The Boston Red Sox had the perfect response to dropping Wednesday’s game to the Oakland Athletics.
Boston finished out its series against the A’s on Thursday with a 6-2 win, thanks to a solid outing from Drew Pomeranz and an even more solid performance by the offense. Pomeranz gave the Red Sox a quality start, and his teammates answered him by hammering Oakland’s pitching staff in the later innings.
It did take a while for this game to pick up offensively, but once Boston got going, it didn’t stop.
Here’s how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Smooth.
That’s not just because Big Smooth was on the mound, either. Even though it took five innings for anyone to score, Pomeranz did seem to have control over the game for the most part. And once Boston’s offense got into the swing of things, they strung together some good at-bats and kept the ball rolling.
IT WAS OVER WHEN …
The Red Sox dropped a three-spot in the seventh.
Like we said, Boston was in the driver’s seat for most of this one. The Red Sox had a little bit of cushion after scoring two runs in the sixth, but pulling ahead by five runs after that really sealed the deal for the home team.
ON THE BUMP
— It wasn’t Pomeranz’s most efficient start, but he did put the Red Sox in a position to win. The left-hander got outs when he needed them with some help from the A’s poor baserunning but labored through some of his at-bats, racking up 111 pitches over six innings. Pomeranz pitched 1-2-3 innings in the second and fourth, though, which really helped him get through a 27-pitch sixth inning. The 28-year-old finished the day with one earned run on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
— Brandon Workman came on in the seventh but saw only one batter after he dealt a leadoff walk to A’s third baseman Matt Chapman. Robby Scott got the call and struck out pinch-hitter Franklin Barreto before being replaced by Addison Reed.
Reed got into a bases-loaded jam when he gave up a double to center fielder Mark Canha then walked Marcus Semien after striking out pinch-hitter Bruce Maxwell, but he sat Chad Pinder down by way of the K to end the threat.
— Joe Kelly was the set-up man and started the eighth off with a strikeout to A’s second baseman Jed Lowrie but gave up a solo shot to Ryon Healy in the next at-bat. That was the only run Kelly surrendered, though, as he got Chapman on a forceout after walking Matt Olson and got Boog Powell to ground out to end the half-inning.
— Craig Kimbrel closed things out, and it got scary for a hot second. The hard-throwing righty gave up a single to Canha and walked Maxwell in his first two at-bats, and he was just throwing a lot of balls in general. However, Kimbrel got Semien to fly out and struck out Pinder and Lowrie to end the game.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Christian Vazquez opened the scoring for Boston with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. The catcher finished the day 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
— Andrew Benintendi had quite a day for himself, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and a run.
— Mitch Moreland and Rafael Devers each contributed a double, as both went 1-for-4. Devers added a run to the mix in the seventh inning.
— Dustin Pedroia and Jackie Bradley Jr. each went 1-for-3. Pedroia tallied an RBIÂ with a sacrifice fly in the seventh and scored a run.
— Brock Holt went 0-for-2 but walked in the third and reached first on a fielder’s choice in the seventh inning. The second baseman added a run, too.
— Xander Bogaerts went 0-for-3 but scored after being hit by a pitch in the seventh.
— Mookie Betts went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
TWEET OF THE DAY
You could say Vazquez has turned things around in the second half.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox head south Friday to take on the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, which just reopened after Hurricane Irma. Boston’s ace Chris Sale will go head-to-head with Rays right-hander Matt Andriese in the 7:10 p.m. ET contest.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
