It was a pretty low-leverage situation, so it may have been easy to miss, but the ninth inning of Wednesday’s shutout victory over the Baltimore Orioles marked an important turning point for the Boston Red Sox.
All-Star closer Matt Barnes — who was dealing with an uncharacteristic stretch of rough outings before he tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 30 — finished a game for the first time in exactly a month. Barnes had made three previous appearances in the month of September since returning from the COVID-19 related injured list, but hadn’t been used in the ninth inning before Wednesday.
In that pivotal outing, six of his nine pitches found the strike zone and he fanned one batter to ensure Boston’s 6-0 win.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora praised the reliever before Thursday’s series finals at Camden Yards.
“He did a good job yesterday,” Cora said. “I think fastball-wise, to be able to throw it in the strike zone. Also, that swing and miss by (Trey) Mancini on the breaking ball, that was another positive. We’ll keep working with him. He’s feeling better about himself. Let’s see how the games play out and how we’re going to use him.”
In Barnes’ absence, the Red Sox used a closer-by-committee approach with Adam Ottavino and Garrett Whitlock largely taking over duties. They could attempt something similar in the final stretch of the regular season and the postseason, but Cora doesn’t seem committed either way just yet.
