All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 9-2 win over the White Sox, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Bogaerts puts it away with grand slam: Thanks to some help from the White Sox, the Red Sox had already gone ahead 4-2 in the top of the eighth inning. But just to make sure, Xander Bogaerts handled a pitch in on his hands from Chicago reliever Juan Minaya and hit it just inside the left field foul pole with the bases loaded to salt the game away for the Sox. Bogaerts hit three grand slams last year, but this was his first this season. Grand slams aside, Bogaerts has developed into a proven run producer. The four RBI in the eighth inning gave him the lead in that department on the team as he continues to evolve into one of the game's better offensive shortstops. Often situated behind the likes of Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez in the batting order, he gets plenty of RBI opportunities and frequently makes the most of them.
Porcello continues good run: Since the Red Sox didn't have their big breakout inning until the eighth, Rick Porcello didn't get credit for the win. But with six strong innings, during which he allowed only two runs -- both on solo homers -- Porcello delivered the Red Sox their fourth straight quality start and ninth in the last 11 tries. When he allowed a solo homer to Ryan Cordell with two outs in the fifth, that snapped Porcello's shutout streak at 15.2 innings. Porcello was angry with himself in the sixth when he left a changeup over the plate to Jose Abreu, resulting in a game-tying homer. But that was the extent of the damage done against him. "He gave us a chance to win,'' said Alex Cora, "and that's what we want from these guys.'' Added Porcello: "I didn't quite have my best stuff, but we battled ... and it was good enough to get us the win.''
Sox win second straight series: If you look back on Thursday night and how that one got away from the Red Sox, this should have been a sweep of the White Sox. Instead, they rebounded nicely from that opening walk-off loss and ripped off three straight victories, giving them six wins in the last seven games and back-to-back series wins. Boston has now won three series overall after failing to win any of their first six series. Beating the White Sox may not constitute a huge achievement, but given that they've got ground to make up after their abysmal start, the Red Sox will take every win they can get. Sunday's victory also brought the Sox to within a game of .500 at 17-18, with a chance to finally pull even with a win Monday night in Baltimore against the Orioles.
TURNING POINT
The White Sox looked like a bunch of Little Leaguers when Rafael Devers lined a one-out single to left. Two throwing errors -- one on a throw to first attempting to get him coming back to the bag, and another past second as he went to advance a base -- allowed Devers to get to third and opened the way for the Red Sox' big seven-run inning.
https://twitter.com/Soxlunch/status/1125140165134102529
TWO UP
Brandon Workman: Workman contributed a scoreless seventh inning and hasn't allowed a hit to the last 31 hitters he's faced.
Rafael Devers: Devers continued his good streak at the plate, contributing a double and a single in five trips.
TWO DOWN
Colten Brewer: In to close out the game, Brewer was all over the place with two wild pitches and a hit batsman.
Steve Pearce: After getting two hits Saturday night, it appeared as though Pearce might have broken out of his season-long funk. But he was 0-for-5 Sunday with three strikeouts.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"We're finally heading in the right direction.''— Porcello.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:
- The grand slam by Bogaerts was just the second of the season for the Sox
- Devers has reached base in 19 straight games.
- After issuing 12 walks in his first three starts, Porcello has allowed just five in his last four.