Christian Arroyo put the Red Sox on top Wednesday night, blasting a grand slam to give the Red Sox the lead in the seventh, as they never looked back.
The Rays lost Wednesday to the White Sox, and with a win from the Red Sox it put Boston just one game behind Tampa Bay.
Red Sox jump out to early lead:
After Alex Verdugo beat the shift with a single to the left side, J.D. Martinez doubled into center field to put two on with one out.
Rafael Devers walked to load the bases, and Hunter Renfroe drove in both Martinez and Verdugo with an RBI single which gave the Sox the 2-0 lead in the top of the first.
Sox grab four more in mid-innings:
After the Red Sox extended their lead to 3-1 with Bobby Dalbec driving in Hunter Renfroe via a single, Garrett Richards lined a double into right-center field in the fourth for his first major-league hit, driving in Bobby Dalbec to make it 4-1 in the fourth.
Boston added two more in the top of the fifth, with Xander Bogaerts doubling to plate J.D. Martinez, and Rafael Devers singling to bring in Bogaerts to make it 6-3 in the top of the fifth.
Richards allows six:
Garrett Richards entered the fifth inning having only allowed three runs, and just one of them were earned. But a three-run bomb in the fifth off the bat of Dansby Swanson with nobody out ended the righty’s night.
The 33-year old tossed 4+ innings, allowing six runs (four earned) off seven hits, striking out just three.
Richards suspiciously threw just the fastball and the slider, not even throwing the curveball, his specialty pitch. He threw 64 fastballs and 20 sliders, tallying 84 pitches.
The right-hander had his spin rate down on both the fastball and slider – his fastball’s spin rate was down 256 RPM from his season average, and his slider was down 266 RPM on his season average.
Braves take lead in sixth:
After Hirokazu Sawamura got the final three outs in the fifth, he allowed a solo homer to Braves slugger Freddie Freeman in the seventh which gave the Braves the 7-6 lead.
Christian Arroyo blasts pinch-hit grand slam:
With two outs, and the bases loaded in the seventh, Alex Cora chose to pinch-hit for Danny Santana, and elect Christian Arroyo to bat.
On a 1-2 delivery from Shane Greene, Arroyo launched an offspeed pitch 467 feet to put the Red Sox in the lead, 10-7.
Ottavino notches save:
Adam Ottavino picked up his fourth save of the year, giving Matt Barnes a rest.
Ottavino ran into some trouble, allowing an RBI double from the bat of Ronald Acuña Jr., but the young star tried to make it a triple, and he was tagged out at third. He gave the Sox a gift, as it left nobody on with two outs, instead of one on with two outs. The right-hander struck out Freddie Freeman to end the ballgame.
What’s next?
The Red Sox have an off day Thursday before packing their bags for Kansas City. They take on the Royals for a three-game weekend set.
Nick Pivetta, Martin Perez, and Nate Eovaldi are all lined up to pitch.
Game notes:
- Xander Bogaerts went 3-5 with three doubles
- The Red Sox blasted eight doubles
- Christian Vazquez left the game in the seventh with stomach illness
- Yacksel Rios recorded the win in his first game with the club, after finishing the sixth inning – he was acquired Tuesday via cash considerations