Red Sox Wrap: Christian Arroyo’s Pinch-Hit Grand Slam Lifts Boston To Win Vs. Braves

Well, that was a fun one.

The Red Sox beat the Braves in exciting fashion Wednesday night with a 10-8 victory in a game that featured a lot of excitement from both Boston and Atlanta.

It wasn’t an easy start for Garrett Richards, who had a lot of traffic on the base paths, hit two batters and gave up seven hits, including the game-tying home run in the fifth. Even though he did contribute to the runs scored for Boston with an RBI.

Still, the Braves battled all game, took the lead in the fifth before Alex Cora made the game-changing decision in the seventh to replace Danny Santana with Christian Arroyo with the bases loaded. The result? Boston’s first grand slam and a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

With the win, the Red Sox moved to 42-27, while the Braves fell to 30-35.

Here’s how it all went down:

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GAME IN A WORD
Dramatic.

This game was up in the air through most of it.

ON THE BUMP
— The first inning continued to be Garrett Richards’ kryptonite after a double and a walk put runners on first and second with an out. A nice snag by Bobby Dalbec potentially saved a run before Richards was able to get out unscathed.

The Braves got a run back in the third when the inning began with a fielding error on what should have been a Freddie Freeman fly out. Instead he advanced to second and took third on a ground out. Abraham Almonte hit a sacrifice fly to score Freeman and make it a 2-1 game.

Atlanta took advantage of a J.D. Martinez mistake in left field that led to a Dansby Swanson triple to begin the fourth. Guillermo Heredia was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners before Ender Inciarte grounded out to bring Swanson home. And just like that we had a 4-2 game.

Richards plunked the second batter of the inning in Ronald Acuña Jr. and surrendered an RBI-single to Freeman to bring Atlanta within a run before the fourth came to a close.

But the Braves, as they had all night, just would not go away and tied the game 6-6 in the fifth inning after a double and an error led to Swanson hitting a three-run homer.

— Hirokazu Sawamura was called from the bullpen and got the three outs needed to end the inning.

He returned for the sixth, but surrendered the go-ahead home run to Freeman who made it a 7-6 game.

The right-hander got into a bit of trouble with a double and walk, which was enough for the Sox to make a move.

— Yacksel Rios, who was acquired in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, made his Red Sox debut, and was able to get out of the jam without letting the runners advance.

— The seventh belonged to Brandon Workman and he got two outs, but also surrendered a walk and a single to bring the tying run to the plate before another pitching change was made.

— Darwinzon Hernandez walked Freeman to load the bases, but was able to get out of the jam without the Braves scoring.

— Josh Taylor tossed a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts.

— Adam Ottavino gave up a run in the ninth on an Acuña hit to make it 10-8, but he attempted to stretch a double into a triple and was tagged out with Freeman on deck.

Ottavino struck out Freeman to end the game.

IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Much like Tuesday, the Red Sox got runs on the board quickly in the first. A single, double and a walk loaded the bases with two outs for Hunter Renfroe, who drove in two runs with a single.

The damage was limited to just the two runs, but Braves pitcher Ian Anderson threw 36 pitches before the inning came to a close.

— The Red Sox had some fun in the fourth when Renfroe led things off with a double. He later scored on a Dalbec single which brought Richards to the plate. The pitcher worked a 3-2 count and ripped an RBI-double to center to give Boston a 4-1 edge.

— Boston made some noise in the fifth when J.D. Martinez led the frame off with a single before turning on the jets and scoring on a Xander Bogaerts double. Rafael Devers followed that up with a single to give the Red Sox a 6-3 advantage.

— The Red Sox threatened in the seventh when they loaded up the bags, and Cora made a decision that changed the course of the game.

The manager replaced Danny Santana in the lineup for Arroyo, who took a 1-2 pitch 467 feet to give Boston its first grand slam of the season, and the 10-7 lead.

TWEET OF THE GAME
Mood.

— Bogaerts led the Red Sox with three hits. Renfroe and Martinez had two apiece.

UP NEXT
The Red Sox enjoy an off day Thursday before getting back to game action Friday against the Kansas City Royals. First pitch from Kauffman Stadium is set for 8:10 p.m. ET.