Red Sox Notes: Boston ‘Dodged Bullet’ In Shutout Win Over Giants

The Boston Red Sox nearly underwent a domino-effect disaster when opening up their three-game series with the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night, and it came in the bottom of the fifth inning.

First baseman Garrett Cooper, who the Red Sox acquired from the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, was targeted for a specific reason: to replace an injured Triston Casas, who was transferred to the 60-day injured list. However, it took only two at-bats in a Boston uniform for Cooper to become the team’s next injury concern — joining an ever-growing pile just one month into the season.

Cooper got struck by a 94.8 MPH fastball to the wrist, prompting an early departure from the game that isn’t expected to amount to anything major.

“He’s doing OK. Just sore. We’ll see where he’s at tomorrow,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “We dodged a bullet there.”

Boston didn’t lose focus after Cooper’s poorly timed exit as the lineup went into attack mode on San Francisco early. Giants starter Logan Webb lasted only 3 2/3 innings, charged with allowing four runs off nine hits. Meanwhile, the Red Sox received a similar approach on the mound from Cooper Criswell, who tossed five shutout innings after retiring the first 10 hitters of the night.

“We’re playing good baseball,” Cora added. “It’s one month out of the season and we still got a long ways. We just gotta continue doing the things that we’re preaching. We’re playing better defense, we’re running the bases better, the offense is gonna be better, the pitching is gonna be consistent. So let’s see. Win the series tomorrow and we’ll continue to roll.”

Here are more notes from Tuesday night’s Red Sox-Giants game:

— Boston notched its MLB-leading sixth shutout victory in the first 30 games of the 2024 season. In 2023, the team recorded five shutout wins through the entire 162-game campaign.

“I feel like it’s a credit to the catchers, pitching coach, the whole staff just buying into what (Andrew) Bailey’s put together for us,” Criswell told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Just going out there and trusting in the game plan, and executing it the best we can.”

— Red Sox starting pitchers still lead baseball with a 2.00 ERA, allowing 34 earned runs to opponents through 152 2/3 innings logged.

— Winners of their last three straight, the Red Sox improved to an MLB-best 6-1 in interleague play and 16-6 when scoring the first run in a game.

“I think guys are starting to settle down a little bit. Kind of finding the role and things like that. Slowing the game down,” Rob Refsynder said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage.

— Boston’s offense, which recorded 11 base hits, including two for extra bases, registered its 12th 10-plus-hit performance this season.

— The Red Sox and Giants will continue their three-game series on Wednesday night. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus a full hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.