Red Sox Notes: Boston Bats Steal Headlines From Elite Arms
Garrett Crochet vs. Cole Ragans.
That originally looked like the story to watch in Saturday’s middle game between the Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals.
Instead, the Red Sox offense got hot quickly less than 24 hours after the group scored just one run in 12 innings in an extra-inning loss. Boston tagged Ragans for four earned runs in just five innings of work. Most importantly, the Red Sox have had an issue of tacking on runs late in games. They fought that trend with three-run frames in both the seventh and eighth innings to finish off a 10-1 win.
Rafael Devers led the charge with a massive game against an electric starter, which comes at a great time after days in the spotlight regarding a potential shift to first base. Instead, Devers did the talking with his bat Saturday in a 4-for-4 effort with three runs batted in for the Red Sox.
“Not at all, it’s the natural,” Alex Cora told reporters, per NESN’s postgame coverage. “He knows how to cancel the noise. Obviously, the last few days have been a lot to all of us. … He loves playing the game.”
The Red Sox still need a true hot stretch to break free from the .500 realm, but the lineup put together multiple games lately with improved offensive trends of adding on late and supporting starters.
Here are more notes from Saturday’s Red Sox-Royals game:
— Crochet did exactly what the Red Sox needed him to do.
The night after Boston’s bullpen got taxed in the extra innings loss, Crochet tossed seven strong innings with just one run allowed and nine strikeouts on 106 pitches. He went seven innings for the fourth time this season.
“That’s what he’s here for,” Cora said. “To be honest with you, today was very short in the bullpen. We used Liam (Hendriks). We used (Brennan Bernardino). They gave us a chance to rest some guys for tomorrow. But we need six, seven (innings). He did.”
“It’s cool to help out, that’s my job,” Crochet told reporters, per NESN’s postgame coverage.
His strikeout of Bobby Witt Jr. to end the outing with a 98 MPH fastball stands out as his best moment thus far in a Boston uniform.
“I’m going to live and die by my best pitch,” Crochet added. “I was excited.”
— Boston handed Kansas City just its third loss in its last 19 games during a recent hot stretch for the Royals. The Red Sox win also snapped the Royals’ seven-game winning streak.
— The Red Sox scored 10 or more runs in a game for the sixth time this season.
— Trevor Story, who has hit just .129 in his last 10 games, delivered an encouraging swing to break the game open with a three-run home run in the seventh inning.
— Carlos Narvaez got the start behind the plate and blasted his fourth home run of the season with a two-run shot in the eighth inning.
— The Red Sox and Royals round out their three-game series Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. Lucas Giolito takes the ball for Boston while Seth Lugo for Kansas City. First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.