The Red Sox are back in the win column.
Boston took control late in Saturday’s game and earned a 7-4 win over Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of their three-game set at Fenway Park.
Marwin Gonzalez hit his first-ever home run in a Red Sox uniform as part of a four-run eighth inning in Boston’s first game back after a seven-game road trip.
The Red Sox climbed to 10-4 while the White Sox fell to 6-8.
Here’s how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Patience.
Sometimes, the biggest hits come late in the game.
ON THE BUMP
— Pivetta started the game with two walks, and both would come in to score. The first run came in on a José Abreu double down the left-field line, while the second was driven in on Yermin Mercedes groundout to short.
He issued two more walks in the second and loaded up the bases with two outs, but escaped the inning unscathed.
Pivetta gave up two singles in the third and was pulled in the fourth after sitting the first two batters he faced. He left the game having allowed two earned runs on four hits and striking out three batters.
— Josh Taylor collected the final out of the fourth.
— Matt Andriese started the fifth with back-to-back outs and nearly gave up a double off the Green Monster, but Franchy Cordero threw him out at second to end the inning.
Andriese allowed his first run of the game in the seventh on a Yoan Moncada sacrifice fly. Tim Anderson had reached third during the at-bat on a fielding error by Xander Bogaerts while the shortstop was attempting to steal second.
— Adam Ottavino tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning.
— Matt Barnes started the ninth by giving up a leadoff single to Andrew Vaughn, who scored on an Eaton double to trim the Red Sox’s lead to three. But that was all he allowed.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Rafael Devers nearly launched one into the White Sox’s bullpen in the second, but Adam Eaton was all over it at the wall.
— Alex Verdugo drove home Boston’s first run of the day in the third inning with a sac fly that sent Kiké Hernández home from third.
Devers hit his own sac fly three batters later and drove J.D. Martinez in to tie the game at two.
— Hernández put Boston up 3-2 in the sixth with single to center field.
— The Red Sox broke things open in the eighth.
Gonazlez got things started by giving Boston its lead back with his first-ever home run in a Red Sox uniform.
Boston loaded the bases up before José Ruiz walked in Martinez for Boston’s fifth run of the day.
Bogaerts then collected his fourth hit of the day with a two-out ground-rule double. That sent home two more runners to make it 7-3.
UP NEXT
Boston and Chicago will square off in a doubleheader Sunday. First pitch for Game 1 is slated for 1:10 p.m. ET, while Game 2 is expected to begin at 5:10 p.m. ET.
