The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3 on Sunday, August 13th, at Fenway Park. The Red Sox bats finally came alive, and the Sox bullpen was dominant once again. Shortstop Trevor Story showed encouraging signs that he is getting back to his usual form after the injury that sidelined him for months, as today he went 4-4 with three doubles. The Red Sox made up ground on the Mariners in the wild card race as they are now only 1.5 games back of Seattle, one of the two teams the Sox need to catch to obtain the third wild card position. The other team, the Jays, who currently hold the third wild card spot, are three games ahead of the Sox.
Today, the Tigers got on the board first in the top of the second inning. To lead off the inning, Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford hit first baseman Spencer Torkelson. The next batter, second baseman Zach McKinstry, singled to right, and after Torkelson went first to third, McKinstry advanced to second on the throw to third by right fielder Alex Verdugo. With the infield back, designated hitter Miguel Cabrera grounded out to short, scoring Torkelson and making it 1-0 Tigers.
The Red Sox struck back in the bottom of the second with a two-out rally against former Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez spent six seasons with the Red Sox, maintaining a 4.16 Earned Run Average (ERA) over that span. In the opener of the series, the Red Sox honored Rodriguez with a video tribute on the big screen at Fenway Park.
After center fielder Adam Duvall popped out and second baseman Pablo Reyes flew out, first baseman Triston Casas drew a walk. With Casas at first, catcher Connor Wong would send one down the line and into the right field corner, easily scoring Casas as Wong ended up with a triple, and the game was tied 1-1.
One inning after the Red Sox tied the game, they took the lead. The first run of the inning came on a one-out home run from designated hitter Justin Turner, his 19th home run of the year. That made it back-to-back games with homers from Turner after he missed four straight due to a bone bruise in his foot. If there was an award to be given to the Sox player who has been the biggest surprise, it would go to Turner. After a year last year where he only hit 13 home runs, many thought that his age was catching up to him. Instead, this year he has already surpassed that home run total and is on pace to surpass his RBI total from last year in the next couple of days. After Turner homered, Story singled. He then stole second, and third on a strikeout by left fielder Masataka Yoshida. And with two outs and Story at third, Duvall delivered a clutch RBI single to put the Sox ahead 3-1.
Duvall would then pick up three more RBIs with one swing in the fifth inning. After Story was credited with a double on a ball that got lost in the sun by left fielder Akil Baddoo, Yoshida singled. So, runners were on the corners when Duvall launched one 403 feet over the Green Monster, making it 6-2 Red Sox.
The final pitching line for Crawford today was 4 2/3 innings, two runs, and three hits. Today, hitters only swung and missed six times againts Crawford on 36 swings. That is a Whiff% of 17. On the season, his Whiff% is at 27. Crawford only induced 1 Whiff out of the 17 fastballs he threw, which is 6%. On the season, he has a Whiff% of 23.5 on the fastball. Crawford simply did not have his swing-and-miss stuff tonight, which led to the Tigers’ hitters doing damage when Crawford missed inside the zone.
The Red Sox did not score again, and the game would end with a final score of 6-3. The bullpen went 5 1/3 scoreless innings, as the only run they allowed was unearned. With the win today, the Sox took the series, making it two straight series wins. The Red Sox went 5-2 in this seven-game stretch against the Royals and Tigers, two struggling teams. While fans hoped for a sweep of at least one of those teams, the Sox did what they had to do and won both series.
The Red Sox will have an off day and then will play another mediocre opponent, the Washington Nationals. The Nationals have a record of 53-66. Their offense ranks 19th in runs, and their pitching staff ranks 27th in ERA. Nick Pivetta will start game one for the Sox, facing Nationals starter Josiah Gray. The Red Sox will look to get this all-important road trip off to a great start and take game one in Washington.
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