Red Sox 6, Twins 1: The Supporting Cast Shines

The Oscar for best supporting character goes too…

Friday night’s Red Sox game was just as much about the stars as it was the supporting cast. Brayan Bello, Alex Bregman, and Rafael Devers were all spectacular, but it was Romy Gonzalez, David Hamilton, and Greg Weissert that stood out to me. After a pitcher’s duel through six innings, Connor Wong led off the seventh with a base hit. David Hamilton followed it up with a base hit of his own, and then Ceddane Rafaela laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position. After Jarren Duran struck out, Devers hit a hard ground ball to second base that ricocheted into the outfield, scoring two runs. That all sounds fairly normal, but David Hamilton’s base running drew my attention. You’re always running on contact with two outs, but Hamilton sprinted around third and scored on a ball that looked like an out off the bat.

Greg Weissert took the mound for the top of the eighth and promptly struck out three of the four hitters he faced. In the bottom half of the inning, Romy Gonzalez doubled in Trevor Story, stole third base, and was then doubled in by David Hamilton. Timely hitting has eluded the Red Sox this season, but the role players game through tonight to secure the win against a tough opponent in Joe Ryan and the Twins.

It wasn’t all sunshine, though. In the second inning, Triston Casas hit a dribbler down the first base line. As he hustled to beat out the ball, his left knee buckled and he went to in a heap. He was carted off and taken to the hospital for more testing, but Alex Cora described the injury as “significant”.

Three Studs

Brayan Bello

I’ll have more on Brayan Bello’s start after I watch it back, but from where I was sitting, I thought he was excellent. I was slightly concerned with his diminished velocity throughout the start, but was encouraged by his ability to reach back for 97 MPH a few times when he needed it. A look at his average shows he was only a half tick down over his season average, which isn’t the end of the world as long as this isn’t a trend. His sinker lived inside to righties, earned called strikes, and generated weak contact frequently. His changeup command was excellent, getting five whiffs on 21 pitches, and his fastball stayed above the zone, where it plays best. The lone mistake was a slider he hung to Ryan Jeffers, who hit it 1,000 feet. All in all, it was the third great start by a Red Sox pitcher.

Rafael Devers (3-5, 2 RBI)

Devers hit the ball well. He’s settling into the DH role nicely. When Devers is happy, I’m happy.

David Hamilton (3-4, 2 R, 1 RB, 2 SB)

See above.

One Dud

First Base Replacement Discourse

Alex Bregman is not moving to first base. Rafael Devers is also not moving to first base. There will be a replacement, either from the farm or externally, but the Red Sox aren’t playing MLB The Show where you can just shuffle guys around willy-nilly. We’ll know more tomorrow, but for now, quit dealing in insane hypotheticals.

Play of the Game

I like it when people take pride in their work. This ump clearly takes a lot of pride in getting it right. This was after his call at the plate was overturned.