Red Sox 6, Mets 5: Three-run eighth helps Boston snap four-game losing streak

Maybe Kevin Pillar was right. Maybe going on the road will do some good for the Red Sox.

Whatever the case, the Red Sox will take it however they can get it. On a night when things looked gloomy going into a matchup with one of the best pitchers in baseball, Jacob deGrom, the Red Sox were resilient. Christian Vazquez had three RBIs, and Red Sox pitching barely held on as they began their first road trip of the season with a 6-5 victory at Citi Field.

It’s still early, but in a 60-game season that makes each game nearly three times more important, this was surely needed. Here’s how it happened:

Red Sox scratch out a win in the eighth: Under Alex Cora, the Red Sox rarely utilized small ball, but it helped them get a much-needed win on Wednesday night, and they got a few breaks along the way.

With the game tied at 3, the hot-hitting Kevin Pillar pinch-hit for Jackie Bradley Jr. and blooped a single to left. Xander Bogaerts then pinch-hit for Tzu-Wei Lin and drew a walk before the slumping Andrew Benintendi executed the perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners over.

With the bases loaded after an intentional walk to J.D. Martinez, Rafael Devers struck out, but Mitch Moreland extended the rally with a slow dribbler down the third-base line that Mets third baseman Jeff McNeil couldn’t handle, allowing Pillar to score. Christian Vazquez, who hit a game-tying solo homer in the seventh, then slapped a two-run single down the right-field line that was just enough to hold off the Mets.

Red Sox pitching finally wasn’t a disaster: If only the Red Sox could clone Nathan Eovaldi. After a strong performance in the opening night win, the right-hander and de facto No. 1 starter had another solid effort, tossing five innings and allowing eight hits, but limiting the damage by only allowing a pair of runs.

Eovaldi can have his defense to thank — specifically Lin and Moreland — for the help. The righty allowed back-to-back singles to start the fourth, but a double play turned by Lin that included an impressive pick from Moreland helped him escape the jam unscathed. Then again in the fifth, Eovaldi ran into deep trouble by giving up a game-tying homer, walk and single, but Lin turned another double play to end the inning.

After giving up 29 runs combined over the last four games, Wednesday was a breath of fresh air for Red Sox pitching. Marcus Walden gave up a go-ahead RBI triple to Andres Gimenez, but the rest of the bullpen — barely — held on. Brandon Workman loaded the bases and gave up a run in the ninth, but with the winning run on second, he struck out Yoenis Cespedes and got Robinson Cano to line out to somehow survive.

The Red Sox took advantage of some rare mistakes by Jacob deGrom: The two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner proved to be a problem for the Red Sox, but the Mets ace had some uncharacteristic mistakes in the fourth inning that allowed the Sox to take the lead.

There’s certainly an argument to be made that the Red Sox shouldn’t have the chance. After Devers hit a double — his fourth in as many games — deGrom had two strikes on Moreland when his 1-2 fastball barely missed the outside corner. Moreland took advantage of his second life by blasting an RBI double to center to tie the game.

From there, deGrom lost some control. The righty didn’t seem to have command of his slider and it cost him on two wild pitches, one to Christian Vazquez that allowed Moreland to take third, then another to Alex Verdugo that let Moreland score, which gave the Red Sox their first lead since their opening night victory over the Orioles.

deGrom was just fine after that, though, retiring the final Red Sox batters he faced and leaving after the sixth inning. He allowed just three hits and struck out four.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2X9JhP6