Red Sox Wrap: Boston’s Offense Wakes Up In Win Over White Sox

The Boston Red Sox notched their second straight win by defeating the Chicago White Sox, 7-5, at Fenway Park on Satuday night.

With the victory, the Red Sox improved to 72-70 while the White Sox continued their MLB-worst campaign by falling to a horrid 32-111.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Boston’s offense averaged a modest 2.7 runs through its last 14 games, which wasn’t a promising sign, especially going up against Chicago left-handed pitcher Garrett Crochet in the second of three amid a do-or-die homestand.

However, after a costly cold skid in the batter’s box, the Red Sox decided to finally wake up, pull themselves up by their bootstraps and erupt from the very get-go. Boston knocked around Crochet in the first inning, scoring four runs — more than the team had scored in a game since Aug. 30 (seven) — to back Chicago into a corner. Of course, four runs in the first inning doesn’t guarantee anything, but that wasn’t the end of the offensive response delivered by the Red Sox.

Much of that run-producing pressure came off the bat of slugger Tyler O’Neill — and it only required two swings at the plate.

O’Neill belted two home runs, both over Fenway Park’s Green Monster — the second round-tripper flew 409 feet out of the ballpark. O’Neill rose his home run total to 27 this season, and became the first Red Sox to reach six multi-home run performances in a single season since David Ortiz did so 10 years ago in 2014.

Meanwhile, the White Sox didn’t go down without a fight. Battling through a raindrop-filled night in Boston, ex-Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi crushed a three-run home run off Boston’s Chase Shugart in the seventh inning, reducing a five-run deficit down to two. That marked the end of Chicago’s comeback bid as Brennan Berardino, Justin Slaten and Kenley Jansen held the White Sox scoreless through the final 2 2/3 innings.

The Red Sox will target a series sweep Sunday, which would mark Boston’s first since returning to action from the All-Star break.

STARS OF THE GAME
— O’Neill went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs, responsible for driving in three RBIs for Boston. The 29-year-old veteran gave the Red Sox plenty of contribution and the White Sox plenty of problems.

— Boston’s Cooper Criswell took the mound to start and delivered a quality outing, pitching five innings while allowing two runs (both in the first inning) off six hits and two walks. The right-hander improved to 6-4 on the season with the win.

— Benintendi, a member of Boston’s 2018 World Series title team, went 3-for-4 with a trio of RBIs for Chicago, responsible for the biggest swing to come from the White Sox’s lineup.

ON DECK AT NESN
Boston and Chicago wrap up their three-game set with a Sunday afternoon finale. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.