‘We know how explosive our offense can be’: Red Sox erupt vs Rangers

The Boston Red Sox had every reason to pack it in Thursday night against the Texas Rangers, but down three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the offense rallied for four runs to take a 9-8 victory in walk-off fashion.

While the hero of the night was center fielder Rob Refsnyder, the entire Red Sox lineup deserves to take a bow on this night, as they battled back down 8-3 to put together a string of good at-bats to deliver some excitement at Fenway Park on a night that looked like another one of those losses that further cemented in the minds of Red Sox fans that this season is over.

A glimmer of hope for the rest of the season?  We’ll see.

Boston Red Sox showcase a glimmer of fight in 9-8 walk-off victory

But a rally that started in the eighth inning with Rafael Devers delivering a big double and ended in Refsnyder knocking in his first walk-off hit at least for the moment has triggered a spark of energy in this team.

A spark of enthusiasm that could keep the team interesting through the month of September although a Wild Card berth appears unlikely.

A player like Refsnyder coming up big at the plate might be the remedy to spark some of the bigger bats.  Alex Verdugo, who went 3-for-4 on the night, including a key walk in the bottom of that ninth inning, kept the faith in this game because he knows what this Boston Red Sox offense is capable of and they showed it by taking a one at-bat at a time approach.

"“They added on a little bit, it could have been deflating,” Verdugo said following the game, via MLB.com.  “But I feel like getting up there, getting that fun, makes it that much closer.  And we know how explosive our offense can be.  Any little thing helps.”"

That pinpoints the frustrating thing about this Boston Red Sox team in 2022.  They have the offense to be a much better team than they are now when healthy.  That inconsistency at the plate has failed to pick up the pitching at times, but despite that, it was good to see a rally out of this team and maybe a spark that will trigger a bigger rally.

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"“Good at-bats, walks, worked the counts, used the whole field,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.  “We haven’t done that in a while.  When we got actually hot, we were using the whole field.”"

Whether it was Devers, Verdugo, Christian Arroyo or Refsnyder, the Red Sox lineup kept the heat on even being down 8-3 on a night there Rich Hill and the pitching didn’t have it.  Even on a night he sucked, the veteran pitcher also found some inspiration from the way his team battled back.

"“I pitched like crap,” Hill said.  “But the way we fought back, the bullpen came in and did a nice job.  And we got in a position in the eighth and obviously in the ninth, they were able to make it a really exciting comeback.”"

While the Gatorade is still wet, the Boston Red Sox have to feel good about a magic night at Fenway, especially the way they showed fight in a season all hope is slipping, slipping, slipping.