Darwinzon Hernandez played seventh-inning relief hero for the Red Sox on Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies and it was one of the biggest reasons why Boston was able to pull out a 4-3 victory.
Hernandez took over for a struggling Phillips Valdez in the seventh as the left-hander entered the game with bases loaded and one out. He first struck out Phillies slugger Bryce Harper for the second out of the game and, after hitting Rhys Hoskins and thus allowing a run, Hernandez recorded an inning-ending strikeout against Brad Miller.
Hernandez, who is never shy in expressing his emotion, was fired up with the second strikeout as he walked off the mound.
“It was a big moment, a big spot,” Hernandez said, through a translator, on a postgame video conference. “Obviously, after I hit the previous batter, having the bases loaded, it’s just a lot of emotion flowing through. So when I was able to get that out it was an exciting moment.
“But just trying to pick up my teammate. (Phillips) Valdez had done it for us this season a lot of times so I just wanted to do it for him,” Hernandez said. “But it was a big spot, and a big moment for us.”
Cora agreed.
“It was huge,” the manager said during a postgame video conference. “That was his pocket right there. Harper, maybe the Hoskins matchup is a tough one but we still believe in his fastball, and you got to go three, right? And then you got Miller who’s always been good against us. That was a good one.
“It didn’t look easy, but they were amazing. Our pitching staff did an amazing job.”
Here are some other notes from Red Sox-Phillies on Saturday:
— Danny Santana hit a home run in his second consecutive game with the Red Sox. His solo shot to center field in the sixth inning came just two pitches after Xander Bogaerts hit one out of the yard himself.
For Santana, who made his debut with Boston on Friday, his two homers in two games is just about the best possible scenario. It also garnered some praise from Cora.
“He’s a good player. He had a great season a few years ago. Just the way he controls the at bat, right? There’s no panic, the way he takes pitches,” Cora said. “And he can drive the ball the other way, you know what that means at home. He can shoot it the other way with power.”
— Adam Ottavino came out to the mound in the eighth inning after the strong seventh from Hernandez. Ottavino struck out the side to help Boston maintain its 4-3 advantage.
“Very aggressive. Very aggressive,” Cora said of Ottavino’s performance. “You could see the body language on the mound. He made some great pitches on (Odubel) Herrera. He mentioned the other day that’s he’s close and his stuff, it’s a lot better than last year, we know that. It’s a matter of executing pitches and he did tonight. He was great today.”
— Nathan Eovaldi went 5 1/3 innings with two runs allowed. It was another admirable start from the right-hander, but he did allow a sixth-inning home run to snap his previously perfect homer-less streak.
Eovaldi had not allowed a home run in his last 68 innings, including the 55 he pitched this season, per Red Sox Notes.
“It’s unfortunate, but it’s not going to last forever so got to go out and keep competing,” Eovaldi said on a postgame video conference.
— The Red Sox will take on the Phillies in the final game of the three-game set Sunday with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. ET.
