All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 6-0 win over the Tigers, complete with BSJ analysis and insight.
BOX SCORE
`HEADLINES
Wright on time: Making his first start of the season, Steven Wright was brilliant -- after a rocky first inning, that is. Admittedly a little amped up by his assignment, Wright was overthrowing his knuckleball and issued free passes to three of the first six hitters he faced. But he settled down after that and carved up the Detroit lineup: after the second inning, he allowed just one batter to reach base over his final five innings, en route to seven shutout frames. "I knew that walks are part of (throwing) the knuckleball,'' he said. "Once the game got on, I was able to slow everything down and the knuckleball got better.'' Ordinarily, a good knuckler results in weak contact and a lot of popups and flyballs. But Wright's knuckler was diving down in the zone with late action, producing the kind of at-bats usually resulting from a two-seam fastball. Of the 14 balls put in for outs from the second inning forward, 10 were groundouts.
https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/1004192038684786688
Martinez keeps mashing at home: Remember when all the talk centered around Fenway Park being the wrong hitting environment for J.D. Martinez? Good times. Martinez has been a beast in his own ballpark. In his last 14 home games, Martinez has 10 homers. He's reached base in each of his last 22 home games and now owns a career slugging percentage of .748 at Fenway. "That was the big question of the off-season,'' he said of the doubts about his suitability for the ballpark. "But to me, I just said, 'I don't care, man.' It's the same boring question I keep answering over and over. I'm not going to change my approach. I'm going to go up there and try to hit the ball up the middle and to right-center and be me.'' That seems to be working.
https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/1004146773768613888
Pedroia given re-assurance: Dustin Pedroia returned from a visit to New York and his surgeon, Riley Williams. He underwent a full workup of tests and an MRI on his ailing knee. The visit showed no damage to the knee and he was diagnosed with inflammation. He'll start getting treatment again Wednesday and on Thursday will begin light baseball activities with an eye toward getting back sometime next week. "Now,'' said Cora, "he can calm down and get treatment and hopefully he'll be back with us sooner rather than later.
TURNING POINT
Can a turning point happen two batters into the game? Steven Wright thought so. He walked Leonys Martin to start the game, then gave up a hard double off The Wall in left. But a strong relay from Andrew Benintendi to Xander Bogaerts to Christian Vazquez managed to cut down Martin at the plate and relaxed Wright thereafter.
TWO UP
Xander Bogaerts: The shortstop continues to flash improved power, belting his ninth homer of the season, or, one fewer than he had last year for the entire season.
https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/1004168779625107456
Mitch Moreland: Hours after his manager publicly promoted him for the All-Star Game, Moreland kept piling up the hits, stroking two singles to lift his average to .310.
ONE DOWN
Christian Vazquez: He got the start behind the plate because Cora thought he saw better at-bats Saturday night, but he was 0-for-3 with a strikeout and still seems a long way from figuring things out.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"J.D. Martinez, good Lord. I don't hit my driver that far.''
— Steven Wright on the massive first-inning homer off the light-tower in left-center by the Red Sox' DH.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The win bumped the Red Sox to a season-high 23 games over .500.
- The Sox have won four in a row at home and 10 of their last 12.
- The shutout was the fourth this season by the Red Sox.
- Wright extended his scoreless streak to a career-best 16 innings.
- Bogaerts has reached safely in each of the last 20 games.
- The Red Sox have played 12 different opponents to date; Martinez has homered against 11 of them.
- Moreland posted his 13th multi-hit game this season.
- Over his last 10 games, Eduardo Nunez is hitting .385 (15-for-39).