Ex-Dodgers Turner, Verdugo lift Sox to win over LA
Winning the breakup is a big part of baseball; when given the chance, make your former team regret letting you go.
That’s exactly what Alex Verdugo and Justin Turner did on Saturday, lifting the Red Sox to a 8-5 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers.
Since Day 1, Verdugo has wanted to be more than the guy from the Mookie Betts trade.
Trades are a part of the baseball business, but it’s quite an unfair position in which to find oneself, dealt to one of the game’s most historic franchises in exchange for one of its most decorated homegrown stars. The pile of money Harry Frazee received from the New York Yankees in exchange for Babe Ruth never had to face repeated questions and commentary about the transaction, but Verdugo has been dissected, discussed, and compared to Betts ever since.
So when the two finally got to square off at Fenway Park this weekend, the spotlight got even brighter. Especially since both were in the leadoff spot on Friday and Saturday and starting in right field in the latter.
On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Betts led off with a double high off the Green Monster, and scored the first run of the contest on Amed Rosario’s single.
But Verdugo was not to be outdone. When his turn came in the bottom of the first, he sent the second pitch he saw from Dodgers starter Julio Urias 380 feet, over Betts’ head, and into the bullpen.
For the third consecutive game, Verdugo had a leadoff homer.
Throughout franchise history, six Red Sox leadoff hitters have homered in three consecutive games, including Betts, who is the only player with two such streaks (both during the 2018 season). But unlike the other five, Verdugo is the only one whose home runs were all leading off the game. He’s only the third MLB player to ever achieve
this feat, joining Ronald Acuña Jr. (2018 Braves) and Brady Anderson (1996 Orioles), who did so in four consecutive games.
Turner’s circumstances were slightly different. The Dodgers declined his club option last offseason, but the two sides negotiated for over a month.
Then, the Dodgers signed J.D. Martinez, effectively slamming the door on a reunion with Turner, who hit .296 with a .865 OPS over nine years in Los Angeles, helping the Dodgers to the postseason every year, and winning a ring there in 2020.
“I’m happy we got J.D.,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Friday, “Certainly sad to lose Justin.”
Probably even sadder on Saturday, when Turner went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored, and two RBI.
Back at first base after spending the bulk of recent weeks as the designated hitter to limit stress on his injured heel, Turner also helped his team shut down their own ex. When Betts came up
to bat for the third time, five of his teammates had already come to the plate and put another run on the board. Batting with two on and two out in the top of the fourth, he launched a wicked grounder towards the hole between second and third.
Rafael Devers launched himself at the ball, tumbling to the ground. He bobbled it, then threw hard to first base, where Turner grabbed it just in time to make the tag.
After a review, the umpires upheld the call. The player the Red Sox chose to pay had outdone the player they didn’t.
The final score belies how much of a battle this was from the get-go. Both teams collected 10 hits, and the Dodgers drew eight walks. LA went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, stranding 14 men on base; the Red Sox were 4-for-13 RISP, only stranding five.
“We kept playing, which is the most important thing,” Alex Cora said.
Dodgers starter Julio Urias had little trouble carving up
the Boston bats early on, but they got to him by the end. He exited after six innings, charged with six earned runs on eight hits, having issued one walk and struck out nine.
James Paxton’s day was shorter, but difficult from the start. He exited after only 4 ⅓ innings, charged with four earned runs on four hits, including the 2-run Max Muncy homer that put an abrupt, painful end to the Red Sox left-hander’s day.
Paxton needed 92 pitches to even get to that point, and it was laborious from the jump. He only managed four strikeouts, and issued a season-high five walks. It’s only the fifth time the 34-yearold southpaw has issued five or more walks; the other instances were all between 2014-19.
Throughout his 10 seasons in the Majors, Paxton has limited free passes; he only issued four walks in a game seven times, none since 2020.
Things also took a turn into unfamiliar and peculiar territory in the top of the sixth. When Pablo Reyes
left the game with what was later announced as “left-elbow pain,” Cora got creative.
“He was in a lot of pain,” the manager said.
He put Reese McGuire into the game as catcher, and moved Connor Wong, who’d started behind the dish, to second base. Luis Urías moved from second to third, and Devers moved from third to shortstop, where he had exactly one game of experience at the position, back in 2019.
“We feel comfortable with (Urías) at third,” Cora explained. “For the moment, we felt that was the best alignment.”
An inning later, the Red Sox manager played defensive musical chairs once again, sending Wong back to the backstop, Devers to third again, and Urías resumed second-base duties.
The game began in chaos, and chaotic it stayed to the very end.
With Kenley Jansen still resting his hamstring, Cora sent John Schreiber to the mound for the top of the ninth.
Schreiber finished 13 games and earned eight saves in 2022, but had only entered one game in a save situation this year: last weekend in the Bronx, when he’d been charged with a blown save in the seventh inning.
The 29-year-old righthander got the first two outs, but also loaded the bases.
Up stepped Betts, as if scripted by Hollywood. He flew out on the second pitch, sending a ball 383 feet into Adam Duvall’s glove.