BOSTON — There are no must-win games in late July. But after a rough loss on the day of the trade deadline — in the midst of a rough first homestand of the second half for the Boston Red Sox — the tension was as thick as the humidity entering Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Seattle Mariners.
The Red Sox had fallen back in the wild-card standings with Seattle creeping up. Every other team the Red Sox were chasing in the standings had already won earlier in the day.
Boston scratched out two runs off one of the league’s best pitchers in George Kirby, and Brayan Bello posted one of his best starts of the season when the Red Sox needed it most. So in the bottom of the 10th with an automatic runner on second, when the Mariners opted to pitch to Rafael Devers with first base open, it felt like more than just the game hung in the balance.
Devers smacked a 2-0 slider to center that caromed off the wall as Tyler O’Neill scored easily in a 3-2 walk-off win as their teammates rushed the field to celebrate.
“It feels like a relief, to be honest with you,” manager Alex Cora said. “It was a grind the whole day. A little bit hotter out there and every pitch mattered. They have a good team, they can pitch. We had our chances, it didn’t happen. So to win the series, it feels good.”
The second half has not been kind to the Red Sox as they’ve struggled to a 4-8 record. And yet, the front office showed confidence in the club by adding four players to the big league roster. On Wednesday, Devers delivered the biggest hit, but two of the team’s newest players made an immediate impact.
Catcher Danny Jansen started his first game behind the plate and guided Bello to a strong outing. The right-hander allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out seven over 6 1/3 innings. Jansen caught Bello’s bullpen earlier this week and has been cramming to get up to speed with the staff.
“We’ve had a good dynamic since he got here,” Bello said through a team translator. “He’s been talking to me and asking how I pitch, what I wanted to accomplish. We got into a good rhythm, I think we were able to locate my pitches up in the zone and down in the zone, in and out, so it was very good for me today.”
Meanwhile at the plate, Jansen has produced in the early going, too. After Dom Smith doubled in the sixth inning, Jansen slapped a single to right, scoring Smith to tie the game and knocking Kirby out after 5 1/3 innings. It snapped Kirby’s streak of nine straight quality starts. Jansen is 4-for-7 in his first two games for the Red Sox.
“Looking to help any way I can,” Jansen said. “Got a pitch to get him in and happened to be fastball away and shot it through the four-hole.”
In the seventh, Bello allowed a one-out walk and a single before Cora turned to another newcomer, Lucas Sims. Sims entered and got a fly out to right. With a runner on third, Wilyer Abreu’s strong throw home held the runner. Sims issued a walk but then got a ground out to escape the jam.
“That’s what he’s here for,” Cora said of Sims, who arrived in Boston on Wednesday. “We’re going to use him in high-leverage situations against righties. He can get lefties out, too. He did an outstanding job.”
The Red Sox had a chance to take the lead in the seventh with one out, Jarren Duran at second and O’Neill at first. Devers popped up to the infield and O’Neill was off the bag, but bumped into Seattle’s new first baseman Justin Turner. O’Neill was called out for interference by first base umpire Andy Fletcher, even though second baseman Jorge Polanco caught the ball. Cora, frustrated by the call, particularly given that he felt O’Neill had nowhere else to go, said he’s speaking with the league to get further clarity on the rule.
“I was talking to Andy, if we want Tyler to avoid the fielder, how (do) we accomplish that?” Cora said. “He’s going back to the bag, he’s looking at the ball… it’s hard to become invisible, but we’ll wait and (the league will) explain it and then we’ll try to explain it to our players.”
The tension of the tied game carried over to the ninth as Cora turned to Kenley Jansen. But with two outs in the inning, the closer slipped after throwing a pitch and felt a tweak in his low back. Cora and a trainer came to the mound. Jansen stayed in the game and induced a hard ground out to first. Smith snared it and dived head-first to the bag, knowing Jansen might not reach the base in time for a flip. Cora said Jansen will be re-evaluated on Friday in Texas.
Zack Kelly, who’d given up six runs in his previous five innings since the break, rebounded with a scoreless 10th inning, before Devers’ heroics in the bottom of the inning.
“Today was a grinder for all of us, for them, too,” Cora said. “To end up winning, it was great. Some guys had to do a little bit more. Zack was great in the extra inning after what happened last night, so just keep fighting, keep going.”
The Red Sox hadn’t won a series since before the break and managed to finish July 13-11. With three games in Texas starting on Friday, the Red Sox then head to Kansas City for a battle with the team directly ahead of them in the wild-card standings.
More reinforcements are on the way. New reliever Luis García will join the Red Sox in Texas. Meanwhile, reliever Chris Martin threw a bullpen on Wednesday and has another one scheduled for this weekend with the hope he’ll begin a rehab assignment next week. Liam Hendriks threw a 35-pitch bullpen on Tuesday, including breaking balls for the first time, and is flying to Texas with the team where he’ll meet the surgeon who performed his Tommy John procedure. His hope is to get cleared to begin facing batters. Triston Casas’ second rehab game in Triple-A got rained out on Wednesday, but the Red Sox made another move, optioning infielder Jamie Westbrook and recalling switch-hitting infielder Nick Sogard from Worcester. Cora expects him to play second base against lefties.
The drama of the trade deadline is over and now the Red Sox have a tough schedule ahead of them, but ended the homestand on a high note.
(Top photo of Rafael Devers: Winslow Townson / Getty Images)
