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DETROIT – It’s no secret that Boston has suffered some bad offensive breaks lately. Extra potential hits curving just right, cannon balls going straight to defenders – even hard hits away from defenders that make amazing plays anyway – take your pick, the Red Sox have gone through it and are coming back for more.
“Since we went to Oakland,” said manager Alex Cora in Wednesday’s pre-game Zoom session with the media, “we haven’t been able to be who we are.
“There’s a combination of a lot of things, but at the same time we know we can hit, we know we have guys who are capable of [hitting], and right now we just need to find a way to fix it until we find it.
To Boston’s credit, through each of their five straight losses, the Red Sox have continued to swing. The tide finally turned on Wednesday, when Boston ended its slump with a 4-1 win over the Tigers at Comerica Park.
Cora did not hesitate to share that her team must pick it up on the plate. The starting shots weren’t great or terrible, but without the leads to support the arms, the Red Sox were doomed to fall over and over again. In Detroit, however, everything turned out exactly as Boston had written it.
JD Martinez hit first, clubbing a starting home run in the second inning to put the Red Sox on the board. Martinez has entered the 2-for-25 series in his previous six games. The long ball was Martinez’s first at Comerica Park since the Tigers traded him to the D-backs on July 18, 2017.
Alex Verdugo – who had smashed the ball anywhere a glove waited lately and was visibly frustrated by it – finally got his break as well, kicking a ball against the wall and just out of reach of right fielder Robbie Grossman for a double. the sixth round. While Verdugo didn’t go deep, no one has put on a bigger smile than the 25-year-old who had only reached .167 in his last seven games.
Verdugo added a single hard hit against the quarterback in the eighth inning for his first multi-hit game since July 26.
“We haven’t done much [1-for-11 in the game] with men in scoring position, ”Cora said. “But at least that was the start of something we talked about. The goal for tomorrow is to do the same. Take out, grind, put [together] good drummers and keep improving.
A fifth round of three runs was propelled by back-to-back home runs of Enrique Hernández and Jarren Duran. Hernández’s two-point shot marked his 15th of the season; Duran was the No. 2 career homer, and Hernández added a treble in the seventh to punctuate Boston’s 10th hit.
Of course, all of this wouldn’t have made sense without a solid outing from Eduardo Rodriguez, who struck out 10 strikes for the eighth time in his career en route to a scoreless out in five innings and two hits. After a headache cut short outing in New York and a dismal affair against Toronto in which he lacked fast-ball control, Wednesday was also Rodriguez’s turn to be rewarded for sticking to that.
“It was a huge win that we needed,” said Rodriguez. “That we won the game and that I was able to play five innings after the last two starts that I had. “
In the immediate glow of the decisive victory in Detroit, it’s hard to recall exactly why anyone thought things were really so bad for Boston to begin with. Only five baseball teams – the Rays, Astros, Brewers, Giants and Dodgers – have more wins than Boston (64-45).
Of course, Boston’s victory over the Tigers was just a step back in the right direction – and the Red Sox still lag behind the American League leaders Rays in the East – but it may have – also be reminded how quickly things can change. around for a long season.
“We’ve been saying all year, we’re a good team,” Hernández said. “We’re going to go through tough times, we’re going to go through good times; that’s what happens when you play 162 games.
“Now it’s about staying the course and winning baseball games. “
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