Depleted Sox make it three in a row
Schwarber, Renfroe deliver vs. Tribe
Depleted as they may be as their COVID-19 outbreak continues, the Red Sox still have their heavy hitters healthy. And when they needed them on Friday night, they were there for them again.
With the game suddenly tied late, the Red Sox didn’t panic, and two of Chaim Bloom’s best acquisitions this year continued to deliver. Kyle Schwarber hit a tiebreaking two-run double, and Hunter Renfroe’s threerun blast helped seal it as the Red Sox continued their winning ways and opened their six-game homestand with an 8-5 win over the Cleveland Indians.
The win pushed the Red Sox (78-59) three games clear of the Oakland A’s, who fell in a walk-off loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, for the second wild-card spot.
Schwarber may have not exactly filled a need, and he may have not been available right away after the Red Sox acquired him at the trade deadline, but he has more than made up for lost time and has even surpassed expectations, especially considering he didn’t need a rehab assignment despite missing six weeks with a hamstring injury.
But there he was yet again on Friday. After already hitting a leadoff homer in the first to put the Sox up, he came up in the seventh in another big spot. Nathan Eovaldi had thrown six strong innings before allowing a relatively stunning game-tying homer in the seventh. But the Red Sox responded right away in the seventh, when pinch-hitting Travis Shaw drew a walk and Jonathan Arauz, who earlier belted a solo homer, hit an opposite-field double to put runners on second and third.
That brought up Schwarber, who came up clutch again. Facing an 0-2 count, he smoked a 97-mph fastball to the gap in right-center, easily scoring both runners for a go-ahead two-run double.
“This is what we expected,” manager Alex Cora said. “He was hurt but we knew he was going to impact the lineup whenever he was ready. He puts good at-bats after good at-bats. Fit right in in the clubhouse, helping other guys throughout their process. He’s been amazing for us.”
The Red Sox weren’t through, even after Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez followed up with back-toback strikeouts. After Alex Verdugo was intentionally walked, Renfroe came up with two on and two out. The right fielder battled against Indians reliever Trevor Stephan, fouling off four consecutive pitches before finally finding the pitch he wanted on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, a slider he belted to left for a three-run shot. Renfroe flipped his bat before rounding the bases.
It was the Red Sox’ fourth home run of the game after they had three solo shots to open up a 3-1 lead, marking the 13th time this season they’ve hit four in a game. They’re now 13-0 in those games.
Ryan Brasier made his first appearance of the season with a five-run lead in the eighth. But after inducing two quick outs, he allowed a single, walk and single before being pulled for Garrett Whitlock, who finished off the inning. But the rookie had to work through trouble in the ninth as he gave up a run on three singles before responding with back-to-back strikeouts of Franmil Reyes and Bradley Zimmer to end it.
Eovaldi had mostly avoided damage on hard contact throughout the night — perhaps with a cool fall-like September night not allowing balls to carry — and entered the seventh with just one run given up on a solo blast from Jose Ramirez in the fourth. But things turned quickly on him in the seventh.
The Red Sox’ 3-1 lead evaporated in the span of three pitches from Eovaldi, who gave up a one-out single to Bobby Bradley. Two pitches later, Austin Hedges, one of Cleveland’s worst hitters, turned on Eovaldi’s high 97-mph fastball and sent it to the Monster seats for the game-tying two-run homer.