The Boston Red Sox struggled early on against Cincinnati Reds' young phenom Hunter Greene, but they overcame those struggles thanks to two big innings Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
Greene struck out eight Boston batters through 3 2/3 innings, with many of his fastballs going over 100 MPH. However, in the fourth inning, the Red Sox rattled the No. 2 overall pick in the MLB Draft. Boston scored four runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run double from left fielder Alex Verdugo.
"Obviously, we don't see these guys a lot," Verdugo said to NESN's Tom Caron, as seen on the network's postgame coverage. "Just seeing what it looked like, he made some good pitches. Some guys weren't ready for it. We had an idea of it, but until you see it, then you understand it. That second time through, I think everyone really dialed in on their approach, what they had to do and had some really good at-bats."
Verdugo batted 2-for-3 (one walk) on the night, including two doubles, the 12th of the season. The left fielder scored two runs.
"It felt great," Verdugo said on the Red Sox offense's scoring output. "The biggest thing is we had runners on and just getting that big hit. Obviously, I was able to get one on. Jackie got a huge one in the eighth inning to solidify it for us. Today was just a great job all the way around."
The Red Sox shut down the Reds on Wednesday. Garrett Whitlock only gave up one unearned run, and the bullpen added in three shutout innings from Tanner Houck (two innings, one strikeout) and John Schreiber (one inning).
Here are more notes from Red Sox-Reds:
-- Jackie Bradley Jr. had four RBI while batting 2-for-4, including a three-run triple. It was the center fielder's first triple of the season, and it came after Reds center fielder Nick Senzel was unable to make the catch off Bradley's hit, allowing Bradley to use his speed to add to Boston's lead.
"We've been feeling good for a good, solid two weeks," Bradley said to Caron, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "Obviously, there are a few games in there where we weren't able to score runs the way we wanted to, but overall, I think it's been positive. We've been trending in the right direction, but you have to continue to put things together, focus on one game at a time and put together some wins."
-- Boston came into Wednesday's matchup leading the majors in doubles (123). The Red Sox added to that total, hitting three doubles Wednesday night.
-- Rafael Devers has 21 of Boston's 123 doubles, good for second in the league. The third baseman added to his total with a fourth-inning double. Devers batted 1-for-4 on Wednesday, scoring one run.
-- Whitlock earned his second win of the season, pitching six scoreless innings. The right-hander became the third Red Sox pitcher to go six innings without a strikeout and without giving up an earned run, joining Aaron Cook in 2012, Curt Schilling in 2007, per The Boston Globe's Alex Speier.
-- The Red Sox will head West to play the Oakland A's to kick off their road trip. First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 9:40 p.m. ET, and full game coverage will be on NESN, including an hour of pregame coverage starting at 8:30 p.m.
