Red Sox Notes: Rob Refsnyder ‘Set Tempo’ In Win Over Rockies

Backup Red Sox outfielder Rob Refsnyder finished things off Wednesday night against the Colorado Rockies, delivering the biggest blow in a five-run seventh inning that propelled Boston to a 6-3 win at Fenway Park.

He also got things going, too.

Refsnyder, who was in the leadoff spot, singled on the first pitch he saw from Rockies lefty Austin Gomber and then promptly stole second, which was much to the delight of Red Sox manager Alex Cora and the beginning of a game-changing performance.

“The thing with (Refsnyder), he set the tempo early on with the first-pitch swing. And then he stole second right away,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “That was something that we were talking about, like score in every inning. He put himself in scoring position right away two pitches into the game. That was a great feeling.”

Refsnyder found a way to overshadow that quick production, though, with a key triple in the seventh inning that plated two runs and broke a 2-2 deadlock. Refsnyder lined an offering from lefty reliever Brent Suter to right field, where it seemed Nolan Jones would flash his glove again as he did all series.

Refsnyder felt it was deep enough for a sacrifice fly, but he got much more. Jones seemed to lose the ball in the lights on his sliding attempt and the ball got past him resulting in a triple for Refsnyder.

“I just wanted to get a ball to the the outfield. I was relieved,” Refsnyder said. “I knew Jarren would score from there. What was it the first night that play at the wall? He’s been playing really, really good defense and swinging the bat well. Thankful that that dropped, though. Triple is a lot better than a sac fly.”

Despite not playing everyday, Refsnyder just finds a way to produce and this time helped the Red Sox salvage a win against the Rockies.

“He’s a really good player. Good at-bats against lefties and righties,” Cora said. “And we’re just glad that he’s going to be here for more than this year.”

Here are more notes from Wednesday’s Red Sox-Rockies game:

— Boston only needed two pitchers to hold down Colorado’s offense. Garrett Whitlock was excellent, tossing seven innings in which he allowed two runs, six hits, one walk and struck out seven. Josh Winckowski pitched the final two innings of relief, letting up one run on one hit.

“The one thing about all this stuff is we’re pitching,” Cora said. “That’s the cool thing about it. Early in the season we didn’t pitch and we were hitting. But obviously over 162, if you pitch, you’re going to have a chance. You saw (Whitlock), you saw Winck, that’s nine innings from two kids. They did a good job.”

— If base runners aren’t aware yet that it isn’t easy to run on Connor Wong, than they haven’t read the scouting report. Wong threw out Brenton Doyle — Doyle also stole a base, too — and has nabbed a superb 11-of-33 base stealers on the season.

Whitlock certainly was appreciative of that effort and the defense as a whole.

“Wong’s been guiding me through the lineups,” Whitlock told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “His pitch calling has been fantastic and the defense tonight really, really stepped up for me.”

— Adam Duvall hasn’t had the same type of swing he had in the first week of the season since returning from the injured list. Duvall went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts out of the cleanup spot in the win and is now 2-for-18 since rejoining the Red Sox.

— The Red Sox have an off day Thursday before seeing the New York Yankees again for a three-game weekend set. First pitch on Friday from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.