The Boston Red Sox have their very first winning streak of the season, defeating the Seattle Mariners 7-3 at Fenway Park on Friday night for their third straight victory.
Much like he did Thursday night, Trevor Story got the Red Sox offense rolling with a grand slam in the third inning Friday that brought Fenway Park, and Jonny Gomes, to their feet.
“He got a good pitch to hit and he didn’t miss it,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He put some good swings (together) today. He’s feeling good.”
Cora made sure to point out that the Red sox offense was putting together good at-bats surrounding Story as well.
“I mean RBIs are opportunities from his teammates, right? So you know, we got the line moving. He’s doing his job,” Cora said.
Michael Wacha’s return from the 15-day injured list was not without faults, but Cora and Wacha were both pleased with the performance and the ability to build off of it.
“Four innings were good for us, but he was efficient in the way that he always is,” Cora said. “Fastball command was off a little bit today. Mechanics were off, but he gave us four and two thirds. One cutter that stayed middle-middle and the kid didn’t miss, but overall, you know, he gave us enough.”
“My body felt good, it was just my mechanics,” Wacha told NESN’s Jahmai Webster postgame. “I was just a bit rusty but everything felt good.”
The Red Sox did receive a scare late in the ballgame, as shortstop Xander Bogaerts was removed from the game following a collision in left field with Alex Verdugo. Luckily, the consequences shouldn’t last very long.
“(Bogaerts has) lower back discomfort on his left side, so he’ll be day-to-day,” Cora said. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow and go from there.”
Here are some more notes from Friday’s Red Sox-Mariners game:
— John Schreiber is now up to nine appearances on the season without allowing a single earned run. The 28-year-old hasn’t walked a single batter this season either, allowing just five hits in 9.1 innings pitched.
— With four more runs batted in Friday, Trevor Story has taken over the team lead with 27.
— Jackie Bradley Jr.’s eighth inning home run brought his home batting average to .319 on the season.
“He’s been doing a good job here of finding the ball and going the other way.” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. Bradley concurred, saying, “I wanted to be patient with my pitch, get a pitch I could handle and I took advantage of my opportunity.”
— Matt Strahm is now up to nine straight scoreless appearances.
— Austin Davis now has 14 scoreless appearances on the season, leading all Red Sox relievers.
