Red Sox Wrap: Boston Scratches Late To Beat Reds, Even Series

The Boston Red Sox continued a three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds with a 4-3 win Saturday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.

With the win, Boston improved to 41-36 while Cincinnati fell to 36-40.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Boston saw a similar start Saturday afternoon that the Reds took advantage of from the series opener.

Cincinnati blasted two more home runs off Nick Pivetta after Kutter Crawford allowed three long balls the night before. But like Crawford, Pivetta locked in to keep the damage to three earned runs.

That allowed the Red Sox lineup to cut down on the strikeouts and put the ball in play. A Dominic Smith homer and a Connor Wong double got Boston within a run. Cincinnati did its best to help the Red Sox as well by running into three outs on the base paths on the afternoon.

Boston eventually evened the score when Rob Refsnyder singled to score Ceddanne Rafaela in the eighth inning. Rafael Devers followed later in the frame with a sacrifice fly to score Jarren Duran.

Boston’s bullpen did its job to hold down the lead, headlined by Duran robbing a homer from Stuart Fairchild, and even the series.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Smith homered for the third time in 2024.

— Wong’s RBI double cut the deficit to one.

— Duran extended his hitting streak to 12 games, made a sensational catch and scored the go-ahead run.

UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Reds finish their three-game series Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:40 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.