The Boston Red Sox didn’t get a strong effort from their starter, but this time, they didn’t need it.
Left-hander Henry Owens lasted just three innings Thursday night, but his bullpen and offense picked him up en route to a 7-3 win over the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.
Boston’s offense clubbed three home runs and scored in five different innings, while its bullpen held the fort over the final six frames to help the Red Sox take the series over the American League-leading White Sox.
Here’s how the series finale went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Arduous.
After two quick and tidy games to start the series, the Red Sox and White Sox labored through their finale. The teams combined for 20 hits and 16 walks, leaving a total of 21 men on base over the course of the three-hour, 57-minute affair.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Xander Bogaerts and David Ortiz added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning.
Bogaerts plated Jackie Bradley Jr. on a sacrifice fly, then Ortiz scorched an RBI double down the right field line to put the Red Sox up 7-3.
ON THE BUMP
— Owens struggled mightily with control during his brief outing, walking a career-high six batters over three-plus innings of work. He escaped out of jams in each inning, but Avisail Garcia’s laser home run to start the fourth inning ended Owens’ night. The left-hander allowed two runs on two hits and struck out two batters.
— Heath Hembree came on in relief and didn’t fare much better. After escaping the fourth inning, he allowed three straight singles in the fifth and walked home a run with the bases loaded before getting yanked in favor of Matt Barnes.
— Barnes got out of the jam thanks to a huge, momentum-changing double play. Mookie Betts hauled in an Austin Jackson fly ball, then fired home to nail the potential tying run at the plate. Chicago challenged the play on the grounds that catcher Ryan Hanigan blocked home plate, but the play stood upon review. Barnes worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning to settle things down.
— Junichi Tazawa allowed a hit but struck out the side to work a scoreless seventh frame.
— Robbie Ross Jr. closed things out for Boston, allowing just one baserunner via a walk (what else?) over the eighth and ninth innings
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Dustin Pedroia got the Red Sox on the board right away, crushing a solo homer on the first pitch he saw in the top of the first. Pedroia went 3-for-5 in his return to the No. 2 hole, marking his second three-hit night in four games.
— Hanigan extended Boston’s lead in the second with an RBI double to the gap that scored Brock Holt.
— Hanley Ramirez returned to action to blast an opposite-field homer in the third inning, his second of that variety in as many games.
— Travis Shaw followed that up by belting a triple to deep center field that deflected off Jackson’s glove, and Holt drove him in on a sacrifice fly for Boston’s fourth run of the night. The rest of Shaw’s night was less memorable — he went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.
— Bradley Jr. stretched his hitting streak to 11 games in style by belting a solo homer to left field in the sixth inning.
— Bogaerts (0-for-4) was the only Red Sox player without a hit, but he still contributed with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning.
— Ortiz went out with a bang in his final game in Chicago. He went 2-for-4 and laced an RBI double in his last at-bat in the eighth inning.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
Sounds about right.
UP NEXT
A trip to the Bronx for another three-game set against the New York Yankees. Rick Porcello will get the call in Friday’s series opener, with Michael Pineda set to take the mound for New York. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Kamil Krzaczynski/USA TODAY Sports Images
