An abundance of surprising shortcomings have cost the Boston Red Sox in the early goings of 2019.
It’s taken a compilation of mishaps and blemishes to get the Red Sox where they are, between awful starting pitching, disappearing offense and untimely bullpen implosions.
Friday’s 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays was just one step in the right direction. The fact of the matter is that Boston still is 7-13. But things slowly are starting to come around, and that started with Mookie Betts.
Betts went 2-for-4 in the series opener against the Rays, who hold the best record in baseball at the moment at 14-6. The right fielder roped a double down the left field line and drove the go-ahead home run to dead center to give Boston a 5-4 lead in the eighth inning.
The reigning American League MVP was in the midst of a 3-for-30 stretch, and the homer broke an 0-for-12 streak. And sometimes, it takes a bit of gift to get out of a slump, as Betts drilled a 2-1 middle-middle sinker 424 feet.
It was his first multi-hit since April 5. And not only did the homer solidify a bounce back night at the dish, it flipped the game in Boston’s favor in a big-moment play the Sox have been missing from its star players thus far.
“Mookie went up and really got the game back in our hands in that situation, kinda took the pressure off my at-bat right there,” Mitch Moreland, who followed up Betts’ go-ahead homer with his own blast, said on NESN’s postgame coverage.
“I think everybody in here except for maybe him but him knows it’s coming,” Moreland said of Betts trying to break out of the slump. “Nobody in here is as worried about him as he is. He’s the best player in the game in our eyes. You watch this guy night in, night out the way he affects the game and changes the game, whether it’s on the basepaths, defensive side or at the plate. It’s only a matter of time before he gets rolling.”
Here are some other notes from Friday’s Red Sox-Rays game:
— After dropping the ball against the New York Yankees on Wednesday night, the bullpen redeemed itself Friday night.
Brandon Workman, Matt Barnes and Ryan Braiser combined to throw 3 2/3 scoreless innings after Workman entered with one out in the sixth inning of a 4-4 ballgame. Brasier earned his fourth save of the season.
— J.D. Martinez continues to be one the Red Sox’s most consistent performers on the plate.
Consistency at the dish has been a rarity for the Sox so far, but Martinez has managed hits in each of his last nine games. He chipped in with a 1-for-3 performance Friday.
The slugger is batting .375 over his current hitting streak.
— Christian Vazquez continues to be a surprise performance at the plate — on the offensive side.
The backstop blasted his fourth home run of the season, which ties him for second on the team with Martinez. He also has 10 RBIs.
— This is the first time this season the Red Sox have opened a series with a win.
If Boston hopes to close the seven-game gap between them and Tampa Bay, the Sox better hope to turn Friday’s momentum into another win as they try to climb out of the AL East cellar.
