The Boston Red Sox had a great sixth inning that propelled them to a win Friday against the Texas Rangers.
What was the highlight of that sixth inning? A broken bat.
The Red Sox scored four of their seven runs in the sixth inning, and that played a large part in their 7-1 win at Globe Life Field. Alex Verdugo, who was injured in the seventh and left the game, started off the scoring with an RBI double, but manager Alex Cora pinpointed what started that scoring explosion in the sixth.
“We scored all those runs, but it started with a hustle play (by Xander Bogaerts),” Cora said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “That kid at shortstop, for everything we’ve been going through, he shows up every day, and he plays hard. Broken bat, ground ball to short, he hustled to first and he changed the game with that play.”
Bogaerts reached on an infield single to advance J.D. Martinez, allowing him to score off Verdugo’s double. Bogaerts scored off Trevor Story’s sacrifice fly.
“The effort’s been there,” Cora said. “Every day, they show up, and they play hard. Obviously not the results we wanted, but we’re going to keep pushing. We know we have a good team, and I know a lot of people out there know we have a good team, but you have to win games. That’s the most important thing. That play by Xander changed the game.”
Bogaerts batted 2-for-5 Friday and recorded two RBIs. The Red Sox’s offensive performance helped Nick Pivetta earn his first win of the season.
