So first, the good news. The Red Sox bats took full advantage of a struggling Texas staff, racking up 16 hits and 11 runs to take the series opener.
The biggest knocks of the night came from Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Rafael Devers, who all homed during different innings of the game. Here are those fireworks:
Wilyer to take the early lead:
Rafaela providing some insurance (Would you believe he is now tied for third on the team in home runs behind only Tyler O’Neill and Rafael Devers?):
Devers providing more insurance and lifting his OPS over 1.000 on the season:
However, the most heartwarming moment of the night came in the fourth inning when Nick Sogard got his first major league hit and his first RBI all at once in his first major league game. The hit was a big one too as it clocked in as the third highest WPA play of the game for the Sox (.103).
All of these heroics masked another complete stinker of an outing from Kutter Crawford, who gave up four more home runs tonight to make it twelve gopher balls in his last three outings. That’s so terrible, it’s literally never happened before! As in yes, no pitcher had ever allowed twelve home runs over a three start span in MLB history, until now.
As bad as he was in that department though, two things saved him. One, he only walked one guy all night. And two, three of the four home runs were solo shots, and those rarely beat you by themselves.
Still, Crawford’s collapse in recent outings is troubling as it threatens to cost the Sox important games down the stretch as well as tax the bullpen. They got away with it tonight, but if he doesn’t improve soon, it’s going to become a huge issue.
Another reason Crawford got away with it is because newly acquired Lucas Sims came into the game in the seventh inning and got four big outs, killing off any real chance the Rangers had at a comeback. While these outs weren’t as vital as the two outs he got his first game in a Sox uniform on against Seattle on Wednesday, Sims is now two for two in making positive contributions out of the pen in just his first two games.
As close as this playoff race is likely to be for the last spot, things like that are what make or break trades for rental relievers. There’s a chance the Sox lose this game 13-12 in ten innings with the bullpen they had a week ago, so having Sims out there is a welcome change!
Studs
Connor Wong: Went 4-5 and had great at bats / a great approach at the plate all night.
Wilyer Abreu: 3-5, three RBI, got the scoring started, led the way in WPA at .239.
Rafael Devers: On base three times, 2-4 with the home run in the ninth that gave Kenley Jansen the night off.
Nick Sogard: There’s nothing like the first major league hit, and it only gets better when it played a solid role in helping the team win.
Lucas Sims: For the aforementioned work out of the pen.
Duds
Kutter Crawford: Another disastrous outing, and these are starting to mount as three of the fives times he’s allowed at least five runs this year have come in his last three starts.
Masataka Yoshida: As is often the case during an offensive explosion, there’s one guy in the lineup who just can’t get in on the action. Tonight, that was Yoshida, who went 0-4, but even he managed to knock in a run with a sac fly.
I guess it was a pretty good night when the duds got the win as a pitcher and collected an RBI as a hitter.
