The four youngest players on the Boston Red Sox’s active roster stood tallest Monday night in Oakland.
Sure, the run that clinched the Red Sox’s 5-4, 11-inning win over the A’s came off the bat of 28-year-old Pablo Sandoval, but the victory would not have been possible without the contributions of a quartet of players who have yet to turn 25: Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Blake Swihart and Matt Barnes.
Betts, Bogaerts and Swihart each notched two hits in the win — the first time the Red Sox have received multi-hit efforts from three players 23 years old or younger in the same game since 1975, according to the team’s media relations department. (That ’75 squad boasted a few young studs named Dwight Evans, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice. You might have heard of them.)
Betts also drew a walk and drove in two runs, Bogaerts scored once and Swihart — the most unproven commodity of the three — scored twice, including the tying run in the seventh inning that ultimately forced extras. Swihart’s contributions were especially encouraging for the Red Sox, as the rookie catcher lauded for his offensive prowess had yet to do much damage with the stick since earning his first major league call-up earlier this month.
With his two hits against the A’s (a double in the fifth inning and a single in the seventh), the 23-year-old backstop matched his total from his first 22 big league at-bats.
And then there was Barnes. The elder statesman of this group at 24, the right-handed reliever had been an odd sort of bad-luck charm for the Red Sox: He’d appeared in seven career games entering Monday, and while he’d never factored into a decision, Boston had lost every one.
Statistically anomalies aside, Barnes turned in arguably the best outing of his young career Monday night — err, Tuesday morning for those watching back home in New England.
After closer Koji Uehara recorded the final two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, manager John Farrell handed the ball to Barnes for the 10th. By this point, only he and knuckleballer Steven Wright remained in the Boston bullpen.
The UConn product walked the first man he faced but was untouchable from there on out, picking up three consecutive outs to close out the 10th before working a perfect 11th to pick up his first career win. Barnes needed just six pitches to set down the top three batters in Oakland’s order in that final frame.
As the A’s now can attest, the future is looking bright in Boston.
Thumbnail photo via Bob Stanton/USA TODAY Sports Images
