Two months ago, it was tough to envision John Schreiber in his current role with the Boston Red Sox.
But the hard-throwing right-hander has become a trusted option out of the bullpen for Red Sox manager Alex Cora, and Schreiber showed why again in Tuesday’s narrow 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park.
Schreiber put an end to the Tigers’ ninth-inning rally by securing his second save of the season. Following the contest, Cora credited Schreiber, who originally came up through professional baseball with the Tigers, for developing into a go-to arm in high-leverage situations for the Red Sox this season.
“I think he appreciates the fact that he’s in the big leagues and contributing,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “He’s (taken) a different path to this, and you start looking at the numbers, they’re really good. … He’s in this situation because he put himself in this situation, and obviously what our player development did throughout the year. It started with him. He changed his routines. He bought into the concept, he bought into the organization and now he’s one of the guys that we rely on.”
After pitching in the last two games, it seemed Schreiber would get the night off Tuesday against the Tigers.
But Cora didn’t hesitate going to Schreiber for the final out of the game with a one-run lead after Jonathan Schoop hit a homer off Matt Strahm to begin the top of the ninth. Schreiber allowed a single to Javier Báez, but closed the door by getting Miguel Cabrera to ground out to Xander Bogaerts to end the game.
“I know that we have confidence in him and he’s a guy that he’s always ready,” Cora said. “Today we pushed him to the limit, but we knew coming into the game Tanner (Houck) was down. He was very short today and it just happened he gave us one out, which was the biggest out of the game.”
More notes from Tuesday’s Red Sox-Tigers game:
— Trevor Story put his two-way ability on display in the win. Story socked a three-run homer over the Green Monster in the bottom of the fourth to turn a one-run deficit into a two-run advantage for the Red Sox.
Story added to his outing by making a sensational leaping grab on a liner by Báez to end the bottom of the seventh. Story said coaches on the Red Sox staff should get an assist for helping put him in position to make that play.
“Once it’s hit, you’re just trying to make a play,” Story told NESN’s Jahmai Webster, as seen on the network’s postgame coverage. “You don’t really have time to think and just trying to react out there and I think that’s when I’m at my best.”
— For the second time in the past three games, Christian Vázquez provided a key insurance run with a late-inning homer. After doing so in the series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, Vázquez belted a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh against the Tigers, which ended up being the winning run.
— Ryan Braiser turned in a strong showing in relief of Rich Hill, who labored through five innings, allowing seven hits, three runs and two walks while striking out six. Brasier tossed two scoreless innings, surrendering just one hit.
— Red Sox are 15-4 in the month of June.
— Cora said following the contest that Red Sox prospect Jeter Downs will make his major league debut on Wednesday in the series finale against the Tigers.
— The Red Sox look to complete their three-game sweep of the Tigers on Wednesday at Fenway Park. First pitch from the series finale comes at 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
