Only the sweet stuff
Sox cruise in one-sided affair
This was one-sided. There was no way to finger-point, ignore the obvious and create the illusion of a two-sided situation at Fenway Park last night, when the Red Sox played a picture-perfect game in front of a sellout crowd on the first day of the Jimmy Fund Radio- Telethon.
After a warm-hearted pregame ceremony created an unavoidable positivity in the centuryold ballpark, the Sox played tight baseball for four innings, then exploded for an eight-run fifth and ran away with a 10-4 interleague win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
“Hopefully we can gather momentum from this and keep going on,” said Xander Bogaerts, who was 3-for-5 with his first RBI since July 21.
To make the night even sweeter, 20-year-old rookie Rafael Devers started a 5-4-3 triple play in the fourth inning and, after the seventh, 14-year-old Hannah Wertens, a cancer patient and Jimmy Fund participant, sang a dazzling version of “God Bless America” that should have made the Fenway grass stand up a little bit taller.
When Porcello put the first two batters on via single in the fourth inning, then induced a grounder off the bat of Molina that was hit straight to Devers, a quick relay around the bases completed the Red Sox’ first triple play since 2011 and 31st in franchise history.
“He was obviously ready for it,” Jackie Bradley Jr. said of Devers.
Bradley was right.
“First thing that went through my mind was just to touch third base and throw as hard as I possibly could to second base to hopefully get a double play and maybe a triple play,” Devers said.
A team that was arguably unlikable for much of the season is undergoing a sunny makeover with the addition of Devers and Eduardo Nunez, who each collected two more hits last night. The sudden hot streak from Devers’ fellow rookie Andrew Benintendi has only added to the fun.
Last night, a three-man offense became a nine-man offense.
Bogaerts knocked in a run with the bases loaded during the eight-run fifth inning, ending his streak without an RBI. Mitch Moreland, hitting .185 with a .577 OPS since July 4, chipped in with two hits.
Bradley, hitting .214 with a .581 OPS in that span, made the first out to start the fifth inning, but got another chance to hit later in the inning and knocked in a run with an RBI single.
“I got up there my second time, there was still one out and I was like, ‘Man, I was the first one to get out, so don’t be the second one to get out, too,’” he said. “It was a lot of fun tonight and I definitely hope we can continue it.”
By the sixth inning, the Cardinals, down 9-0, waved the white flag and took star catcher Yadier Molina out of the game.
This wasn’t a one-sided affair against a nothing team in the midst of a slide, either. The Cards are always in the hunt and had won eight of their last nine leading into last night. Their right-hander on the mound, Mike Leake, entered with a very respectable 3.48 ERA.
Leake was doing a fine job until the Red Sox batted around in the fifth, using six singles, two doubles, one hit-by-pitch and one intentional walk.
That made it easy for Rick Porcello, who gave up three in the sixth but was otherwise strong in seven innings of work.
It was the Red Sox’ 21st win this season without hitting a home run, the most such wins in the majors.
“I feel like we can operate in a lot of different ways,” Bradley said. “We’re very versatile type guys. We aren’t a big home run hitting team but we have some guys who hit home runs. I think it shows that we don’t have to hit homers to win ballgames.
“We’re just trying to make it tough on the pitcher, score runs, help our team any way we possibly can and see what happens at the end.”