All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 6-5 win over the Rockies, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Aggressive approach pays off in 10th: The Red Sox sent three players to the plate in the bottom of the 10th, and officially, they saw a combined two (2) pitches. Xander Bogaerts swung at the first pitch he saw from Chad Bettis and drilled a double to the triangle. Then, after the Rockies intentionally walked Rafael Devers -- motioning to first, of course, without actually throwing a pitch - in stepped Michael Chavis, who, like Bogaerts, also swung at the first pitch, driving a single up the middle to score Bogaerts with the winning run. "Pitches in the zone,'' noted Alex Cora, "and you don't get too many of those, especially late in games. With the stuff that bullpens are showing, when you get pitches to hit, you don't want to miss them and we didn't miss those two in the last inning.'' Chavis had never faced Bettis before. "So I didn't really know what to expect,'' said Chavis. "I was just trying to get him up and get a good pitch to hit. Got a good first-pitch to hit, a cutter.'' Chavis added that, in those situations, he tries to think that it's the pitcher -- not the hitter -- who's under the most pressure and his tendency is to be aggressive because the pitcher will be intent on getting ahead early.
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Walden saves the day: Marcus Walden continues to emerge as a trusted reliever for the Red Sox. He got the final out in the seventh after Matt Barnes allowed three inherited runners to score, then came back out and retired six hitters over the next two innings. He struck out four of the seven hitters he faced over 2.1 innings. "At this level, you don't want contact late in games,'' said Cora. "His stuff is playing great at this level right now. The cutter is good, the slider is good, the fastball up is great. He was amazing today. We put him in a situation, a high-leverage one, tie game, and he gave us more than enough to put us in a situation to win the game.'' Dating back to April 20, Walden has an 0.54 ERA over his last 20 appearances. In those outings, he's struck out 19 and walked just one.
Interleague series getting harder: Before this season, the Red Sox had great success against National League teams, having won their last 13 interleague series. But early in April, the team dropped two-of-three in Phoenix to the Diamondbacks, and they had to be satisfied with a 1-1 split in the two-game set with Colorado -- and they needed extra innings to get that one win. It doesn't figure to get much easier the rest of the season against NL teams, either -- the Sox have a two-game series in Colorado later this year, and also host the NL champion Dodgers later this summer.
SECOND GUESS
Eduardo Rodriguez had allowed two runs over the first six innings and thrown 98 pitches. It seemed a strange decision to send him out for the top of the seventh, and sure enough, Rodriguez pitched like he had hit a wall, allowing a single, double and a hit batsman to fill the bases with no out. He was then taken out of the game.
TWO UP
Christian Vazquez: The Red Sox catcher continues to contribute offensively, with two singles, lifting his batting average to .297. It was also his fifth multiple-hit game in the last eight.
J.D. Martinez: Martinez is starting to hit the ball in the air more, and is driving the ball to right-center. He singled in the first, then hit a two-run homer in the second.
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ONE DOWN
Rafael Devers: The Red Sox' hottest hitter over the last few weeks had a rare off night, going 0-for-4.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"Standing in the box right there, I'm looking at (third base coach Carlos) Febles and all I'm thinking is, 'Don't let me bunt.''' -- Michael Chavis, who delivered the game-winning hit.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Eduardo Rodriguez fanned 10, giving Red Sox starters 27 strikeouts in 13 innings in the series.
- The five runs allowed by Rodriguez were the most earned runs allowed by a Red Sox starter since Nathan Eovaldi allowed five on April 11.
- Rafael Devers saw his six-game hitting streak snapped.
- Andrew Benintendi's first-inning single was just the second hit in the first inning this season.