On a night when the Boston Celtics won the NBA Draft Lottery, the Boston Red Sox got a little luck of their own.
The Red Sox tallied only six hits Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, but two of them left the ballpark, and starter Eduardo Rodriguez danced around trouble despite shaky command in Boston’s 6-3 win.
The Cardinals also gifted the Sox an insurance run in the eighth inning when left fielder Tommy Pham dropped an inning-ending fly ball that allowed the Red Sox’s sixth run to score.
The Red Sox improved to 20-18 with the win, while the Cardinals fell to 21-16 with the loss.
Here’s how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Uneventful.
The game lacked fireworks after Boston’s two home runs in the first two innings, as the two teams combined for just 12 hits and went 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
The Red Sox scored two runs in the eighth inning to take a three-run lead.
Xander Bogaerts scored on a sacrifice fly by Christian Vazquez, and Andrew Benintendi came home on Pham’s costly error.
ON THE BUMP
— Rodriguez battled all night. In the end, the Red Sox left-hander gave up three runs on five hits in six innings while striking out five and walking two. The lefty didn’t have his best command, but he minimized the damage and exited the game in line for the win.
The Cardinals re-took the lead in the third inning when Kolten Wong singled to lead off the inning, and Rodriguez followed by hitting his counterpart Lance Lynn. Dexter Fowler plated Wong with a double to left, and Pham tied the game with a sacrifice fly that scored Lynn. Fowler scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt Carpenter to give St. Louis a one-run lead.
— Robby Scott replaced Rodriguez to begin the seventh inning. The left-hander worked 2/3 of an inning and surrendered a walk.
— Heath Hembree took the ball from Scott with a runner on first and two outs in the seventh inning, but he got Pham to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the frame. He also worked a scoreless eighth inning.
— Craig Kimbrel picked up his 12th save of the year by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Mookie Betts got the Red Sox on the board in the first inning when he smashed a fastball over the left-center field wall for his seventh home run of the year. It was Betts’ 10th leadoff home run of his career, which tied him with Jacoby Ellsbury for the most in Red Sox history.
— The Red Sox increased their lead in the second inning when Jackie Bradley Jr. smoked an opposite-field home run to give the Sox a two-run advantage.
— Boston orchestrated a rally in the fifth inning when Bradley Jr. led off the inning with a walk and Deven Marrero reached on an error. Rodriguez moved the runners over when he tapped back to Lynn, and Betts plated Bradley Jr. with an RBIÂ groundout to shortstop to tie the game. Dustin Pedroia followed by lacing an RBI single to center to give the Red Sox a one-run lead.
— The Red Sox scored two more runs in the eighth inning when they loaded the bases. Bogaerts got on base with a single and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Vazquez. Bradley Jr. followed with a fly ball to left that was dropped by Pham and allowed Benintendi to score. Mitch Moreland also tried to score on the play but was thrown out at home.
— Benintendi went 0-for-3 with a walk and now is hitless in his last 21 at-bats.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
It was a big night for the Celtics.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox will conclude their two-game series with the Cardinals on Wednesday night. Rick Porcello will get the ball for Boston, and he’ll be opposed by Mike Leake. First pitch is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Jeff Curry/USA TODAY Sports Images
