All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 4-3 win over the Mets, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Sale steps it up: In his second start as part of a ramping-up process, Chris Sale was noticeably better than he was in his one-inning cameo last Tuesday night. Sale threw three innings and allowed just one baserunner while recording a strikeout. He threw 42 pitches, 27 for strikes, and though he was mostly 94-95 mph with his fastball, he did touch 96 mph and 97 mph on two pitches. "Part of the process,'' said Sale of the outing. "Just trying to build up and get ready for big picture. The first one didn't really go as planned, but this one was a little bit more smooth. I feel 100 percent. It's not that I'm still injured or still hurting at all. But you can't sit out three weeks and go pitch nine innings.'' While Sale looked to have labored in his outing, he had far better tempo and timing on Sunday. "Last time, I was trying to throw every pitch as hard as I could and make everything as nasty as possible,'' he said. "That's not how you start games. This one, I was a little more in sync; there was a little bit more rhythm to it. I was more under control today.'' Sale also went out to the bullpen afterward and threw another 15 pitches.
Betts injury not serious: Outfielder Mookie Betts came out of the game in the top of the sixth inning, complaining about some soreness in his left side. That immediately raised a red flag, since he missed a few weeks at the end of May and early June with a left abdominal strain. But both Betts and manager Alex Cora emphasized that this was not a recurrence of the same problem and Betts is expected to be back in the lineup Tuesday -- albeit likely as the DH -- when the Sox begin a series in New York. Betts said he's actually been dealing with some soreness in the area for a couple of days. "It kind of flared back up on the second throw (in that sixth inning). Like I said, I'll be fine and I'll be ready to play Tuesday.'' With Betts out of the game, Cora sent Tzu-Wei Lin to center and shifted Jackie Bradley Jr. from center field to right.
Sox find a way against deGrom: The Red Sox had their work cut out for themselves against Jacob deGrom, who entered the game with the lowest ERA of any qualified starter in the game. The Sox made up their mind early that, if they got a baserunner on, they were going to try a hit-and-run to try to force the issue, in recognition of the fact that teams seldom get three hits in a row off him. So it was in the third inning when Rafael Devers singled to center with one out, then took off as Christian Vazquez punched a ball to right field, with Devers going to third. The Sox then got the game's first run on a sacrifice fly to center by Betts, and then added two more on a homer from Brock Holt. "He's one of the best in the game and he proved it again today,'' marveled Holt. "He's tough. In that situation, I was just looking for a good pitch to hit and I got one and was able to do something with it.''
TURNING POINT
After Tzu-Wei Lin doubled to lead off the eighth, the Red Sox used consecutive "productive outs'' -- a flyout to center by Brock Holt and a sacrifice fly by Andrew Benintendi -- to score what proved to be the winning run.
TWO UP
Brock Holt: Holt continued what has probably been the best week of his career. After contributing a three-run pinch-hit homer Tuesday and a two-run pinch double Saturday, he hit a two-run homer off deGrom in the third inning.
Steven Wright: With Cora resting a number of key relievers -- including closer Craig Kimbrel -- Wright got the ball in the ninth with a one-run lead and notched his first major league save.
TWO DOWN
Drew Pomeranz: After a clean fifth inning, the lefty gave up three hits and a sacrifice fly in the sixth, leading to two runs.
Joe Kelly: Kelly was tagged with a blown save after he yielded a go-ahead single with two inherited runners on in the seventh.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"Whether it's coming off the bench, or playing shortstop today, it's just fun to be in there. We're having a good time.'' Brock Holt.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The 103 wins by the Red Sox are the most by an American League team since the Yankees won the same amount in 2009
- The Sox finished the year 16-4 against the National League and are 21-4 in their last 25 home interleague games.
- After hitting one homer in his first 76 games, Brock Holt has four in his last 26.
- Chris Sale has allowed one run in his last 48 innings.
- Jackie Bradley is 46-for-52 in his career in stolen base attempts, for a success rate of 88.5 percent.