A sweet ’16 flashback
Betts dazzles all around
Mookie Betts has not had the type of season he did as an MVP runner-up last year. His batting average is down, and — as Red Sox manager John Farrell acknowledged yesterday — he’s been getting pitched to differently.
But make no mistake, he can still be counted on to deliver. And not just from the offensive side of the plate.
Betts put together a complete game — the type he was accustomed to having last season — to help ignite the Red Sox to a 6-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins last night at Fenway Park to take the four-game series.
“To see him not only put in a complete game, but (become) a complete player, it’s why he was in the running for best player in the league last year,” Farrell said. “We saw it on display (last night) on both sides of the baseball.”
The win put the Red Sox in at least a temporary lead in the AL East (the Yankees played late last night) as they set out for a 10game road trip starting tonight in Toronto.
Betts got his stellar night started in the top of the second. Eduardo Escobar hit a blooper to short right, but Betts was all over it, sprawling to make a diving catch to his left.
He continued that momentum into the fourth for his next at-bat, leading off the inning with a home run off the light tower in left. After David Price had put the Sox in a 3-0 hole, it was Betts who sparked their comeback.
“Being able to help the pitcher out is something I take a lot of pride in,” Betts said.
He wasn’t done, either. As the Red Sox were putting together a rally in the fifth, it was Betts who came up with a key hit. After Deven Marrero provided an RBI groundout to tie the game, Betts hit a chopper up the middle that somehow made it through the infield to plate Christian Vazquez from third for the go-ahead run.
The Red Sox never relinquished the lead.
“I just went up there and tried to put a good swing on a good pitch, and put a couple in play and had a couple of RBI,” Betts said. “I thought we had a great offensive night all around.”
Hanley Ramirez returned to the lineup and drilled a home run to dead center in the sixth, and the bottom of the order padded the lead in the seventh. Tzu-Wei Lin tripled to deep right before Marrero hit a Wall-ball double to give the Sox a 6-3 lead.
Price pitched seven rock-solid innings before handing it over to the bullpen. Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel combined for two shutout innings, with Kimbrel earning his AL-leading 22nd save of the season.
“A very good game all the way around (last night),” Farrell said.
‘Being able to help the pitcher out, is something I take a lot of pride in.’ — MOOKIE BETTS