Sox save best for last
Kimbrel, Betts put it in bank
MILWAUKEE — The Red Sox have Mookie Betts and Craig Kimbrel, and the Brewers don’t.
That advantage didn’t mean much when things got out of hand in the first two games of this series, but in a down-to-the-wire finale, Betts and Kimbrel made all the difference in yesterday’s 4-1 Red Sox win that let them avoid an embarrassing sweep at Miller Park.
“For us, it was a must win,” Kimbrel said. “You don’t ever want to get swept, and after dropping the first two, going home, we needed a win today. And we hung in there.”
Kimbrel got the key strikeouts and Betts delivered the big blow, hitting a game-winning home run in the top of the ninth then pumping his fist over and over again as he rounded first base.
It was Betts’ 10th hit and third home run in his past four games, and he led off the game with his fourth double in this stretch. Betts’ power has returned on the road trip, and his slash line is starting to look a lot like last year’s near-MVP performance.
“He’s come up big in so many situations,” manager John Farrell said. “And in an early part of the season, maybe 25 percent of the way through, probably as big a swing as he’s had all year for us.”
Given a lead, Kimbrel closed the door in typically eye-popping fashion with a nine-pitch, three-strikeout ninth inning that wasn’t even his best moment of the day.
The game was still tied at 1 with one out in the eighth when the Brewers called on major league home run leader Eric Thames to pinch hit. The Sox countered with Kimbrel, their only reliever who hadn’t pitched the previous two days. Thames struck out on five pitches, and Kimbrel needed just three pitches to strike out Keon Broxton and end the inning.
“Guys were swinging and it didn’t even look like they were really close,” Betts said.
Kimbrel’s past 11 outs have been strikeouts, and this was the second time this season he recorded five strikeouts in a game, as Farrell has been reluctant but ultimately willing to use his biggest weapon in the biggest spots, even if it means more than three outs.
“We were talking about it immediately following the game,” Farrell said. “We’re seeing two pitchers on our staff right now — both he and (Chris) Sale — that are doing things that are very uncommon with the number of swing and miss. In today’s case with Kimbrel, you see the power he’s generating, the swing and miss. He throws two-thirds of an inning, comes out and strikes out the side on nine pitches. Those are really uncommon things that play out.”
For most of the game, the best thing the Red Sox had going for them was starter Eduardo Rodriguez, who sailed through his first five innings before allowing a leadoff single and a twoout, game-tying double in the sixth.
Rodriguez finished that inning with just 87 pitches, 21 shy of his season high, but Farrell elected to pinch hit for him with one out and a runner on first base in the seventh.
Chris Young struck out, the runner was stranded, and the Red Sox bullpen took over until Betts homered. Rodriguez, though, had done his part, continuing to assert himself as a much-needed source of stability.
At the top of the Red Sox’ rotation, Sale and Rick Porcello have combined for 95 innings and a 2.84 ERA. At the bottom, Drew Pomeranz, Steven Wright, Kyle Kendrick and Brian Johnson have combined for 681⁄ innings and a 7.38 ERA.
It’s a top-heavy collection, with Rodriguez in the middle to shift the balance one way or the other. Lately he’s been closer to Sale than Kendrick.
In his past four starts, Rodriguez has pitched to a 1.88 ERA with 27 strikeouts and five walks.
“I think what he’s watching in Chris Sale (has helped),” Farrell said. “I think his influence on Eddy has been evident from what we see and the ability to attack the strike zone with certain places in the lineup to get the outs as efficient as possible.”
Of course, it’s hard to be more efficient or effective than Kimbrel these days. When the Red Sox finally had a close, winnable game, they knew exactly how to keep the odds in their favor: Get their best hitter to the plate, and get their best pitcher to the mound.
“Today was the day I had to get in there early,” Kimbrel said. “Tie ballgame, throw the save situation out the door. My job is to help this team win, and I was able to do that today.”