Wander Franco was the worst nightmare of the Boston Red Sox Friday night, but they managed to just barely take the series opener, 4-3, as Matt Barnes saved the day.

Boston got on the board early with everyone but Rafael Devers in the top five of the batting order (Trevor Story, Xander Bogaerts, Alex Verdugo, Kiké Hernandez) stringing together hits, and Jackie Bradley Jr. drove home a second run though Bobby Dalbec wasn’t able to capitalize on a second and third, two-out chance.

Franco added his first homer of the night off Michael Wacha in the bottom half of the first, though Boston together two more runs in the third inning with Devers leading off the frame with a 380-foot solo shot. Bogaerts’ double then led to Hernandez singling him home to make it 4-1 Sox.

Wacha’s final inning on the mound saw him giving up another solo jack to Franco, ending his night with five innings tossed on just three hits. Austin Davis followed Wacha’s outing with a scoreless sixth, although Matt Strahm would need Hansel Robles to finish the seventh for him after a pair of hits and a groundout let a run come home which made it 4-3.

Robles entered with the red-hot Franco up at the plate and a runner on second, but he flew out to retire the side and keep Boston in front. Robles then trailed his seventh-inning entrance by retiring the side in the eighth.

The ninth didn’t go as planned though, as Jake Diekman loaded the bases with three walks in the ninth and Barnes was summoned on to face the two-homer Franco. But, Franco grounded a 1-1 curveball from Barnes to Story, who made a sliding play to end the ballgame.

A sigh of relief for the Sox as they begin the series with a victory and move to .500 on the season at 7-7.

Join our daily newsletter BSW DAILY to receive our coverage, right in your inbox! Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive all the stories from the day. Click here to join today!

You can also follow us on Twitter to get stories and highlights on your feed:

Click here to follow us on Twitter!