It came down to the wire, but the Boston Red Sox pulled out another win over the Detroit Tigers.
Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz was putting on a great show until the second rain delay of the game ended his night after five innings. But in a refreshing turns of events, the bullpen gave Boston four clean innings, and a David Ortiz home run was enough for the Red Sox to earn the 3-1 win.
Here’s how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Long.
It’s never ideal to play through one rain delay, but the Red Sox and Tigers were lucky enough to get two totaling about two and a half hours. Still, they pushed through it, and the Red Sox were victorious after the final four innings were scoreless all around.
IT WAS OVER WHEN …
Craig Kimbrel struck out Tigers third baseman Casey McGehee to end the game.
It was a long ninth inning, and the Red Sox’s closer almost blew it when a Justin Upton double missed going out of the park by inches, but Kimbrel secured the win for Boston.
ON THE BUMP
— Pomeranz had a great night on the mound, until the rain started falling. The lefty got off to a hot start, retiring his first three batters on six pitches, all of which were strikes. Even when he started the fifth inning by giving up straight singles to Tigers left fielder Justin Upton and third baseman Casey McGehee, he got himself out of the jam without giving up a run. Pomeranz’s one blemish was a solo home run to catcher James McCann.
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, though, a rain delay at the end of the fifth shortened Pomeranz’s start. He finished with one run on four hits with three strikeouts and no walks over five innings.
— Heath Hembree came out once the game resumed and pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning. He gave up a solo shot to right fielder J.D. Martinez with one out in the seventh, though, and his night ended there.
— Brad Ziegler finished out the seventh with a strikeout to Upton and a groundout.
— Matt Barnes was called upon in the eighth inning and dealt a leadoff walk to McCann and a one-out walk to Ian Kinsler. He struck out Tyler Collins in between, but manager John Farrell called upon Kimbrel to pitch to Miguel Cabrera with two on and two outs.
— Kimbrel got Cabrera to fly out to end the threat in the eighth. He made everyone nervous by giving up a two-out double to Upton in the ninth, but he ultimately ended things with two strikeouts.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— David Ortiz was the star Saturday after blasting a two-run homer to put the Red Sox up 3-1 in the fifth inning. Big Papi went 3-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.
— Xander Bogaerts is heating up again, going 2-for-4 with a double and a run.
— Dustin Pedroia and Mookie Betts each went 1-for-4, and Pedroia scored a run.
— Bryan Holaday went 1-for-4 with a single in the fourth inning.
— Hanley Ramirez (0-for-3 with a walk), Jackie Bradley Jr. (0-for-4), Aaron Hill (0-for-4) and Andrew Benintendi (0-for-3 with a walk) all went hitless.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
Big Papi’s production at age 40 is impressing everyone.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox finish out their series in Detroit on Sunday with a 1:10 p.m. matchup at Comerica Park. Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez will start despite being pulled from his last outing with hamstring tightness and will face Tigers ace Justin Verlander.
Thumbnail photo via Raj Mehta/USA TODAY Sports Images
