Alex Verdugo’s two homers lead Red Sox to 5-3 win over Blue Jays

Even though it’s still early August, Ron Roenicke knows the Red Sox can’t wait too long to get hot.

“We know somewhere along the line, we have to have a couple of really good series to bounce back and get to a place where we feel comfortable and from there just steadily take off,” the manager said before Friday’s series opener against the Blue Jays.

It wasn’t pretty, but Friday’s 5-3 win is certainly one the Red Sox hope they can build off of. Here were the takeaways as the Red Sox improved to 5-8 to start their seven-game homestand at Fenway Park:

Alex Verdugo, Mitch Moreland stay hot: Roenicke continues to insist on playing a rotation of his four outfielders based on matchups and a first-base platoon that includes Michael Chavis, but through 13 games, no one has made a stronger case to stay in the lineup than Verdugo and Moreland.

Two nights after his first homer in a Red Sox uniform, Verdugo made it back-to-back games with a dinger as he hit two in Friday’s win — the first a solo shot into the Monster seats in the second and another in the eighth that bounced off the National Car Rental sign above the Monster, which provided a much-needed insurance run.

Verdugo, who had three hits in his Red Sox debut, had struggled since but is finding a groove now. With Andrew Benintendi continuing to struggle, it’s almost impossible to defend not starting Verdugo every day right now, and he could possibly take Benintendi’s leadoff spot soon.

Moreland continued his hot start to the season with his fourth homer, a two-run shot over the Blue Jays bullpen in the third inning that gave the Red Sox a 4-2 lead. Strong starts are nothing new for Moreland, who hit four homers in his first 12 games last season and 13 by early May. The question with Moreland, of course, is his durability after sustaining nagging injuries the last few seasons. But when healthy, the 34-year-old’s offense paired with his reliable defense at first is difficult to leave on the bench.

More blues for Ryan Weber: After Weber lasted just 3 ⅓ innings in a loss last weekend against the Yankees, Roenicke defended the right-hander’s spot in the rotation by saying, “Who do we have that I’m going to put in that you can say will be better than Ryan?”

After his third start of the season Friday, it’s fair to wonder about that again. If Weber wanted to make a statement, he got off on the wrong foot by giving up a leadoff homer to Cavan Biggio, and went on to give up five hits and two walks in 3-plus innings of work. He struck out three, his first strikeouts of the season, but that was just about the only positive for him.

In 10 innings this season, Weber has given up nine walks and five homers, and he’s failed to make it out of the fourth in any of his outings. The pitching staff is desperate for an innings-eating starter to save the bullpen from getting overworked, but as Roenicke acknowledged last weekend, alternate options are bare.

Rafael Devers, top of order continue their struggles: If the Red Sox are going to go on a hot streak, the top of the order needs to pick it up. A series with the struggling Blue Jays would theoretically help the cause, but that wasn’t the case Friday.

The trio of Benintendi, Devers and J.D. Martinez combined to go 0-for-12 with eight strikeouts in the victory. Devers, who slammed his bat and helmet after one strikeout, and Benintendi, who saw his average drop from .069 to .061 each struck out three times, and Martinez wasn’t exempt from a forgettable night with two punchouts and an inexplicable fly out in the first inning, when Blue Jays starter Tanner Roark was in the middle of walking four of the first five batters in the game.

Devers also made two errors on one play in the first inning, but made up for it with a terrific bare-handed play to end the fifth.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3fDEtba