The Red Sox hitters have been frustrating opposing pitchers since the beginning of the season by grinding out at-bats and crossing the plate first. It happened again Saturday night when Boston defeated the San Diego Padres at Petco Park for its fourth straight win.
In the bottom of the second inning, Enmanuel Valdez launched his third home run of the season to give Boston the early three-run lead; that was all the run support starting pitcher Chris Sale would need.
“Obviously, when your offense gets on the board first, that kind of gives you a boost of energy,” Sale told reporters after the win, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Overall, just a really good game by the guys.”
Sale appeared to be turning back the clock over his last two starts and his game against the Padres was no different. The left-hander threw 111 pitches over seven innings surrendering just two runs on three hits while striking out eight. He ran into a jam in the sixth when Fernando Tatis Jr. launched a solo blast for the Padres’ second run of the night and Ha-Seong Kim doubled to right.
Instead of losing his composure, Sale was visited by pitching coach Dave Bush and not only settled down but got out of the inning.
“Obviously, it was a crucial moment in the game,” Sale said. “With our bullpen, you can kind of just flip the coin and you know, pick a guy out there to get out of that situation. But, Bush came out. We kind of reset and got on the game plan. … Just kind of calmed me down and gave me refocused on what I needed to do and it worked out.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora was pleased with Sale’s performance in the win and has been more confident in the southpaw as each start passes.
“He was good. Good fastball, good slider, good command,” Cora said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Got in a little trouble there; we let him get out of it and then into the seventh it was kind of like, get the leadoff guy and he did and then get the next guy he did and he finished the end and but overall, you know, everything he’s been working on is paying off and he’s in a great spot.”
Cora referenced back to when Sale made some tweaks in his delivery and how it’s allowed him to feel more comfortable.
“We had Kutter (Crawford) ready just in case,” Cora said. ” … I think since he changed his delivery, I started feeling more comfortable with him.”
Here are more notes from Saturday’s Red Sox-Padres game:
— The Red Sox are now 18-4 on the season when scoring first and 24-8 when scoring four or more runs. They improved to 22-10 when they connect for at least one home run.
— The Red Sox twice challenged out calls and both plays were successfully overturned when the runner proved to be safe. Ramiel Tapia was the first to be called out in the second inning when he stole third base in the double steal with Kiké Hernández advancing to second. They both scored on the Valdez home run.
Hernández was involved again in the fourth when he stretched a double and initially was called out. After the review, it was determined Hernández lifted his right hand to avoid the tag when he reached for the plate.
“I went to second because it was going to hurt to stop at first,” Hernández told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Once I saw I was going to be out by a lot, I was trying to figure out how to slide and I went in slo-mo and it worked out.”
Cora praised his shortstop for his defensive play over the last three weeks.
“He played some great shortstop today,” Cora said. “He’s been playing great shortstop the last three weeks. Just playing fast and playing as an athlete. … I think overall in the last three weeks he’s been solid.”
— The Red Sox will look to sweep the Padres on Sunday afternoon before heading to Anaheim to take on the Los Angeles Angels. First pitch from Petco Park is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET. You can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
