*Photo from the Boston Globe*
Organizational depth is important, and the Boston Red Sox seem to have some good depth. Jarren Duran drove in two runs, Rob Refsnyder homered, and the Red Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers with a 6-2 victory on Wednesday night in Boston.
With the win, the Red Sox picked up their 4th straight win, including a series sweep of the Tigers. They've won 7 of 9 games on their homestand, and 8 out of 10 games total, improving their record to 8 games over .500, at a 39-31 mark on the season.
At this point, the Red Sox have several players on their active roster that weren't at the beginning of the year. They've been playing big roles since being called up from Triple A, with Duran, Refsnyder, Tyler Danish, John Schreiber, Josh Winckowski, and Franchy Cordero being on the big league roster, including top prospect Jeter Downs, who just made his MLB debut on Wednesday.
Downs said of making his debut "That was the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I still can’t believe the game is over. It felt so fast. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted to, but oh well. The team got the win, and that’s the most important thing."
The Tigers got on the board right away, with Javier Baez swatting a two run home run in the top of the first inning, giving the Tigers an early 2-0 lead as he starts to catch fire. In the 3rd inning, with the Tigers still up 2-0, Duran doubled to the opposite field, driving in two runs to tie the game up by a 2-2 score.
Refsnyder was the very next batter, and that was when the Red Sox took the lead. Refsnyder blasted a two run home run to left field, putting the Red Sox ahead 4-2 after 3 innings of play. In the 5th, JD Martinez and Refsnyder scored on a two run single from Alex Verdugo, making it a 6-2 lead for the Red Sox.
Asked about his strong play since being called up, Refsnyder said that "So many parts of my career early on I wasn’t excited or happy with how I was playing. I think the Red Sox really believe you get to the big leagues, you’re not a finished product, you can keep getting better. They have really been helping me develop still at 31. Lucky to have that."
On the mound to start for the Red Sox was Michael Wacha, who turned in another quality start, allowing two runs on 5 hits over 6 innings pitched. Jake Diekman came on and pitched a scoreless 7th inning, with Hirokazu Sawamura pitching the final two innings to seal the win.
It was Tarik Skubal who started for the Tigers, being responsible for 6 runs on 6 hits in 4 2/3 innings pitched. When Skubal left, a bullpen combo of Joe Jimenez, Wily Peralta, and Jason Foley held the Boston bats scoreless.
Tigers manager AJ Hinch said of Baez's recent play that "I think his at-bats are very encouraging. I mean, obviously, we've seen him do a little bit of everything so far in his time here with us. But when he is selective, and when he does go after pitches that he can handle, he does a lot of damage. And he's doing it to all fields. And so it's an encouraging sign to see him get warmed up."
Up next, both teams have a day off on Thursday. The Red Sox face the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night, with Nick Pivetta getting the start. The Tigers take on the Arizona Diamondbacks, with Rony Garcia in line to start.
Comments
Post a Comment