What a necessary win to stay the course!
The Royals hadn’t lost back-to-back games since April 19th. That streak ended this afternoon.
This game was all pitching and all bombs. Lucas Giolito had the start everyone was begging out of the middle of the rotation, mowing down Royals like he was Jamie Lannister the Kingslayer. 30% breaking ball usage, slider and curveball well in usage, fastball up to 97mph, that’s much more the guy the Red Sox signed. Wilyer Abreu took Seth Lugo deeeeep 430 feet to right field to put the Sox on the board. Three innings later, Rafael Devers said, “Anything you can do, I can do better,” launching a bomb 440 feet, 110.4mph off the bat off the batter’s eye in dead center field. There weren’t many runners left on RISP despite eight hits since they were more sporadic throughout the game than anything.
This team isn’t the 2025 Red Sox without some late innings drama—welcome back David Hamilton errors—but Aroldis Chapman worked through the jam in the 9th to earn the save and the series win.
Three Studs
Rafael Devers (2-for-3, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 1 BB)
Raffy clearly has his eye on the ball. 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs yesterday, another 2 today, the drama doesn’t seem to be affecting his game.
Lucas Giolito (6.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)
Going up against a tough Royals lineup, Giolito looked like a stud. To save the bullpen for a series against the Tigers where the unpredictability of Houck, Bello and Dobbins come into play? Nuff said. So important.
Wilyer Abreu (3-for-4, 1 HR)
Again, seeing the ball well, making hard contact and drilling homers. I had figured there would be a regression to the mean from Abreu’s hot April but if this is the consistency we’re going to see out of Willy the whole season, it’s all good by me.
Three Duds
Alex Bregman (0-for-4, 2 Ks)
The only reason he’s a dud is for his day at the plate, I feel bad putting him here for his fantastic diving stop and throw in the 1st inning.
David Hamilton (0-for-3)
His offense feels non-existent this season in general and it continues today. His fielding error in the 9th almost turned out to be catastrophic but thankfully the jam was escaped.
Nick Sogard (0-for-4, 1 K)
He had some defensive heads-up on a double play in the 5th inning, but didn’t contribute at the dish.
Play of the Game
Raffy Big Scoops big scooped this one.