State of the Sox

A weekly summary of how the Red Sox performed and where they are heading

Photo Credits: Dunken Lindex

Opponents: Nationals (A), Yankees (A)

Week Record: 4-2

Overall Record: 66-58

Current spot in standings: 4th place in AL East

This week continued the softer stretch of games the team has played the last two weeks with a mid-week visit to the nations capital and a weekend series in the Bronx.

The first game against the Washington Nationals was a 5-4 victory for the Sox, as Alex Verdugo led off the game with a home run and him and Tristan Casas both knocked in two RBIS each.

The bullpen was also terrific in this one as they went 4.2 IP and gave up no runs and just one hit.

In game two of the series, James Paxton started and had a pretty good game. as he went six IP, giving up two ER via two solo home runs.

Pablo Reyes was able to tie the game in the eighth inning with a two-run home run, but this was short lived as Garret Whitlock came on in the bottom half of the inning, and allowed the first two runners to reach before surrendering a three-run home run to Keibert Ruiz and then a second consecutive home-run to Stone Garret.

In the blink of an eye, the game went from a 2-2 score to 6-2 and that was all the scoring in this one.

In the series finale, the Sox dropped a wild one by the score of 10-7.

Tristan Casas hit a bomb to left-center field showcasing his power, which gave the team a 1-0 lead.

A Nationals run in the bottom of that inning, followed by a five run fifth and three run sixth, saw the Sox go down 9-1 heading into the seventh.

The team showed life in the top of the seventh as Luis Urias hit a grand slam and Rafael Devers hit a two-run homer to make it 9-7.

The Nationals eventually added one more run in the eighth and that was that.

The next night while visiting the New York Yankees, the Sox jumped all over Jhony Brito in the first inning, as Justin Turner hit an RBI single and Masataka Yoshida hit a three-run home run to make it 4-0 in the top of the first.

Behind some early offense and a great Brayan Bello start (six IP and one ER) the Sox cruised to an 8-3 win.

The next day was more of the same, but this time it was against the AL Cy Young favorite, Gerrit Cole.

By the top of the fourth, the Sox were up 6-0 after some early offense, highlighted by Luis Urias’s second grand slam in the last three days.

Kutter Crawford was terrific in this one going six innings and not giving up a hit until an Aaron Judge home run in the sixth.

Pablo Reyes hit an RBI double and Devers hit a homer to confirm this one was over and the Sox headed into the series finale on Sunday with back-to-back wins after this 8-1 showing.

Sundays game was much more what Red Sox-Yankees were all about as Rafael Devers continued the stretch of early offense with a first inning home run.

Kyle Higashioka tied it at one in the third inning with a home run of his own.

It looked like the Sox would pull away in the seventh inning, as with the game tied at two, Turner hit a three-run home run to left to give the team a 5-2 lead.

That lead was short lived as Anthony Volpe tied the game in the bottom half of the inning with a three-run home run of his own.

The craziest event in this one happened in the bottom of the eighth inning, as with Isiah Kiner-Falefa on first and running with the pitch, Volpe smacked a single into left and it looked like Kiner-Falefa would score after Sox left fielder Rob Refsnyder slipped, but after a play at the plate was originally ruled in the Yankees favor, about 10 mins of “instant” replay was done and it was ruled that Kiner-Falefa was out at home.

Turner being the clutch veteran that he is gave the Sox a 6-5 lead in the top of the ninth after an RBI double to right.

Kenley Jansen came on in the bottom of the inning to get the save and after allowing the first two batters to reach, (lead off double and hit by pitch), Jansen was able to strike out Judge and Gleyber Torres back-to-back and then got pinch-hitter Ben Rortvedt to fly out to end the game.

This week was big as it kept the Sox still in the wildcard race while also making it two consecutive series sweeps of the Yankees, which is always a nice feeling.

With the Sox improving their record to 8-1 against the Bronx Bombers this season and seeing all the booing in the stadium, it has become harder to tell if Yankee fans hate the Red Sox more or their own team.

The Sox will look to keep this momentum going as they face the toughest stretch of their schedule, starting tonight against the Houston Astros.

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