Alex Verdugo’s three-run shot leads Red Sox to rain-shortened win over Marlins

If Alex Verdugo doesn’t consider this to be a good year, the Red Sox should be doing backflips.

Two days ago, Verdugo said he was disappointed with his performance in 2021, his first full season with the Red Sox since he was traded for Mookie Betts.

Friday, Verdugo hit a bullet into the right-field bleachers for the decisive, three-run homer to lead the Red Sox to a 5-2, rain-shortened win over the Marlins.

The game was called after six innings due to inclement weather.

“There was no secret on how that field was looking towards the end of that game,” Verdugo said. “Infielders were paying in some puddles, so we kind of knew it was, ‘keep playing, keep grinding and try to get to five innings and have that lead.’ The fifth inning was kind of like the eighth inning in reality.”

They were tied, 2-2, heading into the fifth inning Friday night when the Sox started a rally.

With rain in the forecast all night, the Red Sox needed runs and needed them fast. Marwin Gonzalez drew a walk and Hunter Renfroe smoked a double to set the table for Verdugo two batters later. He got a first-pitch curveball at the bottom of the zone and hammered a laser into the right-field seats.

“Honestly, I never sit pitches,” he said. “I don’t really ever do that. But for some reason today, I just kind of felt like he was gonna throw me a curveball or a changeup… It just was one of those things that right out of the hand I just had a good look at it, just saw it well out of the hand, stayed on it, didn’t try to get too big, and obviously was able to hit one out and put us up.”

The rain made it look difficult to see on the field.

“I think it was more difficult to see it in the outfield than it would have been at the plate, the plate was actually not too bad,” Verdugo said.

It was Verdugo’s seventh homer and pushed his average to .293. Since joining the Red Sox last year, he’s a .301 hitter who has 13 homers in 100 games while having played above-average defense in the outfield and ran the bases with authority.

If this is the “grinding” version of Verdugo, the Red Sox are doing OK.

He’s been a consistent force in the No. 2 spot in the order. He’s scored 32 runs in 47 games. And he’s done it while playing through a hamstring injury that’s severely impacted his play.

Though Betts has 24 homers since joining the Dodgers compared to Verdugo’s 13 since joining the Sox, Verdugo’s .301 average is well above Betts’ .274 mark.

Whether he likes it or not, he’ll be forever compared to the player he was traded for.

Other takeaways from Friday’s game:

1. Alex Cora managed this game like he knew it’d be over after six innings. He pulled starter Martin Perez after five strong innings in which he threw just 71 pitches. Cora handed the ball to his set-up guy, Adam Ottavino, for the sixth inning and had closer Matt Barnes warming up for the seventh, though he was never needed.

“As soon as I saw Ottavino, I said I have to finish this game,” Perez said. “I don’t know how I’m going to do it because the weather was so hard. But I’m going to try to do my best and was able to do it.

“Ottavino came in in the sixth and it was hard for him because we spoke after the game and it was hard for him to throw the ball because as soon as the umpire threw the ball to us, there was a lot of water in the ball. It’s hard to throw the ball like that. But when you go out and compete, anything can happen. Good things happened after that.”

2. Former Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon got a nice ovation when he was announced before the game. The Sox played a highlight reel on the big video board and Leon smiled and tipped his cap. He then roped a single to right field off Perez while hitting eighth as the Marlins’ designated hitter.

3. Rafael Devers had a nice moment with his cousin, Jose Devers, who was playing shortstop for the Marlins. On Devers’ first at-bat, Rafael looked at him and started laughing. Jose went 0-for-2 while making an error on a routine grounder by Danny Santana. Rafael was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

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