The Red Sox mustered only four hits and struck out 17 times, but Boston still managed to defeat the Chicago White Sox in the opener of their three-game set.
The biggest hit of the night came off the bat of third baseman Rafael Devers in the fourth inning when he launched his 18th home run of the season 434 feet to right field. Devers, who has struggled from the plate all season, took a minute to acknowledge the hit but admitted there’s still work to be done.
“Today, I feel good with the home run,” Devers told NESN’s Jahmai Webster through Red Sox translator Carlos Villoria Benítez, as seen on the network’s postgame coverage. “But I still don’t feel like myself at home plate. I still need to work and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Although Devers is slashing .239/.302/.488, Red Sox manager Alex Cora isn’t concerned with his star player’s stats.
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“He’s hitting the ball harder than ever,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He’s struggling against fastballs, but he’s hitting them hard. He’s struggling against breaking balls, but he’s hitting them hard. So, we just have to stay the course and he’ll be fine.”
It wasn’t just the swing of the bat by Devers that lifted the Red Sox over the White Sox, it was the outstanding diving play on Andrew Vaughn’s ground ball to start the 5-4-3 double play in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Here are more notes from Friday’s Red Sox-White Sox game:
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— The win was the fifth time in team history the Red Sox won a nine-inning game when they struck out 17 or more times. The four other times were in 1961, 1968, 2007 and 2021.
“Yeah, that wasn’t great,” Cora said on NESN’s postgame coverage. “But we say it right away. Put pressure right away. Walk, steal. Put pressure on second, they throw it away and we score. We can score runs in different ways.”
— Brayan Bello was solid on the mound for the Red Sox allowing just one run on six hits through 6 2/3 innings of work. Bello struck out five of the 27 batters he faced and walked one. Bello has a 2.45 ERA in his last 10 starts. According to Red Sox senior manager of media relations and baseball information J.P. Long, the most recent Red Sox to post a sub-2.50 ERA in a 10-start span, all before turning 25 years old are Jon Lester, Aaron Sele, Roger Clemens, Dennis Eckersley and Bello.
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“My goal is always to try to go deep into games so I can help the bullpen,” Bello said through Red Sox translator Carlos Villoria Benítez, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “That’s been my mentality since I came up here. I’m trying to get quick outs and not trying to strike anybody out. That’s been the key.”
— The Red Sox improved to 5-25 when scoring less than four runs, 25-7 when scoring first, 30-19 when recording a home run and 14-11 in the opening game of a series.
— The Red Sox and White Sox will continue with their three-game series as Boston seeks the series win. First pitch from Guaranteed Rate Field is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.
Featured image via Jamie Sabau/USA TODAY Sports Images
