a close. If they are able to win each of the next four series, Boston will have set themselves up nicely in preparation of the Yankees/Rays stretch. And then, the real fun will begin.