The Boston Red Sox used a solid start from Tanner Houck, a seventh-inning rally thanks to Rafael Devers, and after the bullpen blew their three-run lead, a walk-off from Alex Verdugo to defeat the Cleveland Indians 4-3 on Saturday.
With the win, Boston improves to 79-59 on the season and takes the three-game series, despite having one more to play Sunday. Cleveland, meanwhile, falls to 67-66.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
As the Red Sox have battled with COVID-19, it’s a blessing they’ve at least had Rafael Devers all this time.
He put Boston on the board against Cleveland after hitting his 33rd home run of the year, a new career-high — with more where that came from, probably.
Devers worked a full count before destroying a four-seam fastball 419 feet over the Green Monster. The three-run blast helped him reach his 100th RBI of the season and put the Red Sox on the board with a 3-0 lead.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Alex Verdugo saved the day with a walk-off single to deep right that won the game. He was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk in addition to the game-winning hit.
The Indians intentionally walked J.D. Martinez before him, and Verdugo took that personally.
— The only negative you could say about Tanner Houck’s performance would be that you wanted to see him stay in the game longer. The starter threw five full innings of scoreless ball, giving up three hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
— Jack López and Jonathan Araúz continue to keep things together in the infield, consistently turning double plays and keeping the Red Sox afloat while they’re without Xander Bogaerts, Christian Arroyo and Kiké Hernández. And after Travis Shaw reached on an infield single in the ninth, an Araúz sacrifice helped him get into scoring position.
WAGER WATCH
Per Action Network, which aggregates odds across the most popular sportsbooks, 69 percent of bets were placed on the Red Sox winning the game. The majority were right in this one.
ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox and Indians play in the final game of their three-game set on Sunday. First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. ET live on NESN.
