All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 9-6 win over the Tigers, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Rodriguez picks up ninth win: His outing was cut short when the game went into a rain delay of more than two hours, but while he was in the game, Eduardo Rodriguez turned in one of his sharpest outings of the season, limiting the Tigers to a single run on just four hits. In his five innings, he never faced more than four hitters in any one inning and issued just one walk. What's more, Rodriguez was more efficient than usual, needing 76 pitches through five innings and showing signs that, had the weather not interrupted play, he was ready to give the Sox seven innings -- or at least close to it. Rodriguez has been the beneficiary of great run support for much of the year, but on this night, he got just three runs while still in the game. But thanks to good command and a strong pitch mix, he was able to make sure that was enough to stand up.
Rare miscues in the outfield: It was strange enough when Mookie Betts bobbled a single to right with two out and one on in the bottom of the sixth. Betts went over the field a single off the bat of Jeimer Candelario and simply mishandled it as the ball squirted away, enabling Candelario to take second when he should have been held to a single. It was just the second error of the season for Betts, who has again played a Gold Glove-caliber right field this season. Then, as if that weren't bizarre enough, on the very next play, Harold Castro hit a hard line drive to center, nearly directly as Jackie Bradley Jr. Bradley trotted in, seemed to have a bead on the ball, but at the last instant, the ball clanged off the heel of his glove and bounded away, allowing Castro to reach on a two-base error. As was the case with Betts, that represented just Bradley's second error of the season. The Tigers scored four runs that inning and two of them were unearned, the result of two errors by two Gold Glove outfielders. In case you're wondering, no, it's never happened before that Bradley and Betts made an error in the same game.
Another three-run homer keys win: For whatever reason, the Red Sox have been in the habit of hitting three-run homers of late. On Thursday night, it was Michael Chavis hitting a three-run shot to key a comeback against Toronto. Chavis also hit one Saturday in London in a losing effort against the Yankees. And Friday night, it was Xander Bogaerts' turn. The Sox were clinging to a one-run lead in the eighth when, after a leadoff single by Betts and a walk to Rafael Devers, Bogaerts hammered a fastball deep into the seats in left for a three-run shot. Suddenly, the Sox had some breathing room. And Bogaerts had another huge hit in a season in which he's had a lot of them. That homer -- in conjunction with a groundout that scored Betts with the first run of the night in the first inning -- gave him four RBI for the night and gave him the team lead in RBI with 63.
https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/1147360680040947713
TURNING POINT
Following a rain delay of two hours and four minutes, the Red Sox resumed play in the top of the sixth and began swinging, collecting three straight hits while erupting for three runs in that top of the inning. Those proved particularly important when the Tigers took advantage of the two outfield errors to counter with four of their own in the bottom of the inning.
TWO UP
Mookie Betts: Betts continues to get on base at a high clip, reaching three times and scoring all three times. His on-base percentage is up to .388.
Christian Vazquez: The catcher is swinging such a hot bat that Friday marked the second straight night that he was in the starting lineup as the DH. He delivered a single and double in five at-bats.
ONE DOWN
Marcus Walden: Yes, Walden was done in by some sloppy glovework in the outfield, but armed with a big lead, he gave up two hits and a walk and that didn't help matters.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I've hit balls better than that this year, but maybe not as far. I put a good swing on it and I know we needed it.'' Bogaerts on his three-run homer in the eighth.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- In his last 49 games, Bogaerts has knocked in 40 runs.
- The Sox are 12-2 in their last 14 road games.
- Rafael Devers extended his hitting streak to nine games.