A win in the Windy City before we blow out of town!
Aaaaaaaaand breathe.
The Red Sox will not go on an extended skid right out of the gate after the break, pulling out a well needed victory at Wrigley Field. Here are my notes:
- I wonder why Roman was under the weather enough to not take the field but to DH today.
- The power went out before the game, is that a uniquely Wrigley thing with its infrastructure? I don’t remember the last time it’s happened at Fenway.
- Garrett Crochet has ice in his veins even if he isn’t pitching perfectly. Every bit of traffic on the base paths proved to be of little issue to him.
- This team does not take long at bats anymore. Watching Cate Horton come into each frame with a pitch count that much lower than Crochet was just not a great feeling. That’s something that hopefully evolves in the second half.
- Wilyer Abreu. That’s the note.
- And Alex Bregman. Extend the man.
- The bullpen all had identical 1.0 IP, 1 K, 0 H, 0 BB lines, which is just funny in hindsight.
- The Red Sox advance to 54-47, keeping up in third place in the AL East and the third place spot in the Wild Card.
Three Studs
Wilyer Abreu (2-for-3, 3 RBI, 2 HR, 3 RBI)
Two dingers that were extremely important. One to break the scoring open and give us the lead and one that was just the exclamation point on a great victory.
Alex Bregman (1-for-1, 1 HR, 3 RBI)
His scheduled day off, absolutely talked his way into the game, and he does that. What a massive impact it is having him back in the lineup.
Garrett Crochet (6.0 IP, 8H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)
He was fighting it again today but he kept things in check just about all the way through. Traffic on the bases was an issue, but holding this Cubs offense to just one run is good work.
Three Duds
Romy Gonzalez (0-for-4, 2 Ks)
Not up against a lefty, not the best day for Romy!
Ceddanne Rafaela (0-for-4)
Booting a ground ball in the 7th really almost felt like it was going to backfire on this team with the way the series has gone for the Sox, but thankfully nothing was taken advantage of.
Masataka Yoshida (0-for-3, 1 K)
He had to hit the outfield today and did…nothing of note. A rightful benching for Bregman coming into the game when it happened.
Play of the Game
Wilyer’s homers were fantastic, but this one had me out of my seat. The insurance runs were absolutely needed mentally.